Artificial Intelligence

AirTrunk expands with second AI-ready data centre in Johor

Asia Pacific & Japan (APJ) hyperscale data centre specialist, AirTrunk, has announced plans to develop its second cloud and AI-ready data centre in Johor, Malaysia. AirTrunk JHB2 will be located in Iskandar Puteri, Johor region. Scalable to over 270MW, JHB2 will support demand from global public cloud and technology companies in the region. The JHB2 announcement follows the opening of AirTrunk’s first data centre in Johor, 150+MW AirTrunk JHB1, in July 2024. Combined, AirTrunk is investing over RM 9.7 billion / A$3.5 billion in Malaysia, providing more than 420MW of IT load. JHB2, strategically located in a major availability zone, provides an end-to-end cross border connectivity strategy for customers and the ability to scale their operations to match demand. The additional capacity will support Malaysia’s fast-growing digital economy and follows the establishment of the landmark Johor-Singapore special economic zone (JS-SEZ). Like JHB1, the new data centre will feature AirTrunk’s state-of-the-art liquid cooling technology for managing the high-density demands of AI and will ensure significant energy savings. JHB2 is designed to meet the highest standards of efficiency and security, with a low design PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) of 1.25 and multiple renewable energy options available to customers. To support Johor State Government’s aim to diversify water sources, AirTrunk is scoping treated greywater as a recycled sustainable water supply for its campuses’ operations. Aligned with the Malaysian Government’s focus on National Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and increasing opportunities for highly skilled workers, AirTrunk is creating jobs for Malaysians, with above market rate remuneration for AirTrunk employees, 90% local employees and career development opportunities. AirTrunk is also contributing to digital literacy programs and funding STEM education scholarships at the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) to further support the local community over the long term. Advancing towards its net zero 2030 target, AirTrunk recently announced one of the largest onsite solar deployments for a data centre in Southeast Asia at JHB1, as well as the first renewable energy Virtual Power Purchase Agreement for a data centre for 30MW of renewable energy, under Malaysia’s Corporate Green Power Programme. AirTrunk is working with the leading Malaysian utility company, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) to connect JHB2 through TNB’s Green Lane Pathway for Data Centres initiative, streamlining high-voltage electricity supply to an accelerated timeframe of 12 months. AirTrunk is also providing land for TNB to build a new substation, adding resilience to the electricity distribution system in the area. This continuing collaboration, which started from an MoU signed in 2023, opens the door for AirTrunk to explore green solutions with TNB in efforts to advance the energy transition in the region. AirTrunk Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Robin Khuda, says, “As Malaysia establishes itself as a digital powerhouse, it is a privilege for AirTrunk to contribute to this growth over the long term and deliver shared benefit for the people of Malaysia. AirTrunk’s data centres serve as essential infrastructure that will help boost productivity and enable new products and services that can drive economic growth. “We are committed to helping realise the potential of cloud and AI in Malaysia and prioritising circularity for the benefit of society and the environment. AirTrunk is supporting local digital literacy and STEM initiatives, driving the energy transition and working to embed a sustainable water supply to make a positive impact.”

