AI may be grabbing the headlines, but data is powering the revolution. At the heart of that transformation is NetApp, a $30 billion intelligent data infrastructure leader helping enterprises unlock the value of data across cloud and AI. After a landmark year driven by record financial performance and growing enterprise AI demand, CEO George Kurian believes data, not chips, will define the winners of the AI era.
You know, when we last spoke, which was about 3 years ago, it was all about the cloud, and now it's all about AI. What do you make of this massive transformation and shift that's taking place?
I think it's built on the foundation of large-scale digital technology being available with an important couple of other ingredients. One is sophisticated computer models, and of course, the ability to harness the power of large amounts of data, which is where we
Your thesis on data being at the center of everything is proving right today.
Thank you. Yes. We've long held the view that in addition to talent and understanding your business or your clients deeply, data becomes the competitive moat of an industry. You know, everybody has access to the same chips. Everybody has access to the same models, and the models themselves are largely trained on the same data. And so, your ability as an organization to deeply understand your business, your clients, and employees using your data becomes the competitive moat.
So that is the competitive moat as you point out. But I want to understand from you, you know, it's been what? A little over 10 years for you here at NetApp. So you've seen many cycles. What is specific to this particular wave that we are seeing, the AI wave that everybody wants to get on top of? What is different this time around?
I think it has the promise of a platform shift in a broad sense. Certain industries are already experiencing that, you know, digitally intensive industries. I think for that to become a reality, the technology has to prove out its promise. I think, you know, the organizations that use the technology need to have an understanding of how the technology works. It can't just be a black box.
And you need to be able to change the way people and businesses fundamentally operate. So lots of promise, but lots of work to do.
You know, I started by saying that you've had a landmark year. How do you build on that? How do you top that? Because you've had a record-breaking quarter in many ways.
I think it starts with strategic clarity, which is what can you do and be the best in the world at. And that gives you the clarity of understanding, the humility to rethink your ecosystem so that you can build complementary capabilities and serve your customers really well. I think the second is customer centricity, you know, to be able to help clients, you also have to understand how to use the technology yourself.
And then the third is culture. You know, we have a belief that whenever there's a transformation, you have to understand its relevance to your business and if it is relevant, then you want to lean into it and encourage adoption.
And I think in that case, trust beats policy all day long. It's much easier to have a workforce that you can trust and that loves our company and wants to do right for the company.
And it encourages use and adoption versus having a big policy manual of to-dos, what to do, and what
So there is no big policy manual or a long to-do list?
What has it done in terms of workforce and workflow for you inside NetApp?
I think we have two perspectives on that. The first is we're trying to build an enduring institution, and at the fundamental heart of every institution and professional organization is the idea of apprenticeship. We really believe in bringing young talent to the company because they will be the future generations. What has been interesting is the mentorship in this case has been reversed: the new talent is much more facile with the technology than the more senior talent. So it's really encouraging and interesting to see
The new generations teaching the older ones how to use it. That's one view, a long-term view of the talent pipeline and the opportunities there. The second is you need to get people to think about the skills needed now that they have these powerful tools. For example, in software development, the entry-level person would write code and then a senior person would teach them how to review code.
Now you've got an agent writing the code for you. As an entry-level employee, you have to learn how to review the code, so you have to upskill people. Once you do that, you can see enormous power. The third thing we have done is to measure business outcomes rather than just usage. In software development, rather than look at naive indicators like token use, we're asking, 'Are people able to deliver better, higher-quality code?' In customer support, we're measuring whether customers get the information they need better, faster, easier.
You know, it's interesting that you talk about bringing young people in and how they are more agile with this technology. But what does this mean for the workforce from a jobs point of view? That is causing a great degree of anxiety now. I mean, if you look at graduating ceremonies and the backlash against tech CEOs, how do you respond? What do you believe the workforce of the future will look like if we have this hybrid model where digital labor and human labor coexist?
I think there are broad implications, and it begins with having a deep understanding of the technology itself. Aristotle says, 'The most dangerous thing is the illusion of knowledge.' Today, broadly including the tech industry, we have an illusion of how this technology works and learns and understands itself. So we need to get much deeper in truly understanding where it is useful and where it is not. Second, as a member of the technology industry, we haven't always gotten it right. Social media, remote working are examples where the tech industry highlighted the promise of something that had downstream negative consequences. So we need to be more balanced. Third, we must cross the digital divide. In India particularly, there is an opportunity to lead the world in applying this technology to make affordable health care, better food security, or mitigate catastrophic risks. That is perhaps more important than gloating about how powerful the technology is. We have a responsibility to make sure the next generation doesn't feel as much despair as they do now.
The other thing that is becoming part of conversations is that you need partners, an ecosystem. It cannot be one individual company or a few companies driving this. How do you respond? Do you believe policy or regulation will force the ecosystem, or is enlightened self-interest going to force more collaboration?
