When it comes to data, AI is like Pac-Man. Hard disk drives, NAS, conventional data center and cloud-based storage schemes can't sate AI's voracious appetite for speed and capacity, especially for real time. Playing the game today requires a fundamental rethinking of storage as a foundation of machine learning, deep learning, image processing, and neural network success. "AI and Big Data are dominating every aspect of decision-making and operations," says Jeff Denworth, vice president of products and co-founder at Vast Data, a provider of all-flash storage and services. "The need for vast amounts of fast data are rendering the traditional storage pyramid obsolete. Applying new thinking to many of the toughest problems helps simplify the storage and access of huge reserves of data, in real time, leading to insights that were not possible before."