Smarter clouds, smarter businesses: How AI is transforming the cloud computing industry

The latest addition to the ever-expanding collection of IT buzzwords, artificial intelligence (AI) seems to mean all things to all people. No matter which industry you turn to – from retail to finance, manufacturing to healthcare – AI is touted as a ‘game-changer’ and the answer to any number of problems. This hype is driving real change: worldwide spending on cognitive and AI systems is expected to increase at an annual growth rate of 50.1% through to 2021. And one area in which the impact of AI is already being felt is across the global cloud computing market. The rise of cloud computing has proved pivotal in helping to expand almost all markets and the label ‘cloud-native’ is now worn as badge of honour. For startups, the ability to move directly to cloud infrastructure has allowed them to leapfrog their established counterparts, many of whom have struggled in the attempt to integrate cloud into their complex legacy systems.