In 2024, we can expect to see Generative AI move from disruption to optimisation, with the dialogue shifting from theory to practice.
Meanwhile the edge platform approach will become more prevalent with companies and ecosystems delivering simpler edge platform-centric models.
Another big trend is that Zero Trust infrastructure will be made real and mandated in 2024 across a wide range of industries.
“The centre of the universe for 2024 is AI. Next year will be all about putting AI into practice at the edge, diversifying the hardware pool and securing it through Zero Trust. We’re entering an AI era so need to recognise that long term, AI will drive architectural change across the entire IT ecosystem for many years to come,” says John Roese, global chief technology officer of Dell Technologies.
”Actively think of AI but do not do it independent of other architectures – this is how you’ll make sure your visions and actions align for long-term success.”
AI takes centre stage, moving from theory to practice
Roese expects that the GenAI dialogue will move from theory to practice with shifts from training infrastructure and cost to inference and cost of operation.
“While GenAI has sparked incredibly creative ideas of how it will transform business and the world, there are very few real-world, scaled GenAI activities. As we move into 2024, we will see the first wave of GenAI enterprise projects reach levels of maturity that will expose important dimensions of GenAI not yet understood in the early phases,” says Roese.
Increasingly, enterprises will shift from broad experimentation to a top-down strategic focus on picking the few GenAI projects that can truly be transformational.
Looking further into the future, Roese expects that quantum computing will address the major issue of extreme demand for computing resources required for GenAI, and most large-scale AI. He anticipates that quantum computing will bring about a massive leap in the ability of AI systems.
He expects that the computing foundation of modern AI will eventually become a hybrid quantum system where the AI work is spread across a set of diverse compute architectures, including quantum processing units.
The expansion of modern edge and continued reign of multicloud
As data continue to be at the centre of our future, extracting value from it will be crucial in unlocking transformative business opportunities.
Roese shares that enterprises will recognise that there are two ways to build a modern edge – the proliferation of mono-edges or as a multicloud edge platform.
Choosing the latter to adopt an “edge platform” approach where modern edge becomes an extension of the multicloud infrastructure is the way forward.
Zero Trust fortifies the frontier
With the democratisation of AI, and as more data and intelligence move to the edge, data management will become increasingly important. As a result, the expanded threat surface heightens the importance of developing real Zero Trust architectures and mandating Zero Trust.
“Zero Trust will become the default end state people are moving towards,” says Roese. “It’s the right answer on how to change the curve on cyber so we expect to see more Zero Trust mandates to proliferate around the world.”