Nutanix’s Faiz Shakir on Cloud trends, AI, and India’s Key Role

In today’s fast-changing digital world, Nutanix is helping businesses transform by simplifying cloud management and making hybrid and multi-cloud solutions accessible. Faiz Shakir, Vice President & Managing Director – Sales, Southern Asia at Nutanix, sat down with Dataquest to talk about the trends shaping the IT landscape, the rise of AI, and how sustainability is becoming central to cloud computing.

During the discussion, he shared how Nutanix’s focus on simplicity and flexibility is driving its success in the Indian and Southern Asian markets and the critical role India’s talented workforce plays in the company’s innovation. This engaging conversation sheds light on how Nutanix is staying ahead in a competitive industry while empowering its customers to do the same.

Excerpts:

DQ: What are the current key trends driving the surge in cloud adoption, particularly in the Southern Asian market?

Faiz Shakir: The trends driving cloud adoption have been consistent over the years, but they have become more pronounced recently. Initially, many large enterprises opted for either private or public cloud infrastructure, but over time they realized that a hybrid multi-cloud infrastructure is the most suitable solution for their needs. This approach combines the strengths of private and public clouds and provides the flexibility needed to handle different workloads.

Organizations have come to understand that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for applications. Different applications thrive in different environments, whether it’s a private, public, or hybrid cloud. Companies now aim to operate in multi-cloud setups to leverage the best of all worlds.

While performance and uptime continue to remain critical, companies are increasingly cost-conscious. They’re looking for solutions that offer high performance, ensure compliance with data sovereignty laws, and maximize returns on their investments. This awareness has grown over the past decade, solidifying hybrid multi-cloud as the preferred model for many enterprises.

DQ: India is often considered a cost-conscious market. How does Nutanix's multi-cloud platform cater to these specific needs?

Faiz Shakir: While it’s true that cost-consciousness is ingrained in Indian culture, businesses here are evolving. It’s no longer just about finding the cheapest solution; it’s about identifying what provides the best value and scalability.

India is home to some of the fastest-growing companies in the world, including a significant number of unicorns. These businesses need solutions that can support their rapid growth and help them scale efficiently. Nutanix fits perfectly into this scenario because of our core principles: simplicity and freedom.

Simplicity is a cornerstone of our offerings. We ensure that our solutions are intuitive and easy to use, eliminating the need for large, specialized teams. Think of it as using an iPhone—simple to pick up and start using from day one. Similarly, Nutanix solutions are designed to be operational from day one without requiring extensive training.

Freedom is another critical aspect of Nutanix. We avoid vendor lock-in, allowing our customers to choose their preferred servers, clouds, and applications. For instance, think of Nutanix as a hotel: you’re free to enjoy the facilities, but you’re not restricted from dining outside or using other services. This freedom ensures cost efficiency and scalability, which is why Nutanix has seen exceptional growth in India.

DQ: AI has become integral to business operations. How is Nutanix integrating AI into its cloud solutions, and what trends do you foresee?

Faiz Shakir: AI is indeed one of the most talked-about technologies across all demographics. At Nutanix, we recognize its transformative potential and are actively working to integrate AI capabilities into our offerings.

Firstly, Nutanix provides customers with the flexibility to run AI workloads on either public cloud platforms or on-premises. This hybrid multi-cloud approach caters to the diverse needs of organizations, allowing them to align their AI strategies with their specific requirements, phases of adoption, and budgets.

Secondly, Nutanix collaborates with ecosystem partners like NVIDIA and Hugging Face to offer solutions such as “GPT-in-a-Box.” This pre-integrated platform allows organizations to start their AI journeys with minimal investment and effort. By leveraging these partnerships, Nutanix helps customers avoid the need to reinvent the wheel, making AI adoption smoother and more accessible.

We foresee AI continuing to simplify mundane tasks, improve efficiency, and drive innovation across industries. Nutanix’s infrastructure is well-positioned to support these advancements while ensuring flexibility and scalability.

DQ: With a significant portion of Nutanix’s engineering team based in India, how is this influencing product development and innovation?

Faiz Shakir: India plays a pivotal role in Nutanix’s global engineering and market strategies. While I cannot disclose specific project details, I can confidently say that India is one of our core development centers.

We’ve invested heavily in building a talented workforce here, and their contributions span multiple projects across the Nutanix ecosystem. The innovations driven by our Indian engineering team are critical to our global success, and we are immensely proud of the work being done here.

DQ: How does Nutanix plan to retain top talent in India and other regions like South Asia and Europe?

Faiz Shakir: Nutanix has always prioritized attracting and retaining top talent by fostering a culture of innovation and productivity. We’ve achieved this by offering competitive pay packages, strong HR value systems, and meaningful career growth opportunities.

In Southern Asia, for example, we have consistently drawn talent from Fortune 500 companies and leading tech firms. In India, many of our employees are graduates from prestigious institutions like the IITs, which is a testament to our strong employer brand. This focus on quality over quantity ensures that our workforce remains highly motivated and productive.

DQ: What advice would you give to enterprises looking to upskill their workforce for cloud and multi-cloud technologies?

Faiz Shakir: Enterprises should focus on aligning their workforce with business goals rather than merely managing infrastructure. Nutanix simplifies the infrastructure layer, enabling organizations to repurpose their teams for application development and strategic initiatives.

By reducing the complexity of managing IT systems, Nutanix allows enterprises to do more with fewer resources. This enables them to focus on driving business outcomes and staying ahead in a competitive landscape.

DQ: How is Nutanix approaching sustainability in cloud computing?

Faiz Shakir: Sustainability has always been a core focus for Nutanix. Our solutions help reduce datacenter footprints, power consumption, and cooling requirements. By running on smaller form factors and leveraging software efficiencies, we enable our customers to achieve significant energy savings compared to traditional datacenter infrastructures.

DQ: Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Faiz Shakir: I’d like to highlight that Nutanix is trusted by some of the largest banks, IT/ITES companies, hospitals, and conglomerates to run mission-critical applications.

The emergence of AI and the shifting market dynamics due to VMware’s acquisition have created opportunities for Nutanix. Our robust technology roadmap positions us as a preferred partner for organizations navigating these changes.