CIO Influence Interview with Ari Weil, Vice President of Product Marketing, Akamai

Ari Weil, Vice President of Product Marketing at Akamai highlights cyber threats for global enterprises, cloud-edge synergy and its impact on IT infrastructure, role of edge computing and more in this interview. 

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Hi Ari, please share your career journey and how it led you to your current role at Akamai.

My career journey has spanned the lifecycle of enterprise software. I was fortunate enough that my first job out of college introduced me to sales, marketing, engineering and operations, before I understood the difference. From those foundations, I’ve had a role in every aspect of the product lifecycle, from initial concept, market positioning, field training and execution, customer adoption and ongoing operations and support. At Akamai, I’ve held a variety of roles and have even boomeranged back, rejoining as VP of Product Marketing and Cloud Evangelist.

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How is Akamai addressing the rise in sophisticated cyber threats for global enterprises?

Akamai has unprecedented visibility into application, API, and other network traffic from our massively distributed global network. The delivery and security solutions we have built are fueled by intelligent automation – heuristics, machine learning, and AI-powered solutions – that can identify legitimate versus threatening or malicious activity and take action to keep our customers secure. We take a comprehensive approach to protecting our customers with category leading products in App and API security and microsegmentation, and are evolving those solutions to help security teams derive insights and streamline their work using AI. As the industry embraces and experiments with AI, we are both adding new capabilities to secure AI applications, and also investing in threat research and security intelligence to protect against adversaries seeking to weaponize AI. This not only reduces the impact of security incidents but also enables faster recovery for critical systems, now and into the future. Together, these approaches provide strong, layered defenses against modern cyber threats.

What are your thoughts on the cloud-edge synergy and its impact on IT infrastructure?

The centralized cloud drove the last round of global innovation. But as businesses increasingly rely on real-time data and localized decision-making, a more distributed cloud model has emerged to enable innovation the past decade’s cloud wasn’t designed for. What distributed providers like Akamai do at the edge complement and extend what legacy centralized providers like Amazon do in the big data centers. Processing data closer to where it’s generated delivers the speed and precision modern applications demand.

This combination unlocks new possibilities. Applications can respond instantly to user needs, bandwidth usage is reduced by processing data locally – addressing the budget pain of egress costs, and sensitive information can stay closer to its source for enhanced security. Together, the cloud and edge create a continuum of compute, combining the centralized cloud’s global scalability with the distributed cloud’s immediacy and adaptability. And building full stack cloud computing infrastructure on a high-performance, distributed network enables low latency and unprecedented control over distribution for every API, microservice, and application.

For businesses, this isn’t just about performance though, it’s about being prepared for the future. Whether enabling smarter logistics, supporting AI inference, or ensuring compliance in a fragmented regulatory landscape, the synergy between cloud and edge redefines what IT infrastructure can achieve. It’s not an either-or choice; it’s about leveraging the best of both to meet evolving challenges head-on.

Talk about the role of edge computing in helping businesses optimize performance and scalability.

Edge computing shifts the emphasis on centralized data processing to bringing compute power and resources closer to where they’re needed—at the edge of the network, near end users and devices. Instead of sending data back and forth to a central location that might be hundreds or even thousands of miles away, edge computing enables data to be processed locally. This reduces travel time dramatically, resulting in lower latency and faster, smoother application performance.

And while making data faster is good, the benefits go beyond speed. By processing and storing data at the edge, businesses can also cut costs by reducing bandwidth usage and enhance security by keeping sensitive data closer to its source. Moreover, edge computing is incredibly flexible when it comes to scalability. Organizations can easily add or remove edge locations as their needs change, scaling resources up or down without the need for costly and complex overhauls to their core infrastructure. It’s a smart, dynamic approach to meeting modern performance, scalability, and regulatory demands.

How does Akamai enable B2B companies to achieve measurable ROI with its solutions?

The centralized cloud transformed how businesses operate, but as technology evolves, so do the demands placed on it. Akamai’s distributed cloud builds on the foundation of centralized systems and its own 25 year history at the edge, providing businesses with a way to bring cloud resources closer to where they’re actually needed—whether that’s near customers, devices, or data sources.

Take global businesses, for example. Instead of relying on a single, distant data center, they can deploy applications regionally through Akamai’s distributed cloud. This reduces lag, improves customer experiences, and ensures they’re only scaling resources where it makes sense.

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Cost control is another area where Akamai’s approach stands out. With workloads processed closer to end users, companies can avoid expensive data transfer fees and reduce unnecessary overhead, keeping budgets in check without sacrificing performance.

It’s a practical shift for businesses looking to operate more efficiently. Whether it’s a logistics company optimizing routes in real-time or a media platform delivering high-quality streams without buffering, Akamai’s distributed cloud makes it possible to meet today’s demands while staying ready for what’s next.

What emerging technologies are shaping Akamai’s future roadmap for innovation?

I know AI has been top of mind for everyone these past few years, and that’s not changing anytime soon.

When we talk with our customers about generative AI, we tend to have two kinds of conversations: how can we protect them from AI-generated threats, and how can we help them deploy and run trained AI models at the edge. These AI inference conversations center on how we can get GenAI models as close to people, devices, and things as possible. It’s a conversation we’re having more often, because companies are quickly realizing that inference is where AI’s real value is.

What advice would you offer CIOs navigating the complexities of today’s digital transformation landscape?

Digital transformation is no longer a single initiative—it’s an ongoing evolution that requires clarity, agility, and a focus on outcomes. My advice for CIOs is to prioritize flexibility and control in the cloud from the start. That includes the technology you use, the platforms you incorporate into your COE, and how you think about open source. These have implications on how technology supports business growth, how you can attract and retain the right talent to support your cloud computing and cybersecurity strategies, and the levers you can pull to manage budgets and costs.

Another critical piece is data strategy. With growing regional regulations and privacy concerns, understanding where your data lives and how it flows is essential for maintaining compliance and customer trust.

Lastly, empower your teams by removing unnecessary complexity. When your teams can focus on delivering value rather than managing vendors and products, you’re positioned to turn digital transformation into a long-term advantage.

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