The world of data management is undergoing a seismic shift, and Vast Data Inc.’s recent “Build Beyond” announcement is at the forefront of this revolution.

In an interview with theCUBE, Sanjeev Mohan (pictured, right), industry analyst and principal at SanjMo, shared his observations on Vast’s innovative approach to data infrastructure for artificial intelligence.

“This is the most unique thing,” Mohan said. “In my career, I’ve seen a lot of data companies start expanding beyond their core capabilities into the stack. This is the first time I’ve seen a storage company come into the picture and start offering all of these new capabilities.”

Mohan spoke with theCUBE industry analysts John Furrier (left), Dave Vellante (second from left) and Rob Strechay (second from right) at the Vast presents: Build Beyond event, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the market, trends, customer requirements, future industry directions and where Vast fits. (* Disclosure below.)

Vast’s disruptive strategy: Breaking away from conventional norms

TheCUBE’s event brought together industry experts to discuss the company’s disruptive strategy, challenging traditional norms and helping to redefine the future of data management. As the data landscape continues to evolve, Vast Data’s vision and execution hold the potential to help reshape the industry and unlock a new era of possibilities for businesses harnessing the power of AI, according to Mohan.

As a part of its offerings, Vast presented a platform that challenges conventional data practices, doing away with features such as tiering, caching, data movement and partitioning, which are commonly found in other storage solutions. Vast is breaking away from established norms in the industry in a departure from these “no’s,” Mohan added.

Vast’s vision for the future of data management, particularly its transparency and suitability for the AI era, was also a subject of discussion among the panelists. The Vast platform’s ability to be transparent all the way up to the data developer enables seamless data access and analysis without worrying about file sizes or data location. Of course, execution will be critical for Vast’s success as it navigates through a rapidly evolving market, the analysts agreed.

“I think it’s a new way of approaching it. I think the distribution and the chunking and the metadata management are the three magic pieces of it that are suited for this workload,” Strechay said. “I think to the other point, at what size and it becomes a cost value conundrum.”

Embracing the ecosystem: Vast’s collaborative approach for AI-driven solutions

One of the key takeaways from the roundtable was the significance of ecosystem partnerships for Vast. With the increasing complexity of data management and the integration of various layers, such as metadata, data and AI, collaboration with other industry players is essential.

“The top of your OSI stack is critical for companies like Vast who want to build a platform; you’ve got to have an ecosystem,” Vellante said. “I presume they’re not going to do all the security and the governance and the lineage. I mean, they’ll do some of that. And obviously AI; they’re going to partner for AI. They had to announce this and show the world. Now the execution piece comes from building out that ecosystem. That is the hallmark of a successful platform.”

In addition, the panel discussed the trend of repatriating data from the cloud to on-premises storage to optimize costs and improve performance. While acknowledging the importance of on-prem solutions, some on the panel believed that the majority of data would continue to reside in the cloud. However, Vast’s ability to accommodate both on-prem and cloud deployments position it favorably to cater to diverse customer needs.

“We found out at AWS last week in New York when they announced the big GenAI summit that there’s a lot of rightsizing going on in the cloud to save money,” Furrier said. “So, now you have that repatriation equation … that’s where most of their stuff is. To me, the data and the platform is going to be everywhere.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Vast presents: Build Beyond event:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the “Vast presents: Build Beyond” event. Neither Vast Data Inc., the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE