How can developers create apps that run close to users?
In this InTechnology video, Camille talks with co-host Nick Washburn, Senior Managing Director at Intel Capital, and guest Kurt Mackey, Co-Founder and CEO of Fly.io. They get into how Fly.io built a public cloud focused on developers, how they are adjusting to demands for AI and security, and what interested Intel Capital in Fly.io.
Learn more about Intel Capital here.
Building a Public Cloud for Developers
Kurt kicks off the conversation by explaining Fly.io’s philosophy of becoming a public cloud tailored for developers. He describes how their public cloud structure helps developers ship their work faster and better utilize automations. Initially conceived as a platform to run apps close to users, similar to edge computing, Fly.io quickly evolved into a public cloud. Kurt highlights their target audience as impatient and pragmatic developers, such as PHP developers, who can rapidly and incrementally release impactful work without being hindered by permissions and collaboration with other teams.
Nick and Kurt emphasize Fly.io’s focus on simplicity while providing an easy pathway for scaling up. A key feature of their platform is that it allows even inexperienced developers to easily launch their apps on the cloud. However, these developers might struggle with building over time if they don’t understand the deeper layers of the system. Despite this, Fly.io’s scalability is a significant benefit for developers, especially those who seek the value of PaaS from Day One but quickly want to scale up. Their self-service onboarding model ensures smooth application launches, and Fly.io offers an accessible first-time experience for open-source projects. Another notable advantage is its sub-millisecond latency, which Kurt notes is challenging to achieve even on AWS.
Adjusting to Demands for Machine Learning, AI, and Security
Camille then asks Kurt about how Fly.io addresses customer needs in machine learning, AI, and security. Kurt explains that edge computing has become increasingly important to customers due to the high power demands and costs associated with GPUs for machine learning and AI. Fly.io’s solution involves placing data centers where power is more affordable. Kurt also observes a generational shift towards developers building with generative AI in mind, leading to a relational database of LLMs that will facilitate app development. Fly.io focuses on deploying machine learning code as easily as other code, enabling developers to build and ship machine learning-backed applications as easily as full-stack applications. Additionally, customers are increasingly optimizing models and seeing how much they can run on CPUs before resorting to larger models. Kurt also emphasizes Fly.io’s commitment to prioritizing security without compromising user experience, a balance often lacking elsewhere.
What Intel Capital Sees in Fly.io
Concluding the conversation, Camille asks Nick about Intel Capital’s investment approach, using Fly.io as an example. Nick explains that Intel Capital is thesis-driven, seeking companies working on tech concepts they believe are needed. They saw in Fly.io a shared belief in the emerging modern distributed cloud with key core components and an excellent developer experience. Intel Capital recognized that creating such a cloud would require having their own metal to offer low-level primitives to solve technical graduation issues, which Fly.io provides. The technical worldview of Fly.io founders Kurt, Michael, Thomas, and Jerome aligned well with Intel Capital’s views, making it a strong partnership. Kurt shares his perspective, noting that Nick was the first to support his prediction that it isn’t feasible to build an enduring business on top of AWS which also poses an economic threat to AWS.
Nick Washburn, Senior Managing Director, Intel Capital
Nick Washburn has been a Senior Managing Director at Intel Capital since 2018. Before assuming his current role, he served as Senior Attorney and Managing Counsel. Nick is a voting member of Intel Capital’s Investment Committee and co-manages the Cloud Investment Domain, focusing on early-stage investments in cloud-native infrastructure, developer tools, AI, ML, and data platforms. He is also a Director on the Board of the National Venture Capital Association and a member of the Kauffman Fellows. Nick received his J.D. from the Charles Widger School of Law at Villanova University.
Kurt Mackey, Co-Founder and CEO of Fly.io
Kurt Mackey is the Co-Founder and CEO of Fly.io, founded in 2016. Previously, he co-founded and served as CEO of Compose and was the Director of Technology at Condé Nast. Kurt holds a B.B.A. in Management Information Systems from The University of Oklahoma Price College of Business.
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#publiccloud #devops #Flyio #IntelCapital
The views and opinions expressed are those of the guests and author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Intel Corporation.
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