DDN CEO Alex Bouzari: AI Is Becoming the Next Great Asset Class

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
Thanks so much for that, Mali. Joining me now at the desk to discuss the next phase of AI development is Alex Bouzari, co-founder and CEO of DDN. Alex, thank you so much for your time and happy Friday.

**Alex Bouzari** (0:11)
Oh, happy Friday to you. We're just talking about the weekend and all the great things we could be doing this weekend.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:16)
You've got a fantastic trip coming up as well.

**Alex Bouzari** (0:19)
I don't know if you can talk about it. Yeah, so going to Iceland. Yeah. So Iceland is a beautiful place to visit. So for all those people who have not been to Iceland, please go to Iceland.
It's wonderful. And there are data centers in Iceland for AI to help bring clean energy, which is one of the topics in AI, into the world of technology.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:40)
Yeah, I just thought that was so interesting because, I mean, we're talking about data centers in space, but we didn't even know that they existed under the ice. So I think this is new to me.

**Alex Bouzari** (0:48)
It's everywhere.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:49)
And I love it when we say these headlines, we're going to be talking about the next phase of AI development. I mean, I don't even know what phase we're in right now, because if you look at the markets, there's a competition for leadership. I mean, it's the check writers, it's the check takers. Now Jensen Huang's got new check writers here on Wall Street. You've got companies tapping the debt mark. I mean, what phase would you say we're in?

**Alex Bouzari** (1:09)
So right now, I think we're in the phase of industrialization of AI.
So the first phase was layout the infrastructure, build data centers, the energy, connect all of it, roll in the GPUs, put all the compute in place. Now, thanks to Jensen, compute is an asset class. So compute is just like railroads, hotel rooms, residential and so on. But now we're in the phase where this monetization, this asset class is going to transform into output.

**SPEAKER_1** (1:39)
Right.

**Alex Bouzari** (1:39)
Because what is AI all about? It's all about insight, it's all about creating value for enterprises, for organizations, for consumers. And for that, it is all about the output.

**SPEAKER_1** (1:49)
But he said it's going to be an asset class. Well, he's flagged the idea. I mean, this is kind of his vision because he is a very forward thinker type of guy, but not everyone on Wall Street buys that vision. I mean, do you believe it could be?

**Alex Bouzari** (2:03)
I completely believe, I'm fully on, but I believe that what needs to be measured is not the input. So the asset class is the input. Let's finance compute. But to me, it's the output which is really important because the output is what brings value to enterprises. That's where the ROI pencils out, that's where the C-suite looks at. So the monetization requires output, and that's one of the things that DDN does. We transform the input, which is a compute, into value creation, which is the output, and that's all about the data.

**SPEAKER_1** (2:37)
We started to see monetization proof, by the way, of the latest Q2 earnings coming from the so-called hyperscalers. I mean, the big cap tech companies, obviously. I mean, are we seeing enough R or Y, do you think, to economically justify the spend right now? Because we just keep throwing the numbers out there.

**Alex Bouzari** (2:53)
That's a great question. So I think you have the foundation models, you know, the open AIs and the anthropics and so on, who are focused on delivering value to enterprises and consumers. But there's a whole new wave of companies getting created, AI-native companies, that are providing capabilities that can be utilized in order to deliver the better products and services that AI can bring in. So I think that phase will create tremendous value into the world's economy. Look, over the last 25 years, the world's economy has more than doubled to $150 trillion today.
My prediction is over the next decade, it will double again. $150 trillion will get added to the world's economy, and that will be benefits to enterprises, to nations and to consumers. And all of that will be enabled by AI. So yes, absolutely, this will continue. But the continuation of it, it is very important for everybody to look at the output. What is the value that is being delivered? And that value needs to be measurable in economic terms, in financial terms, in business terms.

**SPEAKER_1** (4:02)
What metrics do you use then?

**Alex Bouzari** (4:04)
You need to connect earnings per share into tokens. It is not about generating tokens. It is about generating tokens that are valuable. One of the things DDN does, we improve the efficiency and we deliver more tokens, but valuable tokens that benefit organizations. Think of it as having a hotel room. You want those hotel rooms to run fully. You want every room to be occupied all the time. You want to be able to monetize that. So, these types of technologies, technologies like the ones DDN is developing, ensure that the ROI pencils out. If you're building a hotel, new asset class, compute. Compute is analogous to real estate, but now you need to fill the compute with valuable output.