Analysts urge enterprises to rearchitect memory and storage for AI inference
Tirias Research founder Jim McGregor argues that AI is not one workload but millions of varied ones, meaning data centers can no longer treat memory and storage as secondary hardware. He says inference and agentic AI demand purpose-built systems capable of continuous, real-time data ingestion, caching, and movement rather than legacy infrastructure designed for training workloads.
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As companies shift from training models to running them at scale, bottlenecks in memory and storage—not just compute—will determine whether AI systems can operate efficiently and sustainably. This reframes IT investment priorities toward performance per watt and data pipeline design, not just faster chips.
- AI workloads vary enormously, requiring flexible, purpose-built infrastructure rather than one-size-fits-all systems.
- Inference and agentic AI create sustained demand for real-time data retrieval, straining memory and storage more than training ever did.
- Enterprises must prioritize performance per watt and remove data bottlenecks to scale AI sustainably.
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See Samsung 990 PRO NVMe SSD on Amazon → Affiliate link — we may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Product picked by AI based on this article; it is not a tested recommendation.Source: technologyreview.com — Mit Technology Review Insights, 2026-09-04
Published there as: “Architecting memory and storage in the AI era”
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