Turbocharge AI with an intelligent data infrastructure

Artificial intelligence is assuming an increasingly important role in federal agency operations. Whether it’s the intelligence and defense communities enhancing video analytics with deep neural networks, the health care industry leveraging AI to assist in research and development, or civil agencies tapping into it for smart city planning, AI has the potential to transform the government. But finding the right solutions can mean the difference between implementing AI and maximizing it.

"The pace of innovation is very intense, as is the level of competition," said John Theobald, lead technical solutions specialist at NetApp. "It is very challenging for adopters of AI to absorb and take advantage of all the creativity and capabilities being introduced."

First steps toward maximizing AI

The first steps to get the most out of AI-powered tools and solutions: understand the beginning and identify the end goal. Assess the current state of a given service or capability, map out a desired AI-enabled future state, then strategize, develop and implement the steps necessary to achieve that future state.

Theobald cited W. Edwards Deming’s 14 Points for Management, the first of which states, "Problems of the future command first and foremost constancy of purpose and dedication to improvement of competitive position to keep the company alive and to provide jobs for their employees." Defining the bookends of purpose and transformation are necessary for accomplishing the steps between that lead to success. 

"If AI is used without the guiding principles of constancy of purpose and dedication to improvement," Theobald stated, "then it should not be used in the first place." A clear framework sets the stage for accountability, transparency, measuring and reporting throughout the AI implementation journey. 

Establishing a foundation for success

To support that strategic framework, agencies must create a strong foundation. NetApp’s own intelligent data infrastructure is enhanced with AI throughout to help effectively and responsibly deliver AI objectives and business outcomes. Key features include:

1. Reliability. With a guarantee of six nines (99.9999%) of availability, government leaders can rest assured that NetApp will be ready to serve their needs.
2. Security. Autonomous ransomware protection takes an AI-enabled proactive approach to safeguarding data. 
3. Recovery. If a breach does occur, NetApp’s Snapshot technology offers a ransomware recovery guarantee. 
4. Data classification. BlueXP provides intelligence to help transform untapped data to power critical AI functions, including generative AI (GenAI) and retrieval augmented generation (RAG).

On top of these foundational elements is comprehensive unified data storage that can support any storage protocol, as well as multi-cloud workloads across all three major hyperscale cloud providers. 

As Theobald described, "intelligent data infrastructure enables our customers to focus on their AI aspirations and business objectives with confidence that NetApp is managing their data wherever it needs to be." 

Strategic partnerships take AI to the next level

In addition to NetApp’s own capabilities, government leaders can reap the benefits of strategic partnerships and collaborations with other companies at the forefront of the data and AI revolution, such as Cisco, Lenovo and NVIDIA. Turnkey scalable solutions like FlexPod with Cisco and NetApp AIPod with Lenovo encompass GPU compute, storage, networking and software stacks that support GenAI, RAG, and AI inferencing workloads.

For departments and agencies ready to push the limits of AI, NetApp and NVIDIA collaborate to address larger AI workloads, including fine-tuning large language models (LLMs) as well as developing purpose-built small language models and even foundational LLMs. The symbiotic relationship between NetApp and NVIDIA, the AI storage leader and the AI compute leader, results in a true AI powerhouse.

"We are trusted by our clients to hold, manage, serve, move, protect and secure their data right up to the point where it goes to NVIDIA GPUs to use AI to identify and surface the desired business value inherent in that data," Theobald explained. "Then that work product comes back to us where our customers take the resulting AI and ML models and capabilities and integrate them into their processes to deliver the business outcomes they seek."

To make the most of these emerging technologies, TD SYNNEX serves as a partner and bridge between government and industry, helping to integrate leading high-growth technologies, like those developed by NetApp, across AI, security, networking, cloud and data. Its Destination AI initiative is specifically focused on AI advancement and enablement, while its broad array of government contracts help simplify the procurement process.

"Our team of subject matter experts with extensive government experience proves invaluable to our partners and vendors," said Jeff Adams, solutions architect at TD SYNNEX.

The future of AI in government

Despite the incredible leaps the world has seen in AI technologies over the past few years, it’s still early days. Theobald likened it to the introduction of the World Wide Web — more than 30 years in and it’s still evolving. 

As AI continues to evolve in the commercial space and become part of daily life, the U.S. population will expect the government to be able to provide similar levels of service and efficiency. Such growing expectations and pressure for AI adoption makes relationships and collaboration between industry and government more critical than ever. 

"NetApp has been innovating since 1992 and AI presents yet another opportunity to do so," Theobald said, "but we will not do this alone. We realize our partners, including TD SYNNEX, deliver a great deal of value and enablement for the broader partner community and ultimately our mutual customers, including all levels of government."

Learn more about how NetApp is helping government agencies maximize the potential of AI.