Virtually Speaking Podcast

At KubeCon Europe 2026 in Amsterdam, Johan van Amersfoort from ITQ joins Virtually Speaking to introduce one of the most talked-about demos on the show floor: Q9, an AI-powered robotic dog built using VMware Private AI Foundation.

But Q9 is more than a fun demo. It showcases how organizations can use VMware Cloud Foundation, Private AI Services, GPUs, large language models, computer vision, and secure networking to train and deploy AI applications while keeping data private and sovereign.

Johan explains how Q9 uses gesture recognition, conversational AI, image analytics, local inference, and remote model access to create an interactive AI experience. The conversation also explores practical enterprise AI use cases, including HR assistants, legal knowledge systems, sovereign AI, and why private infrastructure remains critical for AI success.

Whether you’re exploring Private AI, AI infrastructure, model training, or simply want to meet the coolest dog at KubeCon, this episode delivers both technical insights and real-world examples.

What happens when AI becomes a first-class consumer of your platform?

In this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast, Pete Flecha is joined by Jad Zien and Pankaj Gupta, co-author of the new Platform Engineering 2.0 whitepaper, to explore how platform engineering is evolving to meet the demands of the AI era.

The conversation traces the journey from DevOps to Platform Engineering 1.0 and explains why the next evolution is already underway. With AI-generated code accelerating software delivery, agentic AI emerging as a new platform consumer, and FinOps becoming critical to controlling AI costs, organizations must rethink how platforms are built and operated.

The discussion covers the five pillars of Platform Engineering 2.0, the growing importance of embedded FinOps, security-by-design, multi-persona experiences, AI-native platforms, and why VMware administrators and infrastructure teams have a major opportunity to shape the future of platform engineering.

📄 Download the Platform Engineering 2.0 whitepaper:

https://brcm.tech/PE2WhitePaper

#PlatformEngineering #AI #DevOps #FinOps #Kubernetes #CloudNative #PlatformEngineering20 #AgenticAI #VirtuallySpeakingPodcast #VMware #PrivateCloud

What happens when WebAssembly and Kubernetes come together?

Recorded live at KubeCon 2026 in Amsterdam, Pete Flecha and Jad El-Zein sit down with Liam Randall, CEO of Cosmonic, to explore how WebAssembly is changing the way developers build, deploy, and operate cloud-native applications.

Liam explains why WebAssembly is generating so much excitement beyond the browser, how it complements Kubernetes, and why organizations are looking at wasmCloud to simplify application portability across cloud, edge, and data center environments.

Whether you’re a Kubernetes operator, platform engineer, or application developer, this conversation provides a practical look at where WebAssembly fits into the modern cloud-native stack.

Private cloud is no longer just about cost savings or control—it has become the foundation for enterprise AI.

In this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast, Pete Flecha and John Nicholson sit down with Prashanth Shenoy, VP of Product Marketing for VMware Cloud Foundation, to discuss the findings from the Private Cloud Outlook 2026 report.

Based on a global survey of 1,800 IT leaders, the report reveals a dramatic shift in how organizations are approaching AI infrastructure. As AI workloads move from experimentation to production, enterprises are increasingly choosing private cloud environments to address the growing challenges of cost, complexity, governance, security, and data sovereignty.

Prashanth shares key insights from the research, including why private cloud has become the preferred destination for production AI inference, what’s driving the acceleration of workload repatriation, and how VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1 is helping organizations build a secure, cost-effective platform for the AI era.

Download the Private Cloud Outlook 2026 report:

https://www.vmware.com/docs/private-cloud-outlook-2026

#VMware #VCF #PrivateCloud #AI #GenerativeAI #CloudRepatriation #EnterpriseAI #VMwareCloudFoundation #Broadcom #VirtuallySpeakingPodcast

At VMUG Connect 2026 in Minneapolis, Pete Flecha and John Nicholson sit down with security expert Bob Plankers to discuss how AI is changing cybersecurity—on both sides of the battle.

The conversation explores how threat actors are increasingly using AI-powered techniques, from sophisticated social engineering attacks to campaigns like UNC5221 and “Brickstorm.” Bob explains why identity remains the primary attack surface, why many organizations still misunderstand Zero Trust, and how privileged accounts have become some of the most valuable targets in modern IT environments.

The discussion also covers AI-generated voice and video impersonation, the importance of strong identity controls, conditional access, privileged access management, and why organizations need to think differently about trust in an era where convincing fakes can be generated in seconds.

Finally, the team explores how AI can be used defensively, including emerging efforts by frontier model providers to identify vulnerabilities, improve software security, and help organizations stay ahead in the cybersecurity arms race.