Attending VMware explore 2023

Attending VMware Explore 2023 was an incredible experience, packed with learning, networking, and a lot of fun! The event had a perfect balance of insightful sessions, hands-on labs, and opportunities to meet a ton of interesting people from across the tech industry. I came away with fresh ideas and new skills. Now that I’ve had a couple of weeks to recover and let my caffeine levels normalize, here’s is a recap of the week.

From the opening keynote, it was clear: VMware isn’t just sticking to virtualization anymore. The company is making a serious effort to rebrand itself as a leader in AI infrastructure, sovereign clouds, and hybrid setups. Let’s take a look at the big themes.

Private AI: Now With Less Panic

The buzzword of the year was definitely AI. But VMware, always the pragmatist at the cloud party, attached the word Private to it—because nothing gets the enterprise crowd going like a hint of data sovereignty and a GDPR-safe badge.

There was a big focus on VMware Private AI Foundation with NVIDIA, which aims to help organizations build and deploy generative AI models without accidentally uploading all their customer data to a mysterious black box in the sky.

And let’s be honest—no one wants their financial models or employee records showing up in ChatGPT’s next autocomplete suggestion.

The AI Arms Race

One keynote slide basically screamed “WE HAVE FRIENDS!”—and sure enough, VMware showed off strategic AI partnerships with Google, IBM, HPE, and NVIDIA.

There’s definitely a gold rush feeling here—everyone knows AI is important, but not everyone knows what to do with it yet. VMware seems to be offering the answer: “Trust us. We’ve built the infrastructure. Please bring your use case, and let’s talk about how to make it work.”

Multi-Cloud is Still a Thing (And Still Complicated)

Remember last year’s “cloud smart” messaging? That idea that you should use the right cloud for the right job? Yeah, that’s still a thing.

But this year, the emphasis shifted slightly toward actually making it work. You know—getting workloads to move across clouds without summoning a ritual circle of DevOps engineers and sacrificing your weekend.

Advancements in HCX, NSX, and Tanzu promise a reality where moving workloads between clouds is greatly simplified.

Automation: Now Slightly More Automated

Automation has always been that magical thing companies say they want but never have time for.

This year, VMware doubled down on making automation a bit less difficult and a lot more accessible. APIs, SDKs, Terraform providers—you name it, they’ve probably improved it.

VMware Cloud Foundation (vCF) 5.1: Bigger, Better, Beefier

vCF 5.1 launched during the conference with some impressive updates:

• Support for vSAN ESA

• Enhanced Terraform integration

• Better handling of NVIDIA GPUs, for those AI workloads we mentioned earlier

There’s a renewed sense of purpose around VCF. VMware is signaling that this isn’t just a glorified SDDC—it’s the backbone of everything from sovereign cloud environments to AI training clusters.

Conclusion: Why VMware Explore 2023 Was More Than Just a Tech Conference

Attending VMware Explore 2023 wasn’t just about catching up on the latest innovations in virtualization and multi-cloud. It was an immersive experience that brought real value—both professionally and personally. From thought-provoking sessions that sparked new ideas to hands-on labs that deepened technical skills, the event was a hub of learning and discovery.

But just as important were the moments outside the session rooms: connecting with peers, sharing stories with industry leaders, and building genuine relationships that could last a career. Whether you were bonding with your team over local cuisine, exploring the vibrant host city after hours, or simply having a hallway conversation that led to a breakthrough idea, VMware Explore reminded us that growth happens when people come together.

In the end, it wasn’t just about what we learned—it was about who we met, what we experienced, and the energy we’re now bringing back to our teams. If you’re considering attending in the future, don’t hesitate. VMware Explore is more than a conference.