The convergence of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing, along with sustainability concerns and security challenges, are shaping the future of enterprise tech.

A major part of this innovation is AI’s infusion into various industries, which promises a future that includes new opportunities.

“Supercomputing is all about more horsepower, high-performance computing, which basically is infrastructure chips,” said John Furrier (pictured, right), industry analyst and theCUBE co-founder. “The theme is chips meets cloud, and everything in between is going to get innovated up and refactored.”

Furrier spoke with fellow analysts Lisa Martin (second from left) and Savannah Peterson (left), during the day 2 kickoff at SC23, part of an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed how the mixture of AI and high-performance computing are changing the tech landscape. (* Disclosure below.)

The generational shift’s influence on AI and HPC

The confluence of AI and high-performance computing is driving innovation, with tech giants such as Microsoft actively investing in AI-related chips, such as Azure Stack and the Azure Cobalt CPU. Custom specialty chips, designed to fit into the evolving tech stack, is a big part of the conversation surrounding innovations in HPC  and AI, according to Furrier. Microsoft’s announcements validate this trend, indicating that AI is becoming an integral part of modern computing infrastructure.

“Get the GPUs, stack them up, do a lot of computation, do some AI,” Furrier said. “Building around the GPUs is going to be a big theme going forward.”

The generational shift in technology adoption, with both seasoned professionals and younger generations actively engaging in the tech community, is also a big factor, Furrier explained. This diversity in perspectives and experiences contributed to the discussions at SC23.

“You start to see this generational shift,” he said. “To me, the big story is continuing to be chips meets cloud, everything gets in between, gets disrupted and innovated. And AI is like the fountain of technology youth. The big story continues to be the infusion of AI.”

Sustainability and security top the list of concerns

Sustainability is also emerging as a crucial concern within the tech industry, particularly regarding the energy consumption of AI models and infrastructure. This efficient use of resources is vital in addressing sustainability challenges.

“One of the main major themes we’re talking about here is capacity,” Martin said. “Looking at it from a sustainability perspective, it’s going to be absolutely critical.”

Security, especially concerning hardware and silicon, is another top concern. Security isn’t receiving as much attention as it should, according to Furrier. For example, Intel has a vulnerability and the need to focus on security in the age of AI, especially where sensitive data and computations are involved.

“We’re going to have more data to secure than ever,” Peterson said. “These models are going to be looking at things that are very sensitive when they are learning and doing these computations for researchers or whatever their application is. It is going to matter.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of SC23:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for SC23. Neither Dell Technologies Inc., the main sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE