Real edge challenges, use cases and lessons: live from Google Cloud Next ‘25

"Managing thousands of edge locations can't feel like managing thousands of clouds." – Vijay Tewari, Head of Product Management, Google Distributed Cloud, Storage Services

More enterprises are shifting critical applications to the edge, revealing challenges reliably running stateful, intelligent workloads at scale. 

This week’s Zero-Touch Live was shot on location at Google Cloud Next '25 in Las Vegas, where Rakuten Cloud Global Head of Presales and Solution Engineering Padmarajan (Raj) Narayanan hosted Vijay Tewari of Google Cloud and Anirban Oni Chakravartti , SVP, Global Head of Sales for Enterprise, Rakuten Cloud. The replay of our honest look at where edge computing is heading and how to make it work is available now below. 

Getting practical: AI, storage and smarter operations shifting enterprise strategies 

If the edge is going to deliver on its promise, enterprises will need to tackle these challenges and opportunities head-on.

Key takeaways from our discussion included:

• Edge is getting real and AI is fueling it. Retail, manufacturing, public sector and consumer goods are leading the charge as enterprises look to process data where it's created. AI-powered use cases like personalized promotions, real-time inventory management and on-site video analysis are accelerating demand for powerful, reliable edge infrastructure.
• Stateful applications bring real-world complexity. Supporting stateful apps at the edge isn’t easy because traditional cloud architectures struggle with managing distributed, persistent data. Solutions like distributed cloud plus pre-validated platforms can help enterprises simplify operations, manage mixed workloads like virtual machines and containers, and reduce failure risks at scale.
• How to modernize without a rip and replace. Enterprise applications can’t just be ripped out and replaced overnight. Vijay and Oni emphasized the importance of a phased journey where legacy applications run alongside modernized ones, allowing businesses to gradually containerize workloads without interrupting operations.
• The value of edge partnerships. Partnerships can deliver more than just integration, unlocking joint engineering, early validation and a seamless, scalable edge platform customers can trust. Don’t underestimate the ability of pre-tested solutions to minimize deployment headaches and maximize reliability. 

Edge for real, right now

With AI tools becoming more accessible, edge infrastructure finally offers the capabilities enterprises need to solve real problems close to the source. This improves operational efficiency and customer experiences, while boosting regulatory compliance, especially where data sovereignty demands local processing. 

The bottom line is edge is no longer an experiment. It’s becoming a core part of enterprise cloud strategy with AI, storage and real-time computing at the heart. 

Now, success depends on operational simplicity and support for mixed environments with partnerships that prioritize real-world needs over hype. 

📺 Check out the full conversation now and tag Padmarajan (Raj) Narayanan, Vijay Tewari and Anirban Oni Chakravartti in the comments with your questions or to share insights.