Traditional enterprises are increasingly investing in artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for their specific needs, according to Dell Technologies, Inc.

“We are seeing enterprises that want to apply this technology to their trade secrets, proprietary information, and core pieces of their business,” John Roese, global chief technology officer at Dell, said during a virtual press briefing on Thursday.

“The best, easiest, and safest way to do that is in a system they own and operate in their own data center, in a colocation, or delivered as a service,” he added.

For technology companies like Dell, the growing interest in AI solutions provides an opportunity to expand or adjust their product and service offerings.

Dell President for Asia Pacific and Japan Peter Marrs said the company has over $2 billion in pending orders for its generative AI products, and this number is growing as they secure more deals.

The company is focusing on the direct application of AI to enterprise processes, where it expects a significant impact of AI on the global market, Mr. Marrs said.

“We’re seeing it across governments, advertising, banks, telcos, web techs, manufacturing, and much more,” he commented on the varied enterprise-focused AI use cases emerging across markets.

The International Data Corporation (IDC) noted that spending on AI systems is expected to grow to $78.4 billion in 2027, with a compound annual growth rate of 25.5% from 2022 to 2027.

The IDC also forecasts the generative AI market to expand by $3 billion in 2027, with an 85% CAGR from 2022 to 2027, according to its latest Worldwide AI Spending Guide.

“The Asia Pacific region, excluding Japan and China, is emerging as a vibrant hub of AI innovation, accounting for 34% of total AI spending,” the IDC said. “The region’s commitment to AI favors economic growth, digital transformation, and technological leadership.”

“The increase in AI spending reflects a shift toward leveraging cutting-edge technology to reimagine operations, improve customer experiences, and maintain a competitive edge in a rapidly changing market,” it added.

Mr. Marrs noted that AI should be seen as a new and demanding class of user, not a workload. “One that creates and consumes data enterprises have never seen.”

In addition to enterprise applications, Dell is also seeing a demand for unique and localized large language model builds for diverse native APJ languages and cultures, according to Mr. Marrs.

“If you truly want an LLM to represent not just your function but your ethics and culture, the source of data you use to train and fine-tune it is incredibly important,” Mr. Roese said.

He also said that the tech market is exploring adversarial systems, where one AI system is used to error-check other AI systems.

Regarding regulation, it must recognize how AI intersects with data, privacy, infrastructure, and sovereignty to get it right, according to Mr. Roese.

“AI is not a technology in isolation. AI systems do not work without data,” he said, emphasizing the need for government regulators to understand the dependencies involved.

“If they put the wrong regulations in place, they will impede their local markets from developing this technology,” he added, expecting a “very complex regulatory environment” given the fragmented frameworks he sees emerging.

AI’s ethical implications, such as transparency and penalties for malicious use, must be urgently included in any regulation to create public trust, Mr. Roese noted.

He mentioned that Dell is having conversations with governments around the world regarding AI regulations. — Miguel Hanz L. Antivola

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