Progress Data Cloud platform launched

Progress, a provider of AI-powered digital experiences and infrastructure software, has announced the launch of Progress Data Cloud, a managed Data Platform as a Service designed to simplify enterprise data and artificial intelligence (AI) operations in the cloud. With Progress Data Cloud, customers can accelerate their digital transformation and AI initiatives while reducing operational complexity and IT overhead. As global businesses scale their data operations and embrace AI, a robust cloud data strategy has become the cornerstone of success, enabling organisations to harness the full potential of their data for innovation and growth. Progress Data Cloud meets this critical need by providing a unified, secure and scalable platform to build, manage and deploy data architectures and AI projects without the burden of managing IT infrastructure. “Organisations increasingly recognise that cloud and AI are pivotal to unlocking business value at scale,” says John Ainsworth, GM and EVP, Application and Data Platform, Progress. “Progress Data Cloud empowers companies to achieve this by offering a seamless, end-to-end experience for data and AI operations, removing the barriers of infrastructure complexity while delivering exceptional performance, security and predictability.” Key features and benefits Progress Data Cloud is a Data Platform as a Service that enables managed hosting of feature-complete instances of Progress Semaphore and Progress MarkLogic, with plans to support additional Progress products in the future. Core benefits include: • Simplified operations: Eliminates infrastructure complexity with always-on infrastructure management, monitoring service, continuous security scanning and automated product upgrades.• Cost efficiency: Reduces IT costs and bottlenecks with predictable pricing, resource usage transparency and no egress fees.• Enhanced security: Helps harden security posture with an enterprise-grade security model that is SOC 2 Type 1 compliant.• Scalability and performance: Offers superior availability and reliability, supporting mission-critical business operations, GenAI demands and large-scale analytics.• Streamlined user management: Self-service access controls and tenancy management provide better visibility and customisation. Progress Data Cloud accelerates time to production by offering managed hosting for the Progress MarkLogic Server database and the Progress MarkLogic Data Hub solution with full-feature parity. Customers can benefit from enhanced scalability, security and seamless deployment options. Replacing Semaphore Cloud, Progress Data Cloud provides a next-generation cloud platform with all existing Semaphore functionality plus new features for improved performance, security, reliability, user management and SharePoint Online integration. “As enterprises continue to invest in digital transformation and AI strategies, the need for robust, scalable and secure data platforms becomes increasingly evident,” says Stewart Bond, Vice President, Data Intelligence and Integration Software, IDC. “Progress Data Cloud addresses a critical market need by simplifying data operations and accelerating the development of AI-powered solutions. Its capabilities, from seamless infrastructure management to enterprise-grade security, position it as a compelling choice for organisations looking to unlock the full potential of their data to drive innovation and business value.” Progress Data Cloud is a cloud-based hosting of foundational products that make up the Progress Data Platform portfolio. Progress Data Cloud is now available for existing and new customers of the MarkLogic and Semaphore platforms.

Poor data quality the top obstacle to AI success, report says

The Ataccama Data Trust Report 2025 has identified poor data quality as a critical obstacle to AI adoption. The report states that despite AI's transformative potential, its success depends on trusted, reliable data. A lofty 68% of Chief Data Officers (CDOs) cite data quality as their top challenge, with only 33% of organisations making meaningful progress in AI adoption. Conducted by Hanover Research with insights from 300 senior data leaders, the report underscores the urgency of addressing systemic issues like fragmented systems and governance gaps. Without resolution, businesses risk stalled innovation, wasted resources, and diminished returns on AI investments. Other key findings • 41% of organisations struggle to maintain consistent data quality, directly hindering AI outcomes.• Knowledge gaps around data trust and governance slow progress; education is critical to closing these gaps.• Trusted data drives AI success: High-quality data accelerates decision-making, enhances customer experiences, and delivers competitive advantages. Policy implications As the UK accelerates its AI strategy with the newly unveiled AI Opportunities Action Plan, the report highlights a foundational gap organisations must address: data trust. When data is accurate, reliable, and trustworthy, users can be confident in making informed decisions that drive improved outcomes and reduce risk. • National standards for data quality: The report emphasises the need for unified benchmarks to guide businesses in building AI-ready ecosystems. Creating a National Data Library is a core goal within the UK plan for homegrown AI and regulatory principles - safety, transparency, and fairness - could be operationalised through national data governance benchmarks. These standards would ensure clear compliance guidelines while supporting the UK’s pro-innovation regulatory goals.• Infrastructure modernisation: Legacy systems remain a bottleneck to AI scalability, unable to handle real-time, high-volume data demands. With the commitment to sufficient, secure, and sustainable infrastructure, the UK’s investment in supercomputing and AI growth zones enables continuous data quality monitoring and governance. These advancements create scalable, efficient systems tailored to advanced AI technologies.• Data trust in AI regulation: Embedding governance and automated validation practices into data workflows is crucial for compliance, reliability, and long-term growth. Aligning the UK’s ethical AI initiatives with data trust requirements would ensure AI systems both operate reliably and adhere to safety and transparency principles. “The report makes one thing clear: enterprise AI initiatives rely on a foundation of trusted data,” says Jay Limburn, Chief Product Officer at Ataccama. “Without addressing systemic data quality challenges, organisations risk stalling progress. The UK’s approach to AI regulation shows how aligning data trust principles with national standards and infrastructure modernisation can deliver tangible results.” Data trust as the foundation of global AI leadership The UK’s regulatory progress presents an opportunity to lead in AI innovation. However, even the most ambitious policies risk falling short without prioritising data trust. The Ataccama Data Trust Report 2025 offers a roadmap to embed data trust into the UK’s AI agenda, ensuring ethical, effective initiatives that drive measurable outcomes, including increased AI adoption, enhanced compliance, and competitive advantages. To download the report in full, click here.

Tech leaders gather to discuss AI Opportunities Action Plan

Technology industry leaders gathered in London this week to discuss the government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, launched by Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, earlier this week. The meeting, which took place on Wednesday at The Savoy Hotel in central London, saw digital experts discuss the implementation and practicalities of adopting the much-hyped initiative, which is backed by a £14bn investment and set to create over 13,000 jobs. Key attendees included Feryal Clark MP, Minister for AI and Digital Government, who summarised the government’s AI roadmap, and Steven George-Hilley, Founder of Centropy PR. Speaking at the event, John Lucey, VP EMEA North for Cellebrite, commented, “We’ve seen the importance of AI and digital policy this week with the launch of the AI Opportunities Actions Plan poised to position the UK as a global AI leader. Data will play a central role in Britain’s AI future, requiring comprehensive data management systems and data privacy protocols to ensure that AI is trained on trustworthy data and that data inputs don’t breach privacy laws. “In key sectors such as policing and defence, for example, organisations need to be able to trust AI systems to deliver accurate results in a safe manner, maintaining client confidentiality while automating manual processes to drive efficiencies. For AI to be truly successful, it will require investment in data practices and training.” Meanwhile, cyber expert, Andy Ward, SVP International for Absolute Security, stated, “As the UK positions itself as a global AI leader, it’s important that a security-first approach is taken to AI innovation and development to mitigate cyber risks. AI-powered threats are growing increasingly sophisticated, targeting sensitive data from public sector bodies and high-profile individuals, right the way down to small businesses. “Recognising these threats and building cyber resilience frameworks to protect critical IT systems can help organisations to remain operational in the face of threats, allowing them to push forward with innovative AI solutions while limiting potential risks.” Ben Green, Chief Revenue Officer at adCAPTCHA, observed, “The evolution and widespread adoption of AI is showing no signs of slowing down, requiring collaboration between the public sector and industry to shape the UK’s AI future. There’s no question of the benefits that AI can bring, but we must also be mindful of the risks, with trends such as AI-enabled bot attacks continuing to threaten businesses and drain marketing revenues through manipulating ad auctions. “Understanding the threats that AI could pose, as well as where it can be a vital solution, is crucial to the UK’s ambitious AI leadership.”

Industry reacts to AI Opportunities Action Plan

Following yesterday's news about the Government unveiling a new AI Opportunities Action Plan, the industry has naturally been swift to react. Here's a round-up of observations from across the sector: • Mark Yeeles, Vice President, Secure Power division, Schneider Electric UK & Ireland, says, “The UK has long held a rich history of technology leadership and innovation, and the recommendations within the Government's new AI Opportunities Action Plan present an ambitious but essential strategy to accelerate sustainable economic growth. In many respects, it is a crucial first step towards a more digitally driven future, enabled by AI. “I, for one, am delighted to see further recognition of data centres as Critical National Infrastructure, and of their pivotal role in providing the secure, sustainable, and resilient infrastructure foundations that are essential to the countries AI success. “Indeed, the proposed development of AI Growth Zones (AIGZs) presents a logical and effective way to fast-track new AI infrastructure, and to co-develop it with distributed energy resources - addressing the many power challenges that have historically hindered national developments. “What’s critical is that security, sustainability and efficiency remain at the forefront of these developments, and that we continue to create strategies to decouple AI and data centre growth from power consumption, while reducing the technologies demand on the grid. “Additionally, to meet and exceed our ambitions around AI leadership, it’s essential we tackle the skills gaps across several key areas connected to AI, including data centres and digital infrastructure, renewable power, sustainability, and engineering. “We at Schneider Electric are therefore not only glad to see the Government taking proactive steps to address the skills shortage at an industry-level by setting targets to train tens of thousands of AI professionals by 2030, but to see its plans to expand education pathways into AI and to teach higher-education students’ a host of industry-relevant skills. “Further, addressing the diversity issue at root and branch is vital to the future of the UK’s technology industry, and it’s excellent to see the acknowledgment of this within the plan.” • Dame Dawn Childs, CEO of Pure DC, comments, “Pure DC welcomes the UK Government's AI Opportunities Action Plan, which underscores the nation's commitment to advancing artificial intelligence. The establishment of AI Growth Zones, such as the one in Culham, Oxfordshire, is a significant step toward accelerating the development of essential infrastructure. “As a leading data centre provider, Pure DC recognises the importance of translating ambitious plans into tangible outcomes. The successful application and delivery of infrastructure depend on close collaboration between government, industry, and local communities. By aligning these efforts, we can create data centres that not only meet the evolving growth in capacity sought by technology firms, but also respect and actively benefit the communities they serve. “We are particularly encouraged by the plan's focus on creating jobs and fostering innovation in de-industrialised areas. This aligns with our commitment to engaging with local stakeholders to drive economic development and ensure our projects deliver long-term value for communities. “By working together, we can ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of AI and technology, creating a thriving environment for innovation and investment.” • Robin Ferris, AI Lead at digital infrastructure provider, Pulsant, observes, "It takes a long time to plan and build the digital infrastructure that supports AI technology, so the announcement of dedicated AI Growth Zones is fantastic news. But for this to really work, the plan needs to think about the different needs of AI. Training large language models (LLMs) can be more flexible with where it happens, but AI inference – the bit where we actually see AI’s real value – works better when it’s closer to major economic hubs. "Organisations have been working hard to create real-world AI applications, and we are at an inflection point where they are now coming into production, but only if the right infrastructure is available – and fast. The need is now, and while the UK has one of the most advanced digital infrastructures in the world, it has to keep pace with businesses' growing needs. That’s why including brownfield sites would be a smart move. Not only can it be more efficient, but it’s also a greener, more sustainable choice. "Having a spread-out, diverse digital infrastructure across the UK is key to making AI accessible to everyone – not just businesses in specific regions. That way, we can create an environment where innovation thrives everywhere and ideas turn into real-world impact faster." • Tom Whittaker, Director at UK law firm, Burges Salmon, says, “The AI sector will be looking forward to the Spring 2025 Spending Review and the further publications listed in the plan to see what the plan looks like in practice. The plan reflects the public sector's cautious optimism about AI.  “In fact, Government is doing more for the AI sector than what's set out in the AI Opportunities Action Plan. For example, the plan does not refer to the Government's push for public sector organisations to publish on a register where they are developing or using AI. That register shows that there is a wide range of potential uses of AI across the public sector. We can see from research and public registers of AI development and use that there is a great deal of enthusiasm across the public sector to use AI to improve public services.” • Rupert Bedell, CEO at Fasthosts, comments, “Data centres are the engines that will drive the AI Opportunities Action Plan into reality, but their development comes with significant environmental consequences. Managing their energy demands will define whether this AI plan will be a sustainable path forward. “The proposed AI Energy Council must lead in establishing robust standards for energy efficiency and renewable energy use in new data centres. Equally, upgrading existing facilities with advanced technologies and modular designs will be essential to reducing their environmental impact. Relying solely on carbon offsets will not be enough, as true sustainability requires meaningful changes to how data centres are built and maintained throughout their lifecycle. “For AI to truly benefit our society, we must address its environmental footprint head-on. Data centres have a unique opportunity to set the benchmark for how innovation and environmental responsibility can coexist.”

