Dell Vice President: Five Trends Will Define the Development of Intelligent Edge
Recently, DeepSeek is accelerating the popularization and application of AI by significantly reducing its cost. As one of the most promising technologies for AI applications, edge computing is in the wave of rapid development and change, and is redefining the boundaries and scenarios of intelligent applications. In this context, Pierluca Chiodelli, Vice President of Dell, revealed to us the five key technological trends that will determine the development of edge artificial intelligence in 2025.
From 'instruction execution' to 'autonomous action'
Firstly, it is the transition to agent AI. At the end of last year, John Roese, Global Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Dell Technologies, proposed that "agency" would be the key word for 2025. Proxy AI "represents a new model of proactive decision-making and action that does not require human intervention. This paradigm shift will allow decision-making authority to sink to edge device terminals, building a closed-loop system of self perception, self judgment, and self execution, thereby promoting efficiency leaps in multiple fields such as manufacturing, smart cities, and retail.
For example, in the manufacturing process, edge devices can not only detect product defects in real time, but also autonomously take corrective measures, adjust workflows, and enhance system security; In smart cities, traffic signals are autonomously adjusted to alleviate congestion, rescue drones can quickly respond to emergencies, and energy networks can balance supply and demand fluctuations in real time.
In the retail field, shelf sensors are no longer limited to inventory warning, but can be linked to the supply chain for automatic replenishment, and can even be expanded and adjusted based on customer data and behavior to provide more personalized services. By using the power of independent edge computing, we can unlock new possibilities for efficiency, innovation and human progress.
Data gravity drives edge transformation
Data gravity is expanding at an unprecedented speed at the edge. According to Gartner's prediction, by 2025, 75% of enterprise management data will no longer be limited to data centers or cloud platforms, but will be transferred to the edge for processing and storage.
*Data gravity refers to the attraction of large amounts of data to applications, services, and more data.
The data generated by other connected devices such as IoT devices, sensors, cameras, etc. must be processed in real-time at a location closer to their source. This demand drives the edge environment to become a data intensive 'activity center', requiring stronger local computing and storage capabilities to achieve efficient real-time analysis, predictive maintenance, and operational optimization.
The rapid growth of data has driven the demand of edge computing for efficient computing and storage solutions. Edge computing not only needs to process a large amount of data, but also needs to provide strong support for virtualization and containerization. According to IDC's forecast, by 2028, 60% of the Fortune 2000 companies will significantly increase their investment in remote computing, storage, and network resources to cope with the sharp increase in data processing and analysis workloads, driving the rapid expansion of edge IT.
This acceleration of data gravity makes edge computing no longer a simple technological trend, but a key factor to promote enterprises to achieve intelligent operation and enhance competitiveness.
For example, by enhancing the speed and accuracy of data collection and analysis through intelligent edge, integrating Dell's validated manufacturing edge solution with Hyundai's NeoFactory IoT software, factory managers can quickly monitor device performance, detect abnormal situations, and use predictive maintenance to reduce downtime, improve factory productivity, and eliminate costly process waste. As a result, manufacturers can promote AI driven factory process optimization and outcomes.
Zero trust: the core of ensuring edge security
As data, infrastructure, and applications become increasingly distributed in edge environments, security threats have become more complex, posing new challenges to data security and sovereignty. In order to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of sensitive data, enterprises must customize strong security measures based on the characteristics, vulnerabilities, and distribution of the edge environment.
In this context, a zero trust framework that can help businesses reduce the risks of data breaches, network attacks, and unauthorized access constitutes the gold standard for ensuring edge data security, sovereignty, and integrity
Through real-time threat detection, encryption technology, as well as secure identity verification and authorization mechanisms, the zero trust framework provides enterprises with favorable guarantees for addressing edge security challenges, enabling them to fully respect the rights and interests of customers, employees, and all parties in society while ensuring data security.
Dell considers zero trust as an essential part of its infrastructure from product design and development, spanning the entire product lifecycle from design, delivery, deployment, operation, to discontinuation. For example, Dell PowerEdge servers use a silicon-based immutable root of trust to encrypt the integrity of BIOS and integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) firmware. This trust root is based on a one-time programmable read-only public key, which can effectively prevent malicious software tampering and ensure the security of hardware and software.
When the device is disabled, PowerEdge can thoroughly erase sensitive data through hardware encryption and data erasure functions, ensuring that data is not leaked or recovered through industry standard data destruction processes.
Edge, Core, Cloud
Seamless collaboration is becoming a trend
The debate over which is the ideal location for workloads, edge, core, or cloud, has gradually been replaced by a symbiotic relationship in reality. Today, these environments each leverage their strengths to create seamless and efficient work experiences through close collaboration.
For example, digital assistants in retail and food services are a key use case that demonstrates the synergy between edge and core or cloud - real-time data is processed at the edge, while core data centers or clouds provide powerful computing power and storage support.
With the increasing demand for efficient data processing and flow across clouds, edges, and data centers, the trend of hybrid edge cloud applications will continue to rise. By combining flexibility, scalability, and in-depth insights, enterprises can effectively reduce costs, improve operational efficiency, and enhance responsiveness. However, IT and OT teams will also face the challenge of finding a balance between latency, application and data management, and security to ensure seamless interaction between the three.
Say goodbye to traditional workloads
Embracing the new era of edge orchestration
With the increasing demand for higher efficiency, scalability, and flexibility, edge environments are undergoing a transformation from isolated overall workloads to end-to-end full stack edge solutions. This transformation aims to meet the new demands of virtualization and containerization, supporting seamless interconnection and data flow across edges, cores, and clouds, ultimately driving the shift towards lightweight virtualization and containerization platforms, and adapting to the special needs of edge deployment
According to a recent survey by TechTarget's Enterprise Strategy Group, 91% of businesses believe they will benefit from edge applications and more unified infrastructure management. As edge solutions become increasingly complex and decentralized, many organizations are starting to build customized "snowflake" architectures to adapt to different application needs.
*The "snowflake" architecture refers to the unique custom configuration of applications and infrastructure.
Just like the transformation experienced by data centers when virtualization technology was widely applied, edge orchestration platforms will also provide comprehensive control and visibility over workloads, help optimize performance, reduce latency, and ensure smooth communication between edges, cores, and clouds.
Conclusion
Edge computing will be the core force to promote industrial intelligent transformation. The trends of autonomous decision-making, data gravity, security, hybrid architecture, and edge orchestration are driving the industry towards greater efficiency and intelligence. As a leading solution provider in the industry, Dell Technologies has top-notch edge innovation technology to help businesses seize opportunities in this transformation, improve efficiency and ensure data security, and grasp the key to future success.
----------------- Article excerpt from Dell official website
