NetApp, the Intelligent Data Infrastructure company, has outlined its data platform vision at INSIGHT Xtra Singapore 2026, aimed at helping ASEAN enterprises scale AI adoption and support regional economic growth.
With AI investment in ASEAN outpacing overall digital spending, NetApp’s strategy enables businesses to expand AI from pilot projects to full implementations while maintaining governance and operational stability. The enterprise-grade data platform combines storage, data management services, and a metadata engine to support AI use across the region.
ASEAN organisations face fragmented regulations and varying cloud maturity levels, making hybrid and local architectures the standard. Key sectors such as financial services, healthcare, and the public sector require AI systems that provide real-time insights while ensuring regulatory compliance. Infrastructure that maintains consistent operations is necessary to prevent data sprawl from affecting AI projects.
To address these challenges, NetApp introduced the NetApp AFX systems and the NetApp AI Data Engine, designed to unify data estates across hybrid environments:
- Enterprise-grade disaggregated storage: NetApp AFX scales capacity and performance for AI workloads, optimising cost and resource use.
- Data readiness and currency: NetApp AI Data Engine streamlines the AI data pipeline with semantic search and synchronisation to keep data current and accurate.
- Support for high-demand AI workloads: Certified for NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD, AFX reduces bottlenecks, enabling real-time inference at scale.
- Enhanced storage security: NetApp’s Ransomware Resilience service provides protection integrated into the data infrastructure.
These solutions allow ASEAN enterprises to develop data infrastructures that can handle large-scale AI projects, maintain governance, and improve cyber resilience—enabling organisations to use their data for operational and analytical purposes across industries.
