"Full-stack AI" sounds appealing, but the IT reality is more complex

"IT vendors often choose to market a solution as "full-stack AI," sometimes adding terms like "enterprise-ready" or "turnkey" to make it sound even more appealing. What does that actually mean, and how does it fit into existing IT infrastructures? And what can AI deliver when deployed to manage said infrastructures themselves? Techzine discussed this during SUSECON 2026 with Francisco Perez van der Oord, founder and president of ITQ, an IT service provider for approximately 500 European organizations."

"In practical terms, an AI stack or "AI Factory" is often a mix of homegrown and proprietary solutions wrapped into one validated integration. Depending on the IT vendor, it's either a solution for adding AI functionality to existing infrastructure or a reference architecture for a turnkey AI environment that current IT systems can integrate with. The theory sounds logical and coherent, but we're curious to know how a company that implements IT systems for leading clients experiences it in practice."

"ITQ is considered one of the few Pinnacle Partners for VMware in Europe, but also works extensively with companies such as Omnissa (formerly VMware EUC), SUSE, Red Hat, and the three major hyperscalers. In other words: clients can turn to the company to set up or modernize their IT infrastructures of all shapes and sizes. And there is certainly variety, notes Perez van der Oord."

"Even municipalities with practically identical IT requirements opt for vastly different solutions. For ITQ, this naturally means extra business opportunities, according to its founder, but it isn't entirely logical for governmental agencies to behave in such an unintegrated fashion. However, these decentralized and autonomous IT choices do maintain a certain form of biodiversity in the IT "animal kingdom", if you will. After all, if every organization chooses the same solution, that may be efficient in the short term but is detriment"

“Full-stack AI” is marketed as an end-to-end AI capability, sometimes described as “enterprise-ready” or “turnkey.” In practice, an AI stack or “AI Factory” is typically a combination of homegrown and proprietary components assembled into a validated integration. Depending on the vendor, it can mean adding AI functionality to existing infrastructure or providing a reference architecture for a complete AI environment that current systems can integrate with. Organizations often have varied IT requirements and may implement different solutions even when needs appear similar, creating diversity across environments. This variety can create business opportunities for IT service providers that set up and modernize infrastructures for many types of clients.

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