IBM Z Day – Nikhil’s Q&A 

First, I introduce you to Nikhil Mendhi, who will introduce himself and tell us a little bit about AI. Please welcome Nikhil to the stage. 

Nikhil: Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Nikhil Mendhi. I’m the President and Chief Operating Officer of Exponential AI. At Exponential AI, we specialize in real-time orchestration and hyper-scaling of AI technologies for organizations worldwide. 

What that really means is, if you look at how AI is being adopted today, it’s often in bits and pieces. To truly make AI a differentiator for large organizations, they need to take a strategic approach to identifying the problems they’re solving with AI and how to accelerate its adoption. This requires the right infrastructure, security, and resilience in their systems, processes, and hybrid environments. Our goal at Exponential AI is to enable AI not just in batch processing but also in real-time. We focus on building resilient and responsible AI practices that make AI a differentiating factor for each organization. 

Q: Thanks, Nikhil. What AI features in LinuxONE drew you to the platform for your application? 

Nikhil: That’s a great question. One of the key features that initially impressed us, and which we have successfully leveraged with our clients, is the in-memory computing. Especially for AI, fast response times and constant resource availability are critical. In-memory computing is a differentiating feature of LinuxONE that we are really impressed with and use extensively. 

The second most important aspect of LinuxONE is its availability and resilience. As AI adoption grows, systems and processes need to be available 24/7 to maintain real-time processing speed. LinuxONE is one of the very few technologies that offer this kind of scalability with a global footprint. 

Lastly, the hybrid cloud integration feature is a game changer. Whether you’re on-premises or in any other cloud—private or public—you can still execute AI in hybrid environments and scale effectively. So, between in-memory computing, high availability, and hybrid cloud integration, these are the primary features that we find most valuable. They complement our work and create a differentiating impact for every client. 

Q: Thank you for that answer. Another question—regarding security, what are you using or planning to use IBM Hyper Protect Services for? 

 Nikhil: Most of our clients are in the financial services and healthcare industries, which are extremely sensitive to data requirements. The comprehensive security stack offered by IBM makes our operations more reliable, both in client environments and in the cloud. Utilizing IBM’s full security stack to support our real-time processing is critical for us to meet and exceed client expectations. 

Q: What are the most pressing security concerns organizations face when implementing AI technologies? 

When more open-source software is used in various AI tools and applications, client infrastructure is exposed to increased vulnerabilities. Keeping up with the growing number of these vulnerabilities is a significant challenge, and it poses a real obstacle in navigating AI adoption within client environments. 

Q: In your opinion, do you see Hyper Protect Services as a game changer for your industry, or do you view it as just an add-on compared to other security measures? 

Nikhil: Especially in healthcare and finance industries, private information changes hands between organizations multiple times a day. Having compliance with Hyper Protect Services, and the client also using these services, helps significantly. It simplifies and streamlines many AI implementations across multiple clients. 

Closing Comments on Partnership with IBM: 

So again, we’ve been working with IBM on most of their offerings, and Hyper Protect Services, IBM Z, and LinuxONE represent major strides IBM has made in making AI more responsible and reliable. We look forward to many more partnerships and ventures.