AMD Cloud Chronicles with Mahindra Group's Abhishek Sukhwal | N18M

Summary

In this episode of AMD Cloud Chronicles, Abishek Sukal from Mahindra Group discusses the convergence of cloud, AI, and automation in reshaping business strategies. He highlights challenges in cloud transformation, such as legacy systems and siloed data, while emphasizing the importance of cost optimization, security, and governance. Mahindra's use of AMD processors offers significant cost savings and performance improvements in cloud infrastructure, particularly for high-performance applications. The conversation also covers the role of cloud-native solutions in ensuring security and agility. Abishek emphasizes the need for businesses to stay agile while optimizing costs and balancing security.

Takeaways

• 😀 Cloud, AI, and automation are converging to transform business operations and customer experiences, with cloud serving as the foundation, AI providing intelligence, and automation handling execution.
• 😀 Digital transformation is accelerating, with companies embracing data-driven decision-making in industries such as car sales and real estate.
• 😀 A major challenge in cloud transformation is integrating legacy systems, siloed data, and aligning cloud adoption with business priorities.
• 😀 The importance of governance in cloud transformation cannot be overstated, with cost management (FinOps) being a key focus from the start to ensure success.
• 😀 Cloud adoption requires upfront investment, but the long-term benefits, such as enhanced capabilities and improved performance, justify the costs.
• 😀 Mahindra's Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE) played a crucial role in managing cost optimization, governance, and platform automation.
• 😀 Cloud security should be prioritized from the start, with Mahindra ensuring robust security through micro-segmentation and secure cloud landing zones, particularly for regulated industries.
• 😀 Cost optimization is an ongoing effort, with Mahindra utilizing various strategies like spot instances and committed agreements to reduce cloud expenses.
• 😀 AMD processors offer a superior price-performance ratio, enabling Mahindra to save 40% on costs while maintaining high performance for cloud workloads, such as Tarrock.
• 😀 High-performance computing (HPC) workloads can be successfully run on the cloud, with Mahindra proving that it can be more cost-effective than on-premise solutions.
• 😀 The integration of AI and automation in cloud environments has enabled Mahindra to streamline operations, drive innovation, and enhance overall efficiency.

Q & A

How are Cloud, AI, and automation converging in business today?

Cloud serves as the foundation, AI acts as the layer of intelligence, and automation is the execution layer. Together, these technologies are transforming business operations, customer experiences, and decision-making processes. Digitalization is accelerating, and these technologies are driving innovation and efficiency across industries.

What are the key challenges Mahindra faces in its cloud transformation journey?

Mahindra faces challenges such as dealing with legacy systems, data silos, and aligning cloud adoption with business priorities. The company had to modernize its tech landscape while ensuring everything was synchronized, and establishing a Cloud Center of Excellence (CCOE) was a crucial step in managing costs and governance.

What role does the Cloud Center of Excellence (CCOE) play in Mahindra's cloud transformation?

The CCOE at Mahindra plays a key role in overseeing cloud governance and cost management. It ensures that cloud adoption is aligned with business objectives and that the transformation stays on track with proper controls, particularly around cost optimization, which is crucial for avoiding failure in cloud transformation projects.

How does Mahindra ensure cost optimization in its cloud strategy?

Mahindra focuses on optimizing cloud costs by using a combination of reserved instances, spot instances, and leveraging cloud-native solutions. The company also emphasizes platform automation and governance, and uses specific tools like terraform to provision resources efficiently.

What is the importance of balancing cost and security when transitioning to the cloud?

Balancing cost and security is crucial for a smooth cloud transition. While cloud adoption offers cost savings and agility, security requirements must not be compromised. Mahindra addresses this by implementing a secure cloud lending zone, micro-segmentation, and adapting security models based on the specific needs of regulated and non-regulated business units.

How does Mahindra justify its cloud investments to leadership, particularly the CFO?

Mahindra justifies its cloud investments by demonstrating how cloud adoption leads to business benefits such as improved customer experiences and operational efficiencies. For example, Mahindra's use of the cloud in the online vehicle booking process helped book 2 lakh vehicles in just one and a half hours, a feat that was previously impossible.

What specific benefits has Mahindra seen from using AMD processors in the cloud?

Mahindra has realized significant cost savings and performance improvements by using AMD processors in the cloud. For example, during the launch of the Tar Rock vehicle booking system, the use of AMD-powered machines on Kubernetes resulted in a 40% cost reduction, providing better price-performance ratios compared to other cloud providers.

What role does automation play in Mahindra's cloud adoption strategy?

Automation plays a key role in Mahindra's cloud strategy by reducing manual intervention and improving efficiency. The company uses automation tools such as terraform and indigenous tools for resource provisioning, testing, and scaling, all of which help streamline cloud operations and ensure that the technology aligns with business needs.

How does Mahindra approach high-performance computing (HPC) on the cloud?

Mahindra has successfully moved its HPC workloads to the cloud, defying the common belief that HPC is not suitable for cloud environments. By leveraging cloud-native automation, AI-driven decision-making, and utilizing AMD processors, Mahindra has optimized its HPC costs and improved processing speed by 30%, leading to reduced license costs and better scalability.

How does Mahindra ensure the right security levels for cloud solutions?

Mahindra integrates security directly into its cloud solutions by creating secure cloud environments, such as the cloud lending zone. The company uses micro-segmentation to separate critical workloads and applies different security models depending on the regulatory requirements of each business unit. This approach ensures both agility and robust security.