“One of the interesting things about AI is that the future is happening now,” John Roese, Dell’s Chief AI Officer, said in a recent conversation with Bloomberg. “There is no five-year journey that you’re going to get to eventually. The disruptions are happening almost weekly.” This view is an obvious statement on the rapid advancements in AI and how Dell is strategically positioned to leverage these changes. Roese articulated the unique pace of AI development.
Reflecting on the scale and speed of AI’s impact compared to past technological revolutions, Roese remarked: “From a scale perspective, it’s similar [to the Internet], but the speed in which this is happening — if you’re not there now or if you’re not moving towards getting there, you’re already late.” This states the urgency for businesses to integrate AI into their operations swiftly.
Dell has been proactive in preparing for this AI-driven future.
“About four or five years ago, we built our first AI servers predicting that there would be a time where this would explode,” he said. This foresight has allowed Dell to stay ahead of the curve, with ready-to-market products when AI advancements, like large language models, gained traction.
Roese also discussed the distinct markets emerging within AI, particularly between training large-scale models and enterprise applications.
“The training business is growing dramatically but the people that are going to produce these models is not anywhere near that number of enterprises that will use them,” he explained. This, it’s clear, underlines Dell’s approach in catering to both the foundational model creators and the broader enterprise market.
Dell, under Roese’s leadership, remains committed to navigating these changes, ensuring they remain a key player in the rapidly transforming technological landscape.
