As SC26 approaches, the conversation around AI and HPC infrastructure is shifting from raw compute to a harder question: what does it take to operationalize AI in production? For Hitachi Vantara, the answer starts with the data layer. At the company’s SC26 booth, the message is “Compute got faster. Data has to keep up,” a reminder that accelerators can sit idle when data access or movement becomes the bottleneck. In this VMblog pre-show Q&A, Hitachi …