TALKING POINT

Ahmed Rashad, Sr. AI Specialist, Middle East and Africa at Nutanix, tells us why hybrid infrastructure, sovereign AI models and Edge Computing are becoming essential for enterprises looking to scale AI securely, efficiently and sustainably across increasingly complex environments.

Ahmed Rashad, Sr. AI Specialist, Middle East and Africa at Nutanix

According to Ahmed Rashad, Sr. AI Specialist, Middle East and Africa at Nutanix, organisations across sectors including banking, telecommunications, government and energy are rapidly moving AI initiatives from experimentation into core business operations, creating growing pressure on enterprise infrastructure and governance models.

“ Across the Middle East and Africa, Generative AI has rapidly moved from experimentation to enterprise priority,” said Rashad.

However, Rashad warned that while many organisations have successfully launched AI pilots, far fewer are prepared for the operational demands associated with scaling AI securely and sustainably across the enterprise.

“ But while many organisations have successfully launched AI pilots, far fewer are prepared for what comes next: scaling AI into a secure, resilient and economically sustainable business capability. That is now the defining challenge for CIOs across the region,” said Rashad.

He highlights how many organisations across MEA continue to operate fragmented IT environments originally designed for traditional enterprise applications rather than

GPU-intensive AI workloads, high-speed data processing and distributed AI operations.

Rashad said the challenge is becoming particularly significant within regulated industries where organisations must balance AI innovation with compliance, sovereignty and operational resilience requirements.

“ As a result, enterprises are beginning to realise that AI strategy is no longer just a technology discussion. It has become an infrastructure, governance and sovereignty discussion,” said Rashad.

He also points to the growing importance of sovereign AI infrastructure across the region as governments and enterprises seek greater control over critical data, AI models and operational workflows.

Rashad said this shift is accelerating investment in hybrid cloud and sovereign AI environments capable of supporting applications, data and AI services consistently across data centres, cloud platforms and edge locations.

He further warns that the emergence of Agentic AI systems capable of autonomously executing tasks and interacting with enterprise systems will place even greater pressure on enterprise infrastructure and governance frameworks.

“ Organisations must now think about: Managing distributed AI workloads efficiently, securing autonomous AI agents, governing AI decision-making processes, controlling escalating GPU and infrastructure costs, maintaining operational consistency across hybrid environments,” said Rashad.

According to Rashad, organisations that modernise infrastructure now and adopt resilient hybrid AI operating models will be best positioned to transform AI from an experimental capability into a long-term competitive advantage. n

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