PM unveils AI Opportunities Action Plan

The Prime Minister has unveiled the Government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, committing £14 billion in investment into ‘game-changing’ artificial intelligence and creating 13,250 jobs. The IMF estimates that AI could increase productivity across the UK by as much as 1.5 percentage points each year, if the technology is fully embraced. These gains may be worth an average of £47 billion to the UK economy every year for over a decade. As part of the plan, the government is creating new AI Growth Zones to fast-track the building of AI infrastructure, starting in Culham and Oxfordshire. These zones will speed up planning permission and generate energy connections needed to power AI. Prime Minister Keir Starmer says, “Artificial Intelligence will drive incredible change in our country. From teachers personalising lessons, to supporting small businesses with their record-keeping, to speeding up planning applications, it has the potential to transform the lives of working people. “But the AI industry needs a government that is on their side; one that won’t sit back and let opportunities slip through its fingers. And in a world of fierce competition, we cannot stand by. We must move fast and take action to win the global race.” The AI Opportunities Action Plan takes forward the 50 recommendations set out by AI expert Matt Clifford, providing the full support of the government. The plan re-enforces the UK commitment to become a global leader in AI, learning from the US and EU’s approach to lead innovation and deliver long-term stability for businesses. Sachin Agrawal, UK Managing Director for Zoho, comments, “Artificial Intelligence is already having a transformative impact on people and businesses, driving efficiencies across areas such as data analysis, fraud detection and forecasting which make a significant difference to people’s lives. The commitment to investment and support in the AI Opportunities Action Plan is hugely encouraging, demonstrating the UK’s ambition as a global AI leader and instilling confidence in businesses to turbocharge innovation. “As part of this innovation push, it is important for the UK to understand how AI regulation and data privacy continue to challenge businesses developing and implementing AI systems. In 2024, multi-agent AI emerged as a significant trend by enabling the collaboration between specialised agents to handle complex workflows in enterprise businesses where structured information and datasets are critical for context. No comprehensive frameworks have been enacted yet in the UK, although renewed commitments such as this and continued efforts indicate the growing recognition of responsible AI governance. According to our Digital Health Study, 78% of businesses have already used AI or are planning to invest heavily in the technology. “As businesses take the next steps of AI adoption, fuelled by this landmark policy, they should be guided by the government, regulators and educators under AI frameworks that promote the safe and ethical development and usage of AI systems.” The Prime Minster highlighted the transformative role that AI can play in driving public sector efficiency, saving time on admin that can be reassigned to improving public services. Speeding up planning consultations to get Britain building, faster and more accurate medical diagnoses, reducing admin for teachers, and AI analysis of camera footage to improve roads were among the examples given by the Prime Minister on the benefits the plans will provide working people. As part of the plan, the government is setting up a new team to build the UK’s sovereign capabilities and seize AI opportunities, as well as creating a new National Data Library to securely unlock the value of public data and support AI development. Andy Ward, SVP International for Absolute Security, comments, “For the AI Opportunities Action Plan to truly deliver the transformative impact we all hope, it is vital that security is at the heart of these developments to ensure that AI systems that are being developed and deployed aren’t posing dangerous security risks. There’s no doubt that AI can bring a wealth of positives to our lives, but there’s a dark side to AI with cybercriminals manipulating it as part of attacks, infiltrating IT systems and increasing the sophistication and volume of attacks.” “While the intention of becoming a global AI leader is encouraging, it requires the government, NCSC and industry to ensure that AI rollouts consider the security risks posed and put in place safeguards to provide additional business protections. Our research found that over half of CISOs feel that their security team is unprepared for evolving AI-powered threats, and 44% have gone as far as banning their employees from using AI due to the security risks. “Cyber attacks have long been a case of when, not just if, and with AI positioned to increase the threat volume, taking a proactive approach to building cyber resilience has never been more important. Security teams not only need to identify and prevent attacks, they need the capability to recover when a breach does occur, shutting off compromised systems and restoring operations quickly and securely.”

Research forecasts AI’s impact on energy consumption

Schneider Electric, an expert in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, has released two reports from its Sustainability Research Institute (SRI). These reports fill key knowledge gaps regarding AI’s impact on sustainability, particularly in energy use. The first research, Artificial Intelligence and Electricity: A System Dynamics Approach, examines four possible scenarios for AI's electricity consumption over the next decade. Considering the growing concern around AI’s energy consumption, Rémi Paccou, Director of Schneider Electric’s Sustainability Research Institute, and Prof. Fons Wijnhoven, Associate Professor at the University of Twente (Netherlands), have built a system dynamics model that forecasts diverse scenarios for AI electricity demand, highlighting the path forward for sustainable AI development strategies and policies to mitigate environmental impacts. The authors construct four scenarios of AI development and their associated impacts on electricity consumption. These scenarios, which are not predictions but rather tools to understand the complex factors shaping our future, span a range of possibilities: from Sustainable AI development to Limits to Growth, including more radical scenarios such as Abundance Without Boundaries and even the possibility of Energy Crises caused by AI. Alongside these forecasts and analysis, the report also contains recommendations for policymakers and decision-makers, contributing to a thoughtful and responsible approach to development, aiming for a path that balances progress with sustainability. The second report, AI-Powered HVAC in Educational Buildings: A Net Digital Impact Use Case, also by Rémi Paccou and Gauthier Roussilhe, Research Fellow and Doctoral Student at RMIT, demonstrates how AI-powered heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems can enhance energy efficiency and environmental conservation in buildings. HVAC systems account for 35-65% of total building energy consumption. The study examined over 87 educational properties in Stockholm, Sweden, over an extended period under real-world conditions. Between 2019 and 2023, the study observed a total carbon emission reduction of 65tCO2e/y, roughly 60 times the actual embodied carbon footprint of the AI system deployed. The research reveals opportunities for even greater carbon reductions in environments with more demanding heating, cooling, or air conditioning requirements. A comparative analysis between Stockholm and Boston showed that implementing the same solution in Boston could yield carbon emission savings seven times higher than in Stockholm. The publishing of these reports coincides with the IEA's Global Conference on Energy & AI, where Schneider Electric was in attendance. This conference gathers experts from the energy and tech sectors, government, civil society, and academia to discuss the potential impacts of AI on global energy systems and the opportunities for leveraging AI for energy and climate goals. Schneider Electric’s CEO, Olivier Blum, and Executive Vice President of its Data Centres & Networks Business, Pankaj Sharma, participated in a high-level roundtable discussion. Vincent Petit, Climate and Energy Transition Research SVP at Schneider Electric, notes, “The release of our reports comes at a crucial time, as the IEA conference highlights the transformative power of AI in the energy sector. As a company and as researchers, we are committed to keep shaping the future of energy and climate solutions.” For more from Schneider Electric, click here.

