Artificial intelligence (AI) is not long just a buzzword, but a pivotal force driving unprecedented business transformation and growth. The technology is fundamentally reshaping how businesses in Ireland operate, innovate, and compete.
According to the Dell Innovation Catalyst Study, 76% of organisations based in Ireland are already considering AI and GenAI a key part of their business strategy, with 84% reporting substantial ROI and productivity gains from adopting these technologies.
Moreover, 66% of Irish organisations are at early to mid-stage in their AI and GenAI adoption journey, while 90% see strong opportunities to leverage Agentic AI within their business operations.
However, there are complexities involved with fully harnessing the power of GenAI. To build and train GenAI models, organisations need vast amounts of information. In turn, these same models also generate vast quantities of data to go back into the business. So, the question each business leader must ask before embracing AI and GenAI is: Are our storage solutions up to the task?
The solution is scalable, secure, and economically sound data architecture that will set apart the organisations simply running in the AI race, and those leading it.
Storage solutions for the GenAI age
For GenAI to be successfully deployed, organisations must rethink, rearchitect and optimise their storage to effectively manage GenAI’s hefty data management requirements. By doing so, organisations will avoid a potential slowdown in processes due to inadequate or improperly designed storage.
The reality is that traditional storage systems are already struggling to keep pace with the explosion of data, and as GenAI systems advance and tackle new, more complex tasks the requirements will only increase. In other words, storage platforms must be aligned with the more complex realities of unstructured data, also known as qualitative data, and the emerging needs of GenAI.
In fact, unstructured data accounts for over 90% of the data created each year – largely due to a rise in human-generated data, meaning the sphere is made up of cluttered and muddled columns of analysis. Enterprises need new ways to cost-effectively store data of this scale and complexity, while still providing easy and quick access to it and protecting it against cyber criminals. Unstructured data specifically is of interest to hackers due to its value and sheer volume.
Organisations are seeking to enhance how they manage data—whether it’s moving, accessing, scaling, or safeguarding it. In the pursuit of rapid improvement, many have adopted solutions that store data across several public cloud platforms. While these public cloud environments can deliver immediate benefits, such as increased flexibility and availability, they often introduce longer-term complications.
Over time, organisations may face rising costs associated with moving data into and out of different clouds, heightened security risks, and challenges when attempting to optimise their data across these disparate environments. For generative AI to reach its full potential, it requires straightforward, reliable access to quality data; unfortunately, strategies that prioritise public cloud-only adoption above all else frequently struggle to meet these requirements.
Organisations should instead look to adopt a multicloud by design approach. This will help them unlock the full potential of multicloud in the short and long term, without being constrained by siloed ecosystems of proprietary tools and services. Multicloud by design brings management consistency to storing, protecting and securing data in multicloud environments.
Investing in new storage technologies
Businesses need new, novel approaches that cater to GenAI’s specific requirements and vast, diverse data sets. Some of these cutting-edge technologies include distributed storage, data compression and data indexing.
Distributed storage enhances the scalability and reliability of GenAI systems by housing data across multiple locations. For example, organisations can rapidly scale their storage needs across several nodes, should demand increase, as well as replicate their most critical data, allowing it to be vaulted in a separate location and easily retrieved in the event of a cyber-attack.
Another key concern facing many organisations is cost. However, this can be addressed in part through data compression. By removing unwanted data through data compression methods, organisations can reduce their storage needs.
This is achieved by more effectively analysing data and removing unnecessary information to achieve a more summarised version. This, in turn, reduces the amount of storage required by the organisation and consequently saves on costs.
Data Indexing, on the other hand, improves retrieval capabilities and search capabilities, speeding up training and operational efficiency. Together, these technologies enhance performance, efficiency, and cost savings.
To fully capitalise on GenAI’s potential, Irish organisations must prioritise a solid storage foundation and effective data management strategy. This will be a key focus at the upcoming Dell Technologies Forum 2025 in Dublin, where business leaders will explore the infrastructure needed to seamlessly integrate AI and GenAI into their operations. Attendees will gain practical insights from Dell experts and hear first-hand about the latest developments in AI, multi-cloud, and other innovative technologies.
It’s clear that there are vast opportunities ahead for organisations to enhance productivity and drive transformation in the AI era. To ensure your business is ready to lead, register today for the Dell Technologies Forum 2025 and discover how to turn GenAI and data into a true competitive advantage.
The Dell Technologies Forum 2025 is run in collaboration with Intel, Microsoft and NVIDIA. For more information and to register for this event, click here.
Guest post by Ivor Buckley, Field CTO at Dell Technologies Ireland and Northern Ireland