By M V Reddy – SVP & Head – Cloud Services @ Jio Platforms
Multi-cloud continues to shape the technology infrastructure landscape for large enterprises and Small to Medium Businesses (SMBs) alike. The State of the Cloud Report 2024 from Flexera underscores this trend and captures the perspectives from industry leaders. Although the increase in multi-cloud usage is a mere 2% – from 87% in 2023 to 89% in 2024 – businesses are looking forward to the integration of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) to transform cloud into an unparalleled force of innovation and efficiency.
The Cloud Value
Indian enterprises are increasingly recognizing cloud advantages, including efficiency, resilience, security and fault tolerance. A multi-cloud setup offers higher benefits for applications and workloads. A McKinsey report emphasizes how enterprises in Asia have room to grow and more to gain from cloud. For Indian businesses, the scalability, efficiency and multi-cloud could positively influence the EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization). Think tanks have predicted rapid adoption and innovation as the ripple effect of this trend. Adoption of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (IaaS) is poised to accelerate in the coming years, contributing to the compound annual growth rate (CAGR). Enterprises are already contemplating on the opportunities to increase the cloud value or the Return of Investment (ROI). This is exactly where Gen AI comes into play.
The Gen AI Component
Generative AI is expected to significantly shift the value equation in cloud adoption. As per McKinsey, the advancement in AI is expected to revolutionize the cloud investment-and-return equation. Many CTOs and cloud enterprise leaders unanimously believe that gen AI will be a major disruptor, redefining cloud adoption and the dynamics of value creation. The integration of generative AI strategies into cloud infrastructure management has encouraged businesses to increase cloud investment. From embedding AI capabilities to improve customer delight to leveraging the technology to increase ROI, Gen AI has opened tremendous opportunities for businesses that are on cloud. Building the capabilities into multi-cloud infrastructures right from the beginning of cloud adoption also enables enterprises to measure right and maximize returns.
The Industry Impact of Gen AI in Multi-Cloud
BFSI entities that have adopted Gen AI are reported to generate higher efficiency and improved customer delight among other positive impacts. The potential of Large Language Models (LLMs) to process a large amount of data is also helping financial enterprises to tailor advice for customers. A neo-banking experience is what Gen AI has provided to BFSI businesses that are on cloud. Healthcare segment and ITeS are other large benefactors of this technology integration. Multi-cloud is also enabling rapid scalability with enhanced collaborative access to optimized operations for healthcare, IT and ITeS.
The ROI conundrum that managed service providers had dealt with for long could finally be resolved with gen AI. The current momentum could invite more investment opportunities, positioning India at the center of economic growth.