AI security and data availability to underpin 2025 tech trends

AI has continued to be transformative throughout 2024, with accelerating adoption by enterprises and a growing number of use cases. According to experts from data platform, Nasuni, the AI boom will continue in 2025, but will be defined by three key pillars: 1. 2025 will bring a new era of security maturity - The ability to protect and quickly recover data assets underpins every other business process in an AI-first world 2. Data readiness will be central to AI success - As we look toward 2025, data will no longer just support AI, it will shape and limit the scope of what AI can achieve 3. Enterprises will strive to find the real ROI in AI - 2025 will usher in a more measured approach to AI investment, as organisations will be increasingly focused on quantifiable ROI Discussing these predictions, Russ Kennedy, Chief Evangelist at Nasuni, says, “In 2025, data will be more valuable than ever as enterprises leverage AI to power their operations. However, as data’s value grows, so does its appeal to increasingly sophisticated threat actors. This new reality will continue driving organisations to rethink their security frameworks, making data protection and rapid recovery the backbone of any AI strategy. Attackers are evolving, using AI to create more insidious methods, like embedding corrupted models and targeting AI frameworks directly, which makes rapid data recovery as vital as data protection itself. “Businesses will need to deploy rigorous measures not only to prevent attacks, but to ensure that if the worst happens, they can quickly restore their AI-driven processes. 2025 will bring a new era of security maturity, one where the ability to protect and quickly recover data assets underpins every other business process in an AI-first world.” Jim Liddle, Chief Innovation Officer Data Intelligence and AI at Nasuni, comments, “As we look toward 2025, data will no longer just support AI – it will shape and limit the scope of what AI can achieve. A robust data management strategy will be essential, especially as AI continues advancing into unstructured data. For years, companies have successfully leveraged structured data for insights, but unstructured data – such as documents, images, and embedded files – has remained largely untapped. The continued advancements in AI’s ability to process the different types of unstructured data that reside within an enterprise are exciting, but they also require organisations to know what data they have and how and where it’s being used. “2025 will mark the era of ‘data readiness’ for AI. Companies that strategically curate and manage their data assets will see the most AI-driven value, while those lacking a clear data strategy may struggle to move beyond the basics. A data-ready strategy is the first step for any enterprise looking to maximise AI’s full potential in the coming years.” Nick Burling, Senior Vice President, Product at Nasuni, adds, “2025 will usher in a more measured approach to AI investment, as organisations will be increasingly focused on quantifiable ROI. While AI can deliver immense value, its high operational costs and resource demands mean that companies need to be more selective with their AI projects. Many enterprises will find that running data-heavy applications, especially at scale, requires not just investment but careful cost management. Edge data management will be a critical component, helping businesses to optimise data flow and control expenses associated with AI. “For organisations keen on balancing innovation with budgetary constraints, cost efficiency will drive AI adoption. Enterprises will focus on using AI strategically, ensuring that every AI initiative is justified by clear, measurable returns. In 2025, we’ll see businesses embrace AI not only for its transformative potential, but for how effectively it can deliver sustained, tangible value in an environment where budgets continue to be tightly scrutinised.” For more from Nasuni, click here.

