In this lively episode of Across the Tech Pond, hosts David Marshall, Neil C. Hughes, and Anthony Savvas reunite after an eventful week in New York to share their insights from the 64th IT Press Tour. The trio swap stories and compare notes on the seven cloud and data management companies they met across Manhattan: Arcitecta, ExaGrid, HYCU, CTERA, AuriStor, TextQL, and Shade Inc.

Across an engaging and often humorous discussion, the hosts unpack what is changing in the world of data infrastructure. David spotlights CTERA’s three-wave innovation strategy and its push into AI-ready data intelligence. Neil reflects on ExaGrid’s unapologetically pragmatic CEO, Bill Andrews, and how his company continues to prove that simplicity and reliability still matter in an era obsessed with AI. The group also explores HYCU’s growing partnership with Dell, Arcitecta’s remarkable claim of managing over a trillion files in a single namespace, and AuriStor’s unconventional pricing model that decouples cost from capacity.

The tone shifts as they turn to two of New York’s most interesting startups. TextQL’s energetic founder shares his mission to break enterprise data lock-in with a Rosetta Stone approach to integration, while Shade Inc. impresses the team with its real-time streaming and AI-powered search for creative files. From tape storage to trillion-file namespaces, from backup resilience to AI data pipelines, this episode captures the evolving state of data technology and the personalities driving it.

The conversation closes with the hosts previewing their upcoming travels: In the next few weeks, you can find David at KubeCon North America. Both Neil and Tony can be found at IGEL's Now & Next event in Frankfurt. But separately, Neil will be reporting from the Software Defined Space Conference (SDSC) in Estonia, and Anthony is preparing for OpenText World in Nashville.

It is another cross-continental exchange full of insight, humour, and firsthand industry perspective, and a must-listen for anyone following the evolution of enterprise data and AI.

Across the Tech Pond launches with a frank debrief from the Venetian show floor in Las Vegas. David Marshall, Neil C. Hughes, and Antony Savvas compare notes on a pivotal year for VMware under Broadcom and ask the question on every attendee’s mind.

Did Hock Tan’s keynote do enough to steady nerves among customers and partners, or did it simply sharpen the divide between those all-in on private cloud and those still weighing their next move?

The conversation digs into VMware Cloud Foundation 9 as the center of gravity for Broadcom’s strategy. We look at why private cloud momentum is real for large enterprises, what mid-market buyers are actually adopting, and how the promised bundle of security, developer tooling, and Private AI could land in the data center.

You will hear reactions to the Walmart spotlight, the Tesco dispute that set comment sections alight, and the Canonical and NVIDIA angles that could speed AI workloads without sending costs skyward.

We also talk about the vibe. Attendance felt lighter, the expo was thinner, and several familiar backup and hardware names were missing. The closing party underwhelmed, yet the conversations were rich and the message was clear. If Broadcom wants everyone on this journey, it needs more proof, more voices beyond the Fortune 100, and a stronger signal to the partner ecosystem.

We close with a look ahead to 2026 and a cheeky open question. If private cloud repatriation is the story, will hyperscalers still command the biggest booths next year? Tune in for the take you would have wanted if you could not make the trip.