Artificial intelligence has moved beyond the buzzword phase and is now delivering cross-sector enterprise value. As the AI supercloud takes shape, what does the next frontier of innovation hold for the telecom sector and beyond?

“I think people are seeing a future state … because, clearly, telcos have a heritage IT infrastructure and being sort of hidebound in these big boxes and things like that,” said Dave Duggal (pictured, left), founder and chief executive officer of EnterpriseWeb LLC. “Now AI is giving this idea of a horizontal, lightweight, loosely-coupled future [that is] much more intelligence and contextual. I think that’s generating a lot of excitement on the floor.”

Duggal and Shujaur Mufti (right), head of global partners solution architecture at Red Hat Inc., spoke with theCUBE Research analyst Dave Vellante and Savannah Peterson, host of theCUBE at MWC Barcelona, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed AI supercloud and its integration into telecommunications as a defining narrative, echoing the collective optimism for a future empowered by intelligence and connectivity. (* Disclosure below.)

Redefining telecom by leveraging the AI supercloud

The palpable excitement surrounding AI stems from its transformative impact on telco infrastructure. Traditionally bound by legacy IT systems, service providers are breaking free from rigid infrastructure shackles, thanks to AI’s promise of an agile and intelligently contextual future.

Partnerships and collaborations are at the heart of this transformation, exemplified by the enduring collaboration between industry giants, such as Red Hat, and leading telco providers. The evolution from the early days of network functions virtualization to the AI supercloud represents a testament to the synergy between technological innovation and strategic partnerships.

“We have done a lot of work from our side as well to prepare … to bring in AI across every single portfolio technology, as well as work across the partner ecosystem in order to look at the use cases, at the areas where we can jointly collaborate and deliver some value to the customers,” Mufti said.

More specifically, both companies have worked to create a unified network and service management solution, with Red Hat as the infrastructure layer and EnterpriseWeb as the application layer. Unified by a vision of an open hybrid cloud powered by AI, the tie-in promises to deliver value to customers while driving 5G monetization and innovation.

“Red Hat’s vision is ‘build once, deploy everywhere and operate autonomously,”‘ Mufti said. “We have a vision of an open hybrid cloud powered by AI. We have done a lot of work with our partner ecosystem horizontally and vertically, from silicon and at the OEM level to the networking stack. Especially, the one theme that is very common here is the abstraction layer. Now you have this multiple operating model, multiple operating systems, multiple different cloud environments, as well as different silos.”

Unlike traditional graph databases, the novel approach leverages hypergraphs to transcend the limitations of conventional graph structures. With a focus on real-time, intelligent and contextual operations, it paves the way for AI-enabled orchestration, empowering telcos to deliver personalized experiences and optimize infrastructure with unprecedented efficiency, Duggal added.

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE Research’s coverage of MWC Barcelona: 

(* Disclosure: EnterpriseWeb LLC sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither EnterpriseWeb nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE