The Virtually Speaking Podcast is a weekly technical podcast dedicated to discussing VMware topics related to private and hybrid cloud. Each week Pete Flecha and John Nicholson bring in various subject matter experts from VMware, recently acquired by Broadcom, and within the industry to discuss their respective areas of expertise.
Listen to episodes
60 recent
August 20, 2026Episode 6164 min
Fire Flood Blood at VMware Explore
Fire. Flood. Blood. is back. 🔥🌊🩸 Everybody in IT has that story. The outage, the flooded data center, the script that went sideways, or the moment you thought, “What the hell was I thinking?” At VMware Explore, we’re bringing Fire Flood Blood back to Virtually Speaking and we want to hear your craziest IT stories and the lessons you learned from them. Going to Explore? Come find us and bring your best story. #VMwareExplore #FireFloodBlood #VirtuallySpeaking #VCF
August 11, 2026Episode 61527 min
VMware Explore 2026 Preview
VMware Explore 2026 is almost here, and the Virtually Speaking crew is getting ready for Las Vegas. In this episode, Pete Flecha is joined by John Nicholson, Jad El-Zein, and special guest Duncan Epping to preview the week ahead. They talk about the return to deeply technical content, the sessions they’re most excited about, the evolution of Hands-on Labs, Odyssey competitions, and why the community and networking remain such a big part of Explore. Virtually Speaking will also be recording live from the VMware booth Monday through Wednesday, talking with customers, partners, engineers, and anyone with a great technical story. We’ll also be doing a daily live recap at 5:00 PM. If you’re attending Explore, come by the booth and say hello.
July 21, 2026Episode 61447 min
Self-Service Infrastructure with VCF Automation 9.1
VCF 9.1 goes beyond the foundational infrastructure to help organizations deliver a true private cloud experience through automation, self-service, and policy-based governance. In this episode, Pete Flecha and Jad El-Zein welcome Maher AlAsfar, Product Marketing Engineer at Broadcom, to explore what is new in VCF Automation 9.1. The conversation covers declarative infrastructure, Kubernetes-native APIs, Containers as a Service, centralized service management, namespace capture, app stack formation, and project-level content libraries. Maher also explains when a lightweight container service makes more sense than deploying a full Kubernetes cluster, how infrastructure services such as networking, storage, and load balancing support these workloads, and why automation is the natural next step after deploying VMware Cloud Foundation.
July 14, 2026Episode 61313 min
VCF for Smaller IT Teams
Can a lean IT team successfully adopt VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF)? Jeremy Wright joins Pete Flecha and John Nicholson to share how Grinnell Mutual transformed its infrastructure strategy after initially assuming VCF was only for large enterprises. Jeremy discusses how uncertainty during the VMware acquisition led his team to VMware Explore looking for answers—and how one conversation changed their entire approach. From identifying a potential $1 million storage savings with vSAN to embracing automation, Kubernetes, AI, and private cloud services, Jeremy explains why VCF became the foundation for their future despite having an infrastructure team of just 16 people. The conversation also explores how to gain executive buy-in, align developers around cloud-like capabilities, introduce Private AI, and successfully modernize without adding operational complexity. Whether you’re leading a small IT organization or simply wondering if VCF is the right fit for your environment, this episode offers practical lessons from someone who’s been through the journey.
July 10, 2026Episode 60915 min
Why VMUG Connect Replaced UserCons?
At VMUG Connect 2026 in Minneapolis, Pete Flecha and John Nicholson sit down with Ryan Lance from the VMUG leadership team to talk about the evolution of the VMUG community and what’s changing with the new VMUG Connect format. Ryan shares his journey through the VMUG community, from early user group involvement and speaking at events to leading the Sacramento VMUG. The conversation explores how VMUG is getting back to its roots as a source of VMware education, hands-on learning, technical community, and practitioner-led knowledge sharing. The discussion also covers the shift from traditional one-day UserCons to larger regional VMUG Connect events, the continued importance of local communities, the role of home labs, certification, VMUG Advantage, and how VMUG can help practitioners stay informed as VMware Cloud Foundation continues to evolve. Whether you’re a long-time VMUG member, a home lab builder, a VMware administrator, or someone looking to get more connected with the community, this episode highlights why VMUG remains such an important resource for learning, networking, and sharing real-world experience.
July 7, 2026Episode 61240 min
Why AI Changes the Security Game
In this episode, Pete Flecha and John Nicholson welcome back Bob Plankers for a deeper conversation on why AI changes the security game. Bob explains how AI is accelerating vulnerability discovery, exploit creation, malware customization, and even end-to-end attack execution. The discussion covers why “patch the critical stuff only” is becoming riskier, how AI can chain moderate vulnerabilities into serious attacks, and why identity, zero trust, microsegmentation, recovery planning, and defense in depth matter more than ever. Bob also walks through practical ways VMware Cloud Foundation can help, including vDefend, Avi Load Balancer, vSAN Data Protection, cyber recovery, isolated recovery environments, hardening guides, and security configuration resources.
July 3, 2026Episode 60611 min
Private AI in Action: Training an AI Robot Dog with VMware Cloud Foundation
At KubeCon Europe 2026 in Amsterdam, Johan van Amersfoort from ITQ joins Virtually Speaking to introduce one of the most talked-about demos on the show floor: Q9, an AI-powered robotic dog built using VMware Private AI Foundation. But Q9 is more than a fun demo. It showcases how organizations can use VMware Cloud Foundation, Private AI Services, GPUs, large language models, computer vision, and secure networking to train and deploy AI applications while keeping data private and sovereign. Johan explains how Q9 uses gesture recognition, conversational AI, image analytics, local inference, and remote model access to create an interactive AI experience. The conversation also explores practical enterprise AI use cases, including HR assistants, legal knowledge systems, sovereign AI, and why private infrastructure remains critical for AI success. Whether you’re exploring Private AI, AI infrastructure, model training, or simply want to meet the coolest dog at KubeCon, this episode delivers both technical insights and real-world examples.
June 29, 2026Episode 61143 min
Platform Engineering 2.0: The Evolution of the AI Era
What happens when AI becomes a first-class consumer of your platform? In this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast, Pete Flecha is joined by Jad El-Zien and Pankaj Gupta, co-author of the new Platform Engineering 2.0 whitepaper, to explore how platform engineering is evolving to meet the demands of the AI era. The conversation traces the journey from DevOps to Platform Engineering 1.0 and explains why the next evolution is already underway. With AI-generated code accelerating software delivery, agentic AI emerging as a new platform consumer, and FinOps becoming critical to controlling AI costs, organizations must rethink how platforms are built and operated. The discussion covers the five pillars of Platform Engineering 2.0, the growing importance of embedded FinOps, security-by-design, multi-persona experiences, AI-native platforms, and why VMware administrators and infrastructure teams have a major opportunity to shape the future of platform engineering. 📄 Download the Platform Engineering 2.0 whitepaper: https://brcm.tech/PE2WhitePaper #PlatformEngineering #AI #DevOps #FinOps #Kubernetes #CloudNative #PlatformEngineering20 #AgenticAI #VirtuallySpeakingPodcast #VMware #PrivateCloud
June 23, 2026Episode 60714 min
WebAssembly Meets Kubernetes with Cosmonic
What happens when WebAssembly and Kubernetes come together? Recorded live at KubeCon 2026 in Amsterdam, Pete Flecha and Jad El-Zein sit down with Liam Randall, CEO of Cosmonic, to explore how WebAssembly is changing the way developers build, deploy, and operate cloud-native applications. Liam explains why WebAssembly is generating so much excitement beyond the browser, how it complements Kubernetes, and why organizations are looking at wasmCloud to simplify application portability across cloud, edge, and data center environments. Whether you’re a Kubernetes operator, platform engineer, or application developer, this conversation provides a practical look at where WebAssembly fits into the modern cloud-native stack.
June 22, 2026Episode 61021 min
Private Cloud Outlook 2026: The AI Tipping Point
Private cloud is no longer just about cost savings or control—it has become the foundation for enterprise AI. In this episode of the Virtually Speaking Podcast, Pete Flecha and John Nicholson sit down with Prashanth Shenoy, VP of Product Marketing for VMware Cloud Foundation, to discuss the findings from the Private Cloud Outlook 2026 report. Based on a global survey of 1,800 IT leaders, the report reveals a dramatic shift in how organizations are approaching AI infrastructure. As AI workloads move from experimentation to production, enterprises are increasingly choosing private cloud environments to address the growing challenges of cost, complexity, governance, security, and data sovereignty. Prashanth shares key insights from the research, including why private cloud has become the preferred destination for production AI inference, what’s driving the acceleration of workload repatriation, and how VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1 is helping organizations build a secure, cost-effective platform for the AI era. Download the Private Cloud Outlook 2026 report: https://www.vmware.com/docs/private-cloud-outlook-2026 #VMware #VCF #PrivateCloud #AI #GenerativeAI #CloudRepatriation #EnterpriseAI #VMwareCloudFoundation #Broadcom #VirtuallySpeakingPodcast
Is this your show?
Claim this listing to keep it up to date, reach guests who want to pitch you, and manage bookings with Guestify.
