# On theCUBE Pod: AMD nips at Nvidia’s heels, and IBM undergoes quiet transformation > Source: > Published: 2026-07-27 17:11:23+00:00 ### On theCUBE Pod: AMD nips at Nvidia’s heels, and IBM undergoes quiet transformation The artificial intelligence competition is no longer between large language models, but rather between AI systems. [Advanced Micro Devices Inc.](https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/24/amd-takes-nvidia-us-takes-chinese-ai-models-ai-spending-still-spooks-investors/) has shifted from being primarily a chip business to a secondary player in the race to build a system of intelligence. At the company’s [annual event last week](https://siliconangle.com/tag/amdadvancingai26eventpage/), industry experts focused on the larger picture: How does the enterprise world prepare for the next era of computing? “After spending this week at [AMD Advancing AI](https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/23/ai-infrastructure-systems-power-enterprise-tech-amdadvancingai/), it’s clear the big takeaway was that this isn’t about a new chip or a benchmark,” said [John Furrier](https://www.linkedin.com/in/furrier/) (pictured, left), executive analyst for theCUBE Research. “It’s about a shift in how the industry is thinking about AI. For the past few years, people have talked about who’s got the fastest GPU. That’s the wrong question. The question that came out of San Francisco this week with AMD is who can build the best AI system?” On the [latest episode of theCUBE Pod](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGHH7GSmPOY), Furrier discussed new developments from AMD and why Wall Street failed to predict IBM’s strategy in the AI market. The episode also featured a recent analysis with Furrier and [Dave Vellante](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dvellante/), chief analyst for theCUBE Research, at the [AMD Advancing AI event](http://thecube.net/events/amd/advancing-ai-2026). ### The industry shifts toward AI systems The consensus at AMD’s event was that AI is becoming the infrastructure of enterprise computing, with central processing units, graphics processing units and software agents forming one integrated system. The AI factory — [a purpose-built system for AI production](https://siliconangle.com/2025/10/25/ai-factories-data-centers-future/) — is the future, according to Furrier. “This is the next generation of computing,” he said. “It won’t be organized around applications and files. It’ll be organized around projects, goals, conversation. And instead of humans learning software, software will increasingly understand human intent. This is a profound shift. Models certainly matter, but the bigger, larger intelligence system is what’s going to make business work in the AI era.” AMD has the potential to become [even more valuable than it is now](https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/24/amd-takes-nvidia-us-takes-chinese-ai-models-ai-spending-still-spooks-investors/), Vellante believes. The explosion of inference could open up new opportunities for the chip company, which has more pieces of the technology stack than any of the LLM vendors. “Will there be the emergence of a software factory running on top of the AI factory? That’s where the value is going to be,” Vellante said. “The value in the CapEx and the core infrastructure in and of itself doesn’t exist without applications on top of it. That’s where the money is. It does take time, but what cycle have we ever seen where the massive investment in CapEx hasn’t ultimately delivered a return?” ### AMD takes second place behind Nvidia AMD is now a viable second option behind Nvidia Corp., which remains the dominant AI infrastructure company. Both firms are building rack-scale AI systems that combine software and silicon, enabling users to interact with a system of intelligence. “The battle between AMD and Nvidia isn’t just about silicon anymore,” Furrier said. “It’s about who defines the architecture for this next era of computing. This is the key we see in the growth of AI factories. The companies that will win won’t simply build the smartest AI — they’ll build the environment for humans and AI to work together. That’s going to be the future.” Although Nvidia has the clear lead in AI systems, being second best isn’t so bad. AMD still has plenty of ground to gain in the AI infrastructure market, according to Vellante, who emphasized that customers want options. “AMD doesn’t have to take out Nvidia,” Vellante said. “It needs to be, and I think it’s positioning itself, as an essential second choice in AI infrastructure. Why is that important? You want to have optionality. You want to have a second source. You want to have negotiating leverage. I see AMD as … the second leading company in the AI race.” ### Wall Street underestimates Big Blue Although Wall Street was [down on IBM this week](https://siliconangle.com/2026/07/24/amd-takes-nvidia-us-takes-chinese-ai-models-ai-spending-still-spooks-investors/), Furrier thinks that investors aren’t seeing the bigger picture. The AI market is splitting in two, he noted, and IBM is making the strategic decision to position itself as an operating system for the AI-driven enterprise. “On one side are companies building frontier models,” Furrier said. “On the other side are companies helping enterprises operationalize AI securely … and deal with decades of existing systems. IBM has chosen the second path, and it’s a much larger and more defensible opportunity than many appreciate. The market is splitting and which side of history you’re on will determine what you’ll do.” #### Watch the full podcast below to find out why these industry pros were mentioned: Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies [Howie Xu](https://www.linkedin.com/in/howie/), chief AI and innovation officer at Gen Digital [Satya Nadella](https://www.linkedin.com/in/satyanadella/), chairman and CEO at Microsoft [Ali Ghodsi](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alighodsi/), co-founder and CEO of Databricks [Geoffrey Moore](https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffreyamoore/), principal at Geoffrey Moore Consulting [Matei Zaharia](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mateizaharia/), co-founder and chief technologist at Databricks [Michael Kratsios](https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelkratsios/), science advisor to the president of the United States [Larry Ellison](https://x.com/larryellison), chairman of the board and chief technology officer at Oracle [Mark Papermaster](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-papermaster-66914925/), CTO and EVP at AMD [Matt Baker](https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-baker-9b73847/), managing director at Deloitte Digital [Sid Nag](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sidnag/), founder, CEO and chief research officer at Tekonyx [Varun Chhabra](https://www.linkedin.com/in/varuncal/), senior vice president of product marketing at Dell Technologies [Darrick Horton](https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrick-horton/), CEO at TensorWave [Andrew Dieckmann](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewdieckmann/), CVP and general manager of data center GPU at AMD [Prith Banerjee](https://www.linkedin.com/in/prith-banerjee/), SVP of innovation and member of the ELT at Synopsys [Trish Damkroger](https://www.linkedin.com/in/trishdamkroger/), SVP and GM for the HPC and AI Business Unit at Hewlett Packard Enterprise [Alistair Speirs](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alistair/), cloud, AI and systems innovation at Microsoft [Lisa Su](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-su-3ba3364/), chair and CEO of AMD Here’s this week’s full episode of theCUBE Pod: *You can also listen to us on* *Apple Podcasts**or on* *Spotify**. 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