NetApp: Architecting Outcomes in the Era of Intelligence | Gabie Boko, NetApp & Costa Kladianos, San Francisco 49ers

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Gabie Boko

CMO

NetApp

Costa Kladianos

EVP, Head of Technology

San Francisco 49ers

play_circle_outline Intelligent stadium concept with real-time data for fan engagement

play_circle_outline Integration of data insights for seamless fan experience and stadium operations

play_circle_outline Revolutionizing Stadium Operations: Innovative Partnerships, Fan-centric Experience, and Data-driven Security Solutions

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Gabie Boko, NetApp & Costa Kladianos, San Francisco 49ers

Gabie Boko

CMO NetApp

Costa Kladianos

EVP, Head of Technology San Francisco 49ers

At NetApp’s “Architecting Outcomes in the Era of Intelligence” event, theCUBE’s Rebecca Knight and Rob Strechay talked with Gabie Boko, CMO of NetApp, and Costa Kladianos, EVP and head of technology at the San Francisco 49ers. Together, they explore how innovation is redefining what's possible in sports and technology.

Boko outlines NetApp’s role as a strategic partner, describing how its technology backbone supports the 49ers' pursuit of cutting-edge performance, both on and off the field. Kladianos shares how Levi’s Stadium has become a blueprint f... Read more

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Gabie Boko, NetApp & Costa Kladianos, San Francisco 49ers

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Rebecca Knight

>> Hello, everyone, and welcome to theCUBE's live coverage of NetApp Converge 2025. I'm your host, Rebecca Knight, along with my esteemed colleague and analyst, Rob Strechay. Rob, are you ready to talk some football?

Rob Strechay

>> I am. I'm always ready to talk.

Rebecca Knight

>> You're always ready. Always ready.

Rob Strechay

>> I love it. This is great. I mean, tech and football and sports in general coming together is fantastic.

Rebecca Knight

>> It's your dream. It's your dream.

Rob Strechay

>> It is. It is.

Rebecca Knight

>> So with that, I would like to welcome our next guest. We have Gabie Boko. She's the CMO of NetApp. Thank you so much for coming back on theCUBE, Gabie.

Gabie Boko

>> Very happy to be here again.

Rob Strechay

>> Yes.

Rebecca Knight

>> And Costa Kladianos, EVP technology of the San Francisco 49ers. Thanks so much for coming on theCUBE, Costa.

Costa Kladianos

>> Thanks for having me. We're excited to be here.

Rebecca Knight

>> I want to start with you and hearing a little bit about the partnership with NetApp and how you see it really shaping day-to-day operations with the 49ers, both on game day and behind the scenes.

Costa Kladianos

>> Yeah, I mean, our partnership with NetApp is a game changer. I mean, it's reshaping how we do infrastructure at the stadium. It's laying the foundation for what we call the intelligent stadium. So we opened up as the world's most connected stadium at Levi's, where everyone's connected all the time, which is now expected, but 10 years ago, this was a new idea. Then moving into the smart stadium for real-time data all the time to excite our fans and build champions on the field. And then now with the AI revolution, it's a complete change in the infrastructure. And in order to do that, we needed a foundation that NetApp can provide to us to get the data, transform the data, and be able to make amazing decisions and engage our fans.

Rob Strechay

>> Gabie, what really encouraged you to become a founding level partner with the 49ers?

Gabie Boko

>> Yeah, we didn't want to just be a logo. We wanted to be a partner. And the nice thing was that the 49ers were already a customer. We just saw this as an opportunity to be more invested in their success. And conversely, I think they thought it was equally as important to say, "Hey, wow, we could really build something special here," like Costa was just referring to with the intelligent stadium, because that's part of us and our narrative with intelligent data infrastructure. We want to be built in. We don't want to just be bolted on. And I think that that's really critical in why we're excited to be a founding member, founding partner of the 49ers.

Rebecca Knight

>> Costa, Gabie's excited. What should fans be excited about? Because we know that Levi's Stadium has always really pushed the envelope when it comes to innovation and as you said, moved from smart, to intelligent, to in the AI era, the, I don't know, intellectually gifted stadium, but tell us a little bit about what fans should be excited about.

Costa Kladianos

>> It's going to be an incredible year at Levi's. We're hosting the Super Bowl in 2026 and the World Cup as well. So the world's going to be watching us. And with that, we've had an extensive renovation and we are putting in the world's largest 4K video boards. And in order to do that, it pushes a lot of data, as you can imagine, the media and the video to be able to do that. So thanks to NetApp, we actually have the storage and the availability to not only get that data in real time, but serve it to our fans in a way that can engage them to be able to relive the amazing moments on the field, a Brock Purdy pass or a George Kittle catch or something incredible from Fred Warner in the backfield. So it really brings the team to our fans in many areas. Not only are we having the 4K video board experience, but now we are able to get more data on what our fans are doing, what they want, and to be able to deliver them an experience that they can't get at home watching on TV, that you can only get coming to the stadium and having fun with your friends and watching a great team.

Rebecca Knight

>> So what is that? What do the fans want? Can you give an example of something that we could expect?

