The rapid acceleration of AI is fundamentally reengineering the fabric of enterprise and industry. A key trend is the shift in focus towards scaling AI for tangible business outcomes. “Conversations are on very real adoption, and AI is creating a truly transformational opportunity,” says Peter Marrs, president, Asia Pacific, Japan & Greater China, Dell Technologies. The focus is also shifting from simple generative AI (chatbots) to agentic AI, where autonomous systems not only assist but actively manage complex, long-running processes. In this interview with Sudhir Chowdhary, he outlines the key technology trends and Dell’s strategies for accelerating AI adoption and innovation in the region. Excerpts:
What technology shifts will have the biggest impact on enterprise strategy in 2026?
As we look towards 2026, the most impactful technology shift for enterprise strategy is the move from AI pilots to full-scale operational integration across the business. Our regional customers and CIOs are balancing rapid innovation against infrastructure readiness, skills gaps, and establishing robust governance that doesn’t stifle progress. Their focus is moving beyond scattered experiments, towards defining clear profitability paths, and justifying significant computational costs, while integrating agentic AI into complex workflows and modernising infrastructure that respects local sovereignty.
We are enabling customers on many levels. We are advising on how they approach AI from an investment perspective – they must focus on clear value, supported by transparent usage and a ‘smallest effective model’ mindset, ensuring spend aligns directly with measurable ROI. Dell helps them to leverage existing ecosystems, blueprints, and best practice to accelerate this journey, whilst enabling our customers in the region to stay resilient and competitive. We are also building the foundational infrastructure for AI at scale, our Innovation Hubs and educational initiatives also drive AI fluency across the region, ensuring our customers can confidently innovate and thrive.
How do you see India’s market shaping Dell’s strategy?
India is one of Dell’s strategic markets, driven by its scale and rapid digital modernisation. Our focus is to deepen customer engagement, strengthen the partner ecosystem, and continue investment in local innovation and talent. India increasingly acts as a high-growth market and a proving ground for next-generation solutions in AI, multicloud, edge, and modern infrastructure often shaping how we scale these capabilities across Asia.
How is Dell helping companies operationalise AI securely and with measurable impact?
Enterprises want AI that is secure, scalable, and tied to real outcomes. Dell enables this through an end-to-end AI operationalisation framework covering data preparation, training, deployment, and lifecycle management. Our validated designs and integrated Dell AI Factory solutions deliver predictable performance, strong governance, and faster time to value ensuring AI is measurable, repeatable, and aligned with business impact.
How will sovereign AI shape enterprise innovation, and what role will Dell play?
Sovereign AI will redefine enterprise innovation by shifting AI toward locally governed, high-assurance ecosystems. As nations focus on digital autonomy and data localisation, enterprises will increasingly operate within frameworks that keep sensitive data and model intelligence within national borders. This enables compliance, accelerates sector-specific innovation, and supports real-time, domain-rich intelligence. Dell enables this transformation with secure, modular, sovereign-ready infrastructure combining high-performance compute, purpose-built data platforms, cyber-resilient architectures, and controlled AI environments where enterprises retain full control over their data and models.
What should CIOs prioritise when building an AI-ready infrastructure?
As AI moves into mission-critical operations, CIOs must prioritise long-term resilience, governance, and scalability. Strong governance frameworks are essential, particularly as organisations increasingly run models locally in secure AI factories. With AI agents soon managing long-running processes, infrastructure must support continuous, real-time decisioning through accelerated compute, high-performance networking, resilient storage, and cyber-recovery capabilities designed for AI-era continuity. Dell enables this with an integrated, enterprise-grade AI portfolio that helps organisations scale responsibly and confidently.
