15 years ago, when we started The Cloudcast the definition of cloud was pretty clear cut. But now in 2026, the rules are all different and a new era of Cloud is upon us. Let’s explore what the next generation might provide. 

SHOW: 994

SHOW TRANSCRIPT: The Cloudcast #994 Transcript

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SHOW NOTES

• AWS in 2026: The year of proving they still know how to operate (This Week in AWS)

WHAT IS AND ISN’T CLOUD IN 2026?

• Cloud isn’t a single company
• Cloud isn’t just public cloud
• A CIA cloud isn’t a Gov cloud isn’t your Enterprise Cloud
• Multi-cloud is a real thing that needs technology
• Google, the people that invented “cloud” are a real company in cloud
• Defining cloud by purity, or IaaS/PaaS/SaaS terms doesn’t really matter
• Does data locality matter more in an AI-Cloud era?
• Do we begin to see price wars over the core Cloud 1.0 primitives?
• Are we in the 9th inning of Cloud, and the 1st inning of what’s next? 
• AI has replaced SaaS in immediacy, so does that have impact on Cloud services? 
• Does the lack of application portfolio finally come back to bite AWS? 
• Can niche cloud services emerge (e.g. is Vercel another Digital Ocean, or something unique?)

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