Costa Kladianos

>> The fans want to be closer to the game. They want to know more about the players, who these people are. They want to make it easier to... They actually want to watch the game and not have to wait in lines. So to be able to get that data, know where the fans are moving around, know what they're getting, and be able to move those lines quickly, it takes a lot of information in our backend. It takes a lot of visualizations that have to be served up quickly. I mean, we have 10 games a year, 10 to 12 games a year, and we have two and a half to three hours to serve up this experience for the fans. So that data has to be quick. That data has to be intelligent, and we have to get the right data at the right time to be able to understand what they want because they're people, they want different things at different times. So we need to be able to make sure that we can serve up what they want and their changing needs, and be able to pivot when necessary because something that they want on a Thursday night game would be different on a Sunday playoff game. So we want to know quickly and be able to pivot at the same time, because you only get a few shots at this, unlike other sports where you get more time. So that's why it's critically important that we get the right data that we want quickly.

Rob Strechay

>> I was going to say, playing off of that, Gabie, how do you see the real-time data insights, how is that going to help change those game-day operations?

Gabie Boko

>> What we're really excited about is just partnering with whatever workloads and application that the 49ers have to build. We were just talking yesterday about where AI is going to be taking us, how we're going to increase computational speed and storage access. And I think that is the basis of good analytics. That is the basis of where they want to go to understand their fans, both from a security perspective, from an access perspective, and from a need perspective. So what we see is there's structural excellence built into NetApp enterprise storage and a lot of our application services, but it only gets refined and delivered because of how they want to bring it to market with us. And that's why we just love this as a partnership. It's like us on steroids or us on a Super Bowl ring.

Rob Strechay

>> There you go. No steroids involved.

Gabie Boko

>> .

Rob Strechay

>> But yeah, I mean, when you're bringing the intelligent data infrastructure, AI has to be at the forefront of a lot-

Gabie Boko

>> 1,000%....

Rob Strechay

>> because data powers that, right?

Gabie Boko

>> Right. Well, I mean, AI eats data and the amount of data coming off of a stadium is huge. The amount of data coming in from fans who are participating, both if they're on their couch or in the stadium, is huge. And I think that the opportunity to just be able to assess that in this environment quickly, I think AI gives us that opportunity to do that more real time without a lot of the structure that goes with it, but the right structure that goes with it. I don't think we're fully there yet, but we're talking about it and we're really excited about what that looks like for us.

Rebecca Knight

>> Costa, beyond the stadium experience, how are you using data to drive performance and also player development? I mean, we've sort of evolved beyond Moneyball, but how are you thinking about that now?

Costa Kladianos

>> I mean, I leave that to the coaches to think about it.

Rebecca Knight

>> Okay, all right. But you might have to .

Costa Kladianos

>> They'll forget more about football than I'll ever know, but we're providing, again, the foundation for them because what they do with video, what they do with scouting, all that, it requires a backend for where we can store it. And then as we see, I mean, going back to AI, I know people probably get sick of it, but it is a new revolution and we are just seeing the beginning of it, and we don't know how it's going to look. It changes month by month, week by week. So we don't know how it's going to look in two to three years, but we're able to provide a platform that scales. Yesterday we were in an amazing presentation by NetApp and seeing where it's going to go and seeing the AI workloads that it's going to bring. And that's super exciting. And when I think of the applications that it has, not only in the stadium, but what it could do in football in the future and in all sports, that's exciting. Again, I'm not going to try and predict the future in five years. I just know that we have to set that foundation to build that structure because you don't want to get caught in two years and have something that's not going to scale on it, and then it's too late to start building.

Rob Strechay

>> Yeah, it would seem that, again, a lot of what you're doing, like you said, it's not only about interaction with the fans, it's making their lives easier. Is that a big goal of what you're doing with this data is making the flow, like you talked about the flow around the stadium and things like that and ordering stuff because you're in the heart of Silicon Valley, basically. I mean, they must have higher expectations than they do at some other stadiums potentially.

Costa Kladianos

>> Absolutely, and we also have access to great partners like NetApp that can do with tech partners, which is why I went there for this opportunity. But we actually have a command center called the Executive Huddle with 10 real-time integrations that is showing when people park, scanning in at ticket gates, what concessions they're going to, even how much utilities we're using, because being in California and San Jose, being net-zero is very important to us and being a good example for the community. So that data comes in real quick, and that's a lot of data, and we not only want all that data to come in, it's easy to see it, but again, when you have to make the decisions quickly, you have to be able to get the right data, what you want at the right times. Especially if you're one of our executives walking around the stadium or in the command center, they need to know, okay, which gate is full now? Do we need to send more staff there or do we need to move people to that other gate? Which concessions are selling the most? Do we need to, again, staff it up, close some others, move them there? Utilities, is there a water leak somewhere? Is there an area we need to address? So this is not only going to allow us to continue to do that and get the right data at the right time, but it's going to allow us to expand that into other areas. So if we look at the app and game-day experience, how can we now bring that to the next level and create something, not only that's a leader in sports, but all sports entertainment? I want other industries to look at us and say, "We want to do it like that." We want to be an example because if you see how visible we are on Sundays and the 49ers are an amazing brand around the world, we want to show that what we build in the stadium with NetApp is something that can be brought to your company, to CPG, to retail, through other entertainment venues, and we want to help work that together.

