If you’re partnering with one or more of the hyperscalers, their roadmap is your roadmap. It’s important to know where they’re steering their ships, and a great way to gain insight into this is to follow their CAPEX spending. 

For this episode, I talk with Charles Fitzgerald, managing director at Platformonomics. His annual Follow the CAPEX report tracks spending by the Big 3 hyperscalers—Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud—and includes crystal-ball insights into their strategic plans and priorities. Listen now to hear: 

• How the hyperscalers spent money in 2023 and how their paths are diverging [02:10];
• How AI strategy is affecting CAPEX spending [05:47];
• The last word on whether cloud repatriation is really a trend [11:36]; and
• Why it’s time for "clown providers" like IBM and Oracle to ante up or get out of the big top [16:59].

Links and Resources

• Read Charles Fitzgerald’s 2023 retrospective on public cloud CapEx spending and check out his Q1 2023 Repatriation IndexTM 
• Take a look at TelcoDR’s Hyperscaler Region Tracker to see where the three “BIGS” have been putting their regions.
• Check out this Bloomberg article about Amazon’s AI-focused data center investments, which includes quotes from Charles.
• Charles is all about following the money—great inspiration for a $-inspired playlist:
  • Money by Pink Floyd
  • Can't Buy Me Love by The Beatles
  • Money, Money, Money by ABBA
  • Money for Nothing by Dire Straits
  • She Works Hard for the Money by Donna Summer
• I can’t wait to pounce on telco execs while I’m in Diani Beach, Kenya, just like my favorite Winnie-the-Pooh character Tigger would do. 
• Check out this episode on our YouTube channel.
• You can find the transcript for this episode here.

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This week’s guest

About Charles Fitzgerald

Charles Fitzgerald is a Seattle-based angel investor, with a focus on developer platforms and infrastructure. Previously, he spent 20+ years working on platform businesses at Microsoft and VMware. He can see the cloud from his house.

Podcast Credits

• Executive Producer and Host: Danielle Rios Royston, TelcoDR
• Senior Producer: Lindsay Grubb, TillCo Media
• Editor/Marketing: Alisa Jenkins, Springboard Marketing
• Editing: Andrew Condell
• Associate Producer: Kriselda Dionisio
• Music: Dyami Wilson