Infinidat introduces RAG workflow deployment architecture

Infinidat, a provider of enterprise storage solutions, has introduced new Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) workflow deployment architecture to enable enterprises to fully leverage generative AI (GenAI). The company states that this dramatically improves the accuracy and relevancy of AI models with up-to-date, private data from multiple company data sources, including unstructured data and structured data, such as databases, from existing Infinidat platforms. With Infinidat’s RAG architecture, enterprises utilise Infinidat’s existing InfiniBox and InfiniBox SSA enterprise storage systems as the basis to optimise the output of AI models, without the need to purchase any specialised equipment. Infinidat also provides the flexibility of using RAG in a hybrid multi-cloud environment, with InfuzeOS Cloud Edition, making the storage infrastructure a strategic asset for unlocking the business value of GenAI applications for enterprises. “Infinidat will play a critical role in RAG deployments, leveraging data on InfiniBox enterprise storage solutions, which are perfectly suited for retrieval-based AI workloads,” says Eric Herzog, CMO at Infinidat. “Vector databases that are central to obtaining the information to increase the accuracy of GenAI models run extremely well in Infinidat’s storage environment. Our customers can deploy RAG on their existing storage infrastructure, taking advantage of the InfiniBox system’s high performance, ow latency, and unique Neural Cache technology, enabling delivery of rapid and highly accurate responses for GenAI workloads.” RAG augments AI models using relevant and private data retrieved from an enterprise’s vector databases. Vector databases are offered by a number of vendors, such as Oracle, PostgreSQL, MongoDB and DataStax Enterprise. These are used during the AI inference process that follows AI training. As part of a GenAI framework, RAG enables enterprises to auto-generate more accurate, more informed and more reliable responses to user queries. It enables AI learning models, such as a Large Language Model (LLM) or a Small Language Model (SLM), to reference information and knowledge that is beyond the data on which it was trained. It not only customises general models with a business’ most updated information, but it also eliminates the need for continually re-training AI models, which are resource intensive. “Infinidat is positioning itself the right way as an enabler of RAG inferencing in the GenAI space,” adds Marc Staimer, President of Dragon Slayer Consulting. “Retrieval-augmented generation is a high value proposition area for an enterprise storage solution provider that delivers high levels of performance, 100% guaranteed availability, scalability, and cyber resilience that readily apply to LLM RAG inferencing. With RAG inferencing being part of almost every enterprise AI project, the opportunity for Infinidat to expand its impact in the enterprise market with its highly targeted RAG reference architecture is significant.” Stan Wysocki, President at Mark III Systems, remarks, “Infinidat is bringing enterprise storage and GenAI together in a very important way by providing a RAG architecture that will enhance the accuracy of AI. It makes perfect sense to apply this retrieval-augmented generation for AI to where data is actually stored in an organisation’s data infrastructure. This is a great example of how Infinidat is propelling enterprise storage into an exciting AI-enhanced future.” Inaccurate or misleading results from a GenAI model, referred to as 'AI hallucinations', are a common problem that have held back the adoption and broad deployment of AI within enterprises. An AI hallucination may present inaccurate information as 'fact', cite non-existent data, or provide false attribution – all of which tarnish AI and expose a gap that calls for the continual refinement of data queries. A focus on AI models, without a RAG strategy, tends to rely on a large amount of publicly available data, while under-utilising an enterprise’s own proprietary data assets. To address this major challenge in GenAI, Infinidat is making its architecture available for enterprises to continuously refine a RAG pipeline with new data, thereby reducing the risk of AI hallucinations. By enhancing the accuracy of AI model-driven insights, Infinidat is helping to advance the fulfillment of the promise of GenAI for enterprises. Infinidat’s solution can encompass any number of InfiniBox platforms and enables extensibility to third-party storage solutions via file-based protocols such as NFS. In addition, to simplify and accelerate the rollout of RAG for enterprises, Infinidat integrates with the cloud providers, using its InfuzeOS Cloud Edition for AWS and Azure to make RAG work in a hybrid cloud configuration. This complements the work that hyperscalers are doing to build out LLMs on a larger scale to do the initial training of the AI models. The combination of AI models and RAG is a key component for defining the future of generative AI. For more from Infinidat, click here.

Datadog Monitoring for OCI now widely available

Datadog, a monitoring and security platform for cloud applications and a member of Oracle PartnerNetwork, has announced the general availability of Datadog Monitoring for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), which enables Oracle customers to monitor enterprise cloud-native and traditional workloads on OCI with telemetry in context across their infrastructure, applications and services. With this launch, Datadog is helping customers migrate with confidence from on-premises to cloud environments, execute multi-cloud strategies and monitor AI/ML inference workloads. Datadog Monitoring for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure helps customers: - Gain visibility into OCI and hybrid environments: Teams can collect and analyse metrics from their OCI stack by using Datadog's integrations for over 20 major OCI services and more than 750 other technologies. In addition, customers can visualise the performance of OCI cloud services, on-premises servers, VMs, databases, containers and apps in near-real time with customisable, drag-and-drop, and out-of-the-box dashboards and monitors. - Monitor AI/ML inference workloads: Teams can monitor and receive alerts on the usage and performance of GPUs, investigate root causes, monitor operational performance and evaluate the quality, privacy and safety of LLM applications. - Get code-level visibility into applications: Real-time service maps, AI-powered synthetic monitors and alerts on latency, exceptions, code-level errors, log issues and more give teams deeper insight into the health and performance of their applications, including those using Java. “With this announcement, Datadog enables Oracle customers to unify monitoring of OCI, on-premises environments and other clouds in a single pane of glass for all teams,” says Yrieix Garnier, VP of Product at Datadog. “This helps teams migrate to the cloud and execute multi-cloud strategies with confidence, knowing that they can monitor services side-by-side, visualise performance data during all stages of a migration and immediately identify service dependencies.” For more from Datadog, click here.