Dell is looking to tap into the burgeoning Generative Artificial Intelligence market by offering a wide variety of customizable enterprise AI models. This new direction is reportedly a response to heightened corporate interest in AI and has significantly boosted the company's profits. Dell's Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer, Jeff Clarke, recently referred to artificial intelligence as a “strong tailwind for all things data and compute.”
Partnership with Starburst Aims to Provide Comprehensive Data Sources
In a bid to provide more comprehensive data for these AI models, Dell plans to work with data analytics firm Starburst. The partnership is aimed at facilitating access to various data sources, thereby elevating the efficiency and effectiveness of Dell's AI offerings. In July, Dell introduced its first lineup of Generative AI machines primarily focused on utilizing validated designs with existing AI models. The new venture expands the line to incorporate customizable model tuning, which Dell claims can rapidly improve implementation and performance.
Addressing Enterprise Hesitancy with Added Services and Customization
However, despite the significant interest in Generative AI, Dell has acknowledged ongoing hesitancy from enterprise customers due to concerns over the technical complexity, security, and data governance of the technology. As such, the company is rolling out the Dell Validated Design for Generative AI for Model Customization – a platform that supports both model tuning and inferencing and helps improve the deployment of Generative AI models. This platform, anticipated for release by the end of October, is expected to expand the horizons of Generative AI, especially for businesses seeking solutions tailored to their specific requirements.
To further assuage customers' concerns, Dell is also offering additional services aimed at data preparation, aiding companies in achieving functional Generative AI platforms, and providing education services to upskill workers in Generative AI.
An Open, Modern Data Lakehouse – A Vision for the Future
Outside the realm of Generative AI, Dell disclosed ongoing work with Starburst on a project dubbed the “open, modern data lakehouse.” This initiative aims to support broader AI workloads and analytics, offering a scale-out architecture and a unified data stack. Dell envisions a model where customers no longer have to consolidate all of their data before it can be utilized, instead, the new solution would allow users to effectively use data where it exists.
Work on this project is ongoing, with completion slated for the first half of 2024. This platform will use the Starburst Enterprise platform and run on Dell PowerEdge servers with Dell's object and file storage.