Rebecca Knight

>> Gabie, how does this partnership align with NetApp's broader strategy of working with partners outside of traditional enterprise IT?

Gabie Boko

>> Yeah, I think that was our goal, right? We're sitting here talking about data all the time, and enterprise storage, but there's no real way to connect to it until you're connecting it to, hi, I went to a 49ers game and I went into the bathroom and there was toilet paper. I sat and I ordered a corn dog from my seat, and it was the best corn dog ever. I had no parking issues. That's how people want to experience data, and that's what NetApp wants to be a part of. We want to be able to showcase our customers and through them, their customers, the power of what data can do to change your life. And that's really what we're trying to do with these partnerships, especially the 49ers, right? This is we're faithful to the Bay and we're faithful to our customers and their customers, and we just want to tell that story.

Rebecca Knight

>> And what have you learned from working with other more traditional industries that could also offer some lessons in terms of how the 49ers operate, but also how other sports teams operate?

Gabie Boko

>> Well, and I think you heard Costa say it, when you're deploying an application or some sort of workload that's solving a particular problem, let's take Levi's Stadium security, that is recognizably important to college campuses, to hospitals, to any school zone. So that becomes a story that we can go tell in a meaningful way with the 49ers to various other industries and have it really resonate and have it be impactful. And I think that's what we're trying to do. I would love... What we did yesterday is we all sat, all sponsors around the table, and we have massive amounts of sports. We have Aston Martin, we have Porsche, we have Ducati, we have Dreamworks, we have the NFL and the 49ers. We have so many great partnerships here, but they all came together and said, "What are you working on? Well, I want to do that. Let's try this." Right? And then we're talking speed and football and movies, and it doesn't feel like there's a similarity, but there is. And I think that's what we're trying to do for our customers, for our sponsors. This gives me ultimate pride because this is how NetApp reaches a different level than we've ever done before.

Rebecca Knight

>> And it's part of the ecosystem, part of the collaborative process.

Gabie Boko

>> Totally.

Rebecca Knight

>> Exactly.

Gabie Boko

>> Yeah.

Rebecca Knight

>> What are some long-term goals for this partnership? Both of you, I want to hear. Costa, let's start with you.

Gabie Boko

>> Want to go first?

Costa Kladianos

>> Win the Super Bowl.

Rebecca Knight

>> Okay. All right. Okay.

Costa Kladianos

>> It is our partner, but also, again, win the Super Bowl is first and foremost, that we have an organization that's committed to excellence, and we have five of them, hopefully a sixth. But I mean, to do that, we need to keep exciting and engaging our loyal fan base, and that's what we need to do, and that's what we're excited about. And then honestly, I joke about it, but winning the Super Bowl is something that's always on our mind, and that is our end goal. And we know NetApp can help get us there.

Gabie Boko

>> I also want a Super Bowl. Yes, absolutely. I think for us is we have an executive briefing center in San Jose in our office, but there's no greater experience for me than to have our executive briefing center be the 49ers' success. So that's real life right there. So long-term goals, yes, just more of the same, maybe two Super Bowls, Costa.

Costa Kladianos

>> Absolutely. Keep going.

Rob Strechay

>> Another dynasty. There you go.

Rebecca Knight

>> We're in New England, so we wish you a tiny bit of luck with that endeavor, but okay.

Rob Strechay

>> Yes. No, healthy competition, but I think last word, what do you hope that you can say next year when we're here at Converge, that you can't say today about how this partnership is going and what you've achieved in the next year?

Costa Kladianos

>> I want to point to what our fans are going to be saying next year. I want to point what's in the media. They're going to be, "We had an incredible experience. Super Bowl was unbelievable. There's nothing like going to a 49ers game at Levi's Stadium." And that to me is a success.

Gabie Boko

>> Honestly, I want our salespeople to come back at Converge and say, "We used 49ers in this vertical, this vertical, this industry, this customer. And they helped us close amazing businesses, amazing deals, because the 49ers really got it. They're rolling out amazing AI, great security, great storage." That's what I want.

Rebecca Knight

>> Well, I think you're both really getting at that, yes, it's all about the game and the fan experience from that perspective, but it's also all about the ease and the convenience of no lines, toilet paper in the bathrooms, and just having a satisfying experience of being out watching your favorite team play.

Gabie Boko

>> And watching them win.

Costa Kladianos

>> Absolutely.

Rebecca Knight

>> On that note, thank you so much, Gabie and Costa, a really fun conversation.

Costa Kladianos

>> Thank you.

Gabie Boko

>> Thank you.

Rebecca Knight

>> I'm Rebecca Knight for Rob Strechay. Stay tuned for more of theCUBE's live coverage of NetApp Converge. You're watching theCUBE, the leader in enterprise tech news and analysis.