KERNO Advances Made-in-UAE AI Infrastructure Through Collaboration with VAST Data

Kerno, the UAE’s enterprise-level IT hardware manufacturer, today announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) agreement with VAST Data, the AI Operating System company, to support the deployment of AI-ready data infrastructure manufactured in the UAE, aligned with the country’s growing focus on sovereign, locally produced digital systems.

For customers across government and regulated industries, the ability to deploy infrastructure manufactured in the UAE offers practical advantages beyond localisation, including supply-chain resilience, faster delivery and servicing, and greater confidence in long-term availability and support. These priorities align with the objectives of the UAE’s Operation 300bn mission, which aims to expand domestic industrial capability, localise advanced manufacturing, and build globally competitive technology sectors, delivered through initiatives such as Make It in the Emirates.

As part of this relationship, KERNO and VAST will collaborate on joint validation of each other’s infrastructure and explore combining technology solutions in the UAE, enabling customers to deploy VAST’s AI Operating System data platform alongside enterprise-grade server infrastructure designed and manufactured locally. This approach supports organisations seeking to balance performance, scalability, and compliance requirements across government and enterprise environments, while aligning AI infrastructure deployment with national industrial development and data sovereignty objectives.

By combining KERNO’s UAE-manufactured platforms with the VAST AI Operating System which unifies storage, database, and compute services on its Disaggregated Shared Everything (DASE) architecture, customers can support data-intensive and AI workloads while aligning with local regulatory, data sovereignty, and localisation priorities.

“Our focus is on building enterprise-grade infrastructure in the UAE that customers can trust, scale, and operate with confidence,” said Christopher Caswell, CEO and Co-Founder of KERNO. “Working with VAST Data allows us to support advanced AI workloads and data use cases while reinforcing the importance of locally manufactured, production-ready platforms designed for the region.”

VAST’s AI Operating System is designed to support sovereign data environments by enabling organisations to maintain strict control over where data resides, how it is accessed, and how it is governed across complex AI pipelines. The platform supports secure multi-tenancy, granular access controls, and auditable data ownership models that allow governments and enterprises to separate data stewardship, operational responsibility, and infrastructure control. This architecture helps organisations deploy AI at scale while meeting national data residency, compliance, and accountability requirements.

“As organisations across the UAE accelerate AI adoption, there is increasing demand for infrastructure that combines global software innovation with local manufacturing and control,” said Haider Aziz, General Manager & VP META at VAST Data. “Working with local vendors like KERNO allows customers to deploy the VAST AI Operating System alongside UAE-built platforms, while we continue to explore future validation and deployment models aligned to regional requirements.”

The agreement was signed following a recent behind-the-scenes tour of KERNO’s new advanced manufacturing facility in Dubai, between local VAST Data representatives and KERNO executives.