The push toward AI-native workloads, hybrid environments and accelerated continuous integration and continuous delivery cycles is colliding head-on with persistent infrastructure challenges. As enterprises move beyond legacy architectures, the need for intelligent, adaptable systems has never been more urgent.

In this evolving landscape, solving infrastructure complexity is no longer optional — it’s mission critical. Organizations are grappling with fragmented environments, talent gaps and the pressure to scale applications faster than ever before. Phil Trickovic, senior vice president of revenue at Tintri by DDN Inc., offers a pragmatic approach: infrastructure designed from the ground up to be application-aware, object-aware and automation-ready.

“We haven’t leveled up the platforms fully yet, and that’s what Tintri has done, but we need to see that drag in other areas as well. That’s our main story,” Trickovic said.  “They’re ones and zeros to us. We’re most efficient at producing and delivery. I don’t care if it’s hypervisors, containers or whatever the format is.”

Trickovic spoke with theCUBE’s Paul Nashawaty at theCUBE Research’s AppDev Done Right Summit, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed how Tintri is addressing modern infrastructure challenges by offering object-aware, AI-ready storage solutions that simplify hybrid environments and support scalable app development. (* Disclosure below.)

Addressing infrastructure challenges through object-aware design

Tintri’s architecture was purpose-built for the object-awareness needed to support both hypervisor and container environments — a capability that has only become more valuable as enterprises shift toward composable, AI-driven platforms, Trickovic explained.

“We were very lucky because we were designed for object awareness at the lowest level that is extended into what you’re doing with containers,” he said. “That’s required to do any of this at scale and at an expense that’s tolerable and actually profitable for businesses to deploy.”

That object-awareness translates directly to operational efficiency in the field. Trickovic describes a Tintri customer developing a sensor-based application stack for industrial monitoring — a scenario where legacy infrastructure would have collapsed under the weight of real-time training data and dynamic environmental inputs.

“The application outcome and it delivering actual results to businesses has to be done in a new way that is aware of the objects and every change that happens in the application stack,” he said.

The discussion also touched on the evolving role of infrastructure teams in a world that demands platform-aligned simplicity. Organizations are sitting on highly skilled personnel who are stuck managing outdated workloads, Trickovic explained.

“They have the skills; they have the people. They’re doing the wrong things because they’re focused on managing RAID sets and NIC cards and FA adapters,” he said. “That does not need to be done with us anymore.”

Looking ahead, Tintri is preparing for a wave of infrastructure transformation driven by AI and sovereign cloud trends. A new OEM agreement with Platform9 Systems Inc. supports real-time VMware migration, broadening Tintri’s impact across hybrid environments. The biggest challenge isn’t technical, it’s cultural, according to Trickovic.

“We actually have the tools where your $200,000 brilliant tech guy who’s been screwing around with backup schedules and restoring catalogs can actually produce some value for the company,” he said. “Let’s really move to that.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of theCUBE Research’s AppDev Done Right Summit:

(* Disclosure: Tintri by DDN Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither Tintri nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

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