Cloud Computing Evolves with AI and Edge Computing, Driving Business Innovation
The advancement of cloud computing has been remarkable over the past few years, spurred by the growing demand for digital information and e-commerce. Industry experts at the Business Transformation Summit 2023, held in Jaipur, believe that cloud architectures will continue to evolve into highly optimized and application-centric environments, driven by artificial intelligence (AI), serving as a catalyst for innovation.
According to Kaustubh Dabral, Global CIO of Dabur India Limited, cloud computing has moved beyond resource management and scalability to focus more on workload distribution rather than physical hardware locations. As a company with a strong legacy, Dabur India Limited has successfully migrated to the cloud, experiencing significant improvements in business resilience, benefiting retailers, partners, employees, and consumers alike.
Improving business latency has become a major driver for adopting hybrid cloud and multi-cloud approaches. While certain applications perform well in public cloud infrastructures, others are better suited for on-premises operations due to latency, governance, or security concerns. Additionally, relying on a single vendor for solutions is deemed unsafe, leading to the adoption of multi-cloud strategies.
Sandeep K. Dewangan, President & Group CIO of Safexpress Private Limited, highlights the challenges organizations face due to increasing reliance on complex cloud environments. AI tools can help automate routine tasks, analyze data, and provide insights into customer behavior, thereby enhancing overall operations.
AI’s contribution to the creation of new services and business models in the cloud is also significant. Dabral mentions that more and more cloud services are incorporating AI components as value-adds. This trend is expected to continue as companies leverage these technologies to drive innovation, agility, and competitiveness.
Nevertheless, security remains a major concern for businesses considering cloud services. The storage of data or execution of applications on infrastructure not directly controlled poses inherent risks, as does data transmission via the open internet.
Dewangan believes that AI has emerged as an efficient tool in the fight against cyber threats. Real-time threat detection, improved accuracy, and proactive threat mitigation are among the benefits of implementing AI for cloud security and threat detection.
Dabral also emphasizes the importance of considering security during the planning phase of a cloud journey. Addressing security concerns after the planning phase can lead to significant costs and complexities.
As cloud computing continues to evolve, cloud vendors must also transform to stay ahead. Gagandeep Singh, Regional Sales Director of Salesforce, suggests that cloud providers should develop a trusted AI cloud that integrates AI into a comprehensive cloud security plan. Salesforce, for example, is focused on building a trusted AI platform for customer companies, leveraging machine intelligence and the new AI Cloud service.
Dewangan advises CIOs and CTOs to collaborate with the right cloud partners, as cloud adoption necessitates organizational transformation beyond data security, privacy, and compliance controls.
Looking ahead, the prevalence of edge computing will expand further, thanks to the evolution of 5G technology. Edge devices will become more powerful but will also require substantial real-time data processing and organization-wide data sharing for analysis and insight.
Dabral notes that cloud migration is not merely an IT project, but a business transformation endeavor where cultural aspects play a vital role.
Research firm Gartner predicts that cloud computing will become the dominant computing paradigm in the future. By 2027, it will not only be seen as a technology platform but also as a key driver of business innovation.
