In today's Cloud Wars Minute, I explore the growing divide between cloud innovators and followers in the AI Era.

Highlights

00:03 — Now we see here in April of 2026 a distinction between leaders and followers in the cloud and AI markets. And this came through quite distinctly here. AWS has just launched what it calls its multi-cloud interconnect service, and it's going to be good for some customers.

00:51 — In spite of the fact that AWS cloud revenue is much, much larger than Oracle, size matters, but it is not the only differentiator. Their service is going to start with Google Cloud, and AWS is going to add both Microsoft and Oracle later this year to allow secure data exchange across these clouds.

01:42 — Oracle followed that up with what I call the Microsoft miracle, where it set up these multi-cloud partnerships with its three primary rivals — first Microsoft, then Google Cloud, then AWS — allowing customers to buy and deploy the Oracle database through those other clouds.

02:22 — As far as who is setting the agenda and driving innovation, it's very much more Oracle and Google Cloud, and AWS now is proven a follower. I can't even call them a fast follower, because it's been about three years since they followed up on this.

03:10 — In the midst of the AI revolution and the beginning of the global AI economy, it's much more important to find tech partners who help you create the future, not just improve the past, and that's why innovation that drives rapid business outcomes matters most.

03:56 — So with businesses now being in a situation where they don't have lots and lots of time to tinker and experiment and wait to see what the competitors do, they've got to move very quickly. That's why with the Cloud Wars Top 10, I've put such an emphasis on innovation that drives rapid business outcomes.

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