MAINPAGE / MATT WATTS
Hi Matt Watts, Chief Technology Evangelist at NetApp. Your keynote will be on the topic of the fourth wave of technology that is currently having a huge impact on organisations across the world. But just to get us up to speed, can you begin by walking us through the first three?
- The first two took us from the monolithic architectures of the past to more modular midrange type systems we see today and then to virtualisation, hyper scalers and cloud services. What has happened alongside these waves is that companies have recognised that data is now one of their most valuable assets, and they are very focused on becoming ‘data-driven’.
And now AI is the fourth wave that’s knocking us off our feet. But how do you know that it’s wave and not just a ripple?
- I have an expression ‘You have to manage the ripples and ride the waves’. Technology is constantly evolving, becoming faster, smaller and cheaper, or new versions of an existing technology emerge such as the move from hard disks to flash. Those are the ripples. The potential for a wave happens when technology that is fundamentally different from what we have seen before emerges. But for a new technology to realize its wave potential it must also be widely accessible, and not just available to a select few. Like what ChatGPT did for generative AI.
How do we know that it’s time get on our feet on the surfboard and ride the wave?
- It really comes down to constantly keeping yourself well informed about the trends and technologies that are emerging, I think once you can identify the ripples then it gives you more of a chance to see the waves and work out what their potential could be. So, you both need to keep an eye out for the waves and learn how to turn them into a market opportunity.
What do you have to say to those of us who think it’s comfortable just to paddle along?
– It is easy to get comfortable doing things the way we always have, and human beings have an inherent resistance to change. Ripples are easy to adapt to, but waves require fundamental change. We often push back because we don’t know where to start or are afraid of the impact.
– But companies that fail to adapt to technological changes risk losing competitiveness. Over time, they may face obsolescence or be overtaken by more agile competitors who use the new technology to transform and innovate. AI for example has the potential to make organisations 20 – 30% more productive, could your company survive if your competitor was that much more productive than you?
You are a professional explorer of new technologies. Does that mean that you are always the earliest of adopters, and always open to everything new?
– Well … I wish! The author Douglas Adams said anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things. I think there is a lot of truth in that and it reminds me that whilst many new technologies may not be valuable to me it doesn’t mean that they aren’t valuable.
But is there a technological phenomenon that has emerged after you turned 35 that you can honestly say has become ‘normal and ordinary’?
– I am a people person, I love face to face meetings and used to be pretty sceptical about using technology as an alternative. But the pandemic forced a change. I still prefer in person meetings to digital ones, but today I enjoy and feel comfortable collaborating and staying in contact via a screen.
Check out Matt’s book The Fourth Wave: The Journey from Storage to Intelligent Data Infrastructure on Amazon.
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