 Hi, this is your host Sapna Bhartiya and welcome to the 2023 Prediction series and today we have with us once again Grace Indru's principal product evangelist at Equinix. Grace, it's great to have you back on the show. It's awesome to be back Thank you for having me. Before I ask you to pick your crystal ball and share some predictions Tell us a bit about the company. Equinix are sort of what we're known for is we are part of the I say the godparents of the internet And so we really support the infrastructure that drives forward any of the innovations That we see in both data centers and internet infrastructure Technologies now it's time for you to grab a crystal ball and share with us what predictions you have for our audience So, you know, I looked into my crystal ball earlier And I've got three predictions that I feel pretty confident about but you know what we shall see You know my first prediction really encompasses My other two predictions and we're gonna start with that first prediction, which is the third wave of the cloud I think that the third wave of the cloud is upon us And it's really about us Transforming infrastructure as we know it and a lot of the hyperscalers, especially the top three are now becoming software companies And I think a big part of this third wave is this new operating model where we are trying to make everything accessible for our customers and easy to use with API driven solutions as well as flexible conception models that are really built on Understanding both inputs and outputs and the third wave is really also about making sure that our customers don't have to support This continued large infrastructure or large toll that cloud takes and so you know here at Equinix We do that by allowing our customers to leverage digital services That allows them access to things like bare metal to things like virtual networking as well as software to find interconnection And I think in this third wave of the cloud We'll see a lot of other parts of the ecosystem adopting this model and then you know my second prediction is really gonna be all about AI I think that that was a big buzzword of 2022 especially towards the end and I think that not only will that continue to be a part of the lexicon of all of Technology and also all of society. I think that we're gonna see what it means to actually adopt AI driven models within Infrastructure and so when I say that what I really mean about the rise of AI being you know my second prediction their IDC is saying that 90% of Companies or enterprise apps actually will be using AI by 2024 that's right around the corner and so you know as we go into that process We also have to make sure that we're creating the kinds of infrastructure the kind of hardware that can support AI driven Applications and so I think that in this you know third wave of the cloud that is a big push towards artificial intelligence and Being able to use natural language processing being able to use both augmented and virtual realities Inside of the way in which we start to automate as well as construct an architect Any sort of technical offering that we either provide or consume And so I think that there's gonna be a lot of demands on the market to make sure that not only are we ready with The tools, but we're ready with the infrastructure and then you know my third prediction about the industry Kind of wraps up those two and that's really about sustainability I think that as we go into 2023 and as we you know see the impact of what it means to consume energy In order to build some of the tools that make our lives You know not only more blubber but also help us run our businesses We're realizing that the industry has to have accountability especially with data centers and data center companies which are some of the biggest consumers of energy Around the globe and so you know a lot of us are on a path towards Net neutrality or carbon neutrality and here at equinex. That's our goal to be zero net net zero by 2030 and so I think that a lot of our partners and our Collaborators in the ecosystem are also trying to make sure that our consumption does not cause more harm into the environment And so helping people be able to track and trace and monitor their use and then create solutions and Plans that allow for them to not consume when they don't have to it's going to be a really big part of our 2023, you know behavior, especially as Technologist and all throughout the space Thanks for sharing those predictions. Now if I ask you what is going to be the focus for equinex in 2023 the focus for equinex in 2023 is really about supporting that digital infrastructure and With us the support means two things one being able to make sure that our customers Understand the place that they are in in their cloud journey and also understand what the future could look like for them No matter where they are and also about supporting them in a push towards serverless and native edge apps So what I mean by that is we're really focused on this idea of the digital edge We do believe that taking your data and taking your systems and taking your Processes as close to your consumers and your producers as possible helps not only alleviate some of the issues with latency and security but it also allows for us to mitigate overuse and overconsumption and so part of our big push that addresses those three predictions That I made is really creating a space where our customers and our potential customers know exactly what's going on And that's you know, that's going to be our really big push is Understanding enablement and implementation so people also know how to use our tools and how to use the ecosystem of tools To implement the kinds of solutions that not make that make not only their company better That also can just make the work smoother and more enjoyable. What are the challenges that you see will be there in 2023 and which ones do you feel that hate companies like equinix will be there to help users? Customers navigate through some of these challenges Yeah, I think that the biggest challenge that we really face is that there's a lot to do and really Identifying the process in which to do it, you know, we have partnerships with everyone from Dell to Nvidia to just a plethora of other organizations and The well-established partners and the idea being you know, where do we begin? How do we begin to really transform some of our more traditional customers who are used to a Very physical data center model and take them into this digital world So that they can be a part of the journey and also make their contributions to the market And so that I think is one of the biggest challenges is how do you teach people to use these tools? How do you enable them? What kinds of how-to guides? What kinds of documentation? What kinds of you know video? Content should we be creating but most of all how do we bake that into the product? What kind of experience are they having when they come to use our portal? What kind of experience are they having using our API's how flexible is the model that we're building and a lot of that is you know product refinement as well as time making sure that we're taking the time to hear what our customers are saying and Listen to where the market is going so that we can really create a strategy That is created together and not just our idea of what we think should be and more so a Presentation of what we hear and how we can help risk. Thank you so much for taking time out Share these predictions with us of course focus and the challenges and as usual, I would love to have you back on the show Thank you. Thank you