NetApp INSIGHT 2025: The Enterprise Data Platform—Intelligent, Resilient, Disaggregated | Gabie Boko, NetApp & Costa Kladianos, San Francisco 49ers

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

Gabie Boko, chief marketing officer of NetApp, and Costa Kladianos, executive vice president and head of technology for the San Francisco 49ers, join Christophe Bertrand, principal analyst at SiliconANGLE and theCUBE, at NetApp INSIGHT 2025 to discuss the transformative partnership that leverages data to enhance sports experiences. In this insightful conversation, Boko and Kladianos explore the pivotal role data plays in revolutionizing sports technology and fan experiences. With Bertrand hosting the discussion, the guests delve into how NetApp's collaboration with the San Francisco 49ers brings cutting-edge innovations to Levi's Stadium. This partnership enhances technology to deliver seamless intelligent experiences for fans. The conversation highlights the integration of 4K video boards and data-driven insights in creating 70,000 unique VIP experiences, not just for team supporters but for all stadium events. Kladianos highlights the significance of data in making strategic improvements and decisions within the stadium. They emphasize the use of technology to streamline operations and provide personalized fan experiences. Leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics, this approach extends beyond National Football League (NFL) matches to all events held at Levi’s Stadium, ensuring every visitor enjoys an efficient and memorable time. Boko underscores the importance of authentic storytelling and shared values in partnerships. They illustrate how NetApp’s data solutions empower organizations beyond traditional sports contexts, fostering innovation and education in the broader community.

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Costa Kladianos

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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

In this NetApp INSIGHT 2025 interview, theCUBE Research’s Christophe Bertrand sits down with Gabie Boko, chief marketing officer at NetApp, and Costa Kladianos, head of technology at the San Francisco 49ers, to unpack how the 49ers–NetApp partnership turns data into a business engine. Kladianos shares how stadium renovations, including the world’s largest outdoor 4K video boards, are generating massive data flows that must be both usable and actionable to deliver “70,000 VIP experiences.” Boko underscores why authentic customer stories matter, highlighting ho... Read more

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Christophe Bertrand

>> Welcome to Las Vegas. My name is Christophe Bertrand, Principal Analyst here at theCUBE Research, and we are at NetApp INSIGHT 2025. I have two great guests today to talk about a lot around data, around data management. More importantly, a lot about how you can make data the lifeblood of your business and how transformative it can be for your business and for your enterprise. I'd like to welcome Gabie Boko, CMO of NetApp. Welcome.

Gabie Boko

>> Thank you.

Christophe Bertrand

>> And Costa Kladianos, if I pronounce it correctly.

Costa Kladianos

>> Perfect.

Christophe Bertrand

>> And you're the Head of Technology for the 49ers?

Costa Kladianos

>> Yes, sir.

Christophe Bertrand

>> So I'm not going to talk about Florida or injuries, I promise.

Costa Kladianos

>> Okay.

Christophe Bertrand

>> Still doing okay in the West Conference. 4-2, I believe.

Gabie Boko

>> I think you might need to push on that just a hair.

Costa Kladianos

>> We're still in first place. We have a great, young, exciting team. It's going to be a good time.

Christophe Bertrand

>> I will not add insult to injury. How's that?

Gabie Boko

>> Wonderful.

Christophe Bertrand

>> Unfortunately we had a couple of injuries, but I'm sure it will get better. Let's talk about sports franchises. I mean there's a lot going on right now, and Costa, I'd like to start with you. So we're seeing a lot of tech investment in sport franchises. Tell me about the partnership with NetApp. Why has this happened and what do you get out of it? How does it change your business?

Costa Kladianos

>> Yeah, no, absolutely. Our NetApp partnership is incredibly important to us. I mean, being in Silicon Valley, being the 49ers, it's important to us that we're at the head of technology and not only technology for technology state, but we want business value out of it. We, in the off season, we made some incredible renovations to the stadium. We have the world's largest outdoor 4K video boards and we did a bunch of other renovations. And what that means is we have a lot more data and we needed a partner who was able to take this data and not only be able to use it, work it to have an incredible game day experience who on the other side, we also needed the data to be actionable as well. So not only do you have to bring in the 4K, the massive 4K files and manipulate them and show them to our fans on game day, but there's a lot going on in the stadium and we have 10 to 12 games a year, plus some non-NFL events. We have to make sure that everything is running on all cylinders and all the data we get in is actionable and it's intelligent and there was only one partner who could do it and it's NetApp, so thank goodness they were able to come in and partner with us and create an amazing experience for our fans.

Christophe Bertrand

>> It's not just about the football and people running behind the football or the experience you get as a viewer. It's really about all of the technology behind it. And you mentioned Silicon Valley, obviously that's where the 49ers are based between, well, San Francisco and Santa Clara. And we'll talk about the stadium in a minute, but Silicon Valley is also really where innovation happens in technology. And I'd like to rebound on this theme and Gabie, maybe ask you, what's your take on that innovation theme? How does it make this partnership, this relationship so important? How do you approach it from the perspective of NetApp and with your customers as well?

Gabie Boko

>> I think that's mostly important to us is how to tell really authentic customer stories. Innovation doesn't begin necessarily always with us in the technology, it also begins where customers are using the technology. And so we're really, really passionate about bringing our technology into the 49ers and seeing what they need to do with it so that then we can then go tell a really good story. And I think that's what Silicon Valley is really all about, is making something personal, making passion come alive, and that's why we're really excited to partner with the 49ers.

Christophe Bertrand

>> And what about you, Costa? What about the same question around innovation. How does it affect your organization's values and behaviors?

Costa Kladianos

>> Yeah, I mean it affects us greatly. If we look at the game, the experience and what fans expect from us, they expect more. I mean, we know you can watch at home on your big screen TV with your snacks on your couch, so we want to give you something extra. I mean, bringing in the world's largest video boards, creating an experience like no other, we look at it as creating 70,000 VIP experiences for our fans. The only way to do that is to really know our fans, understand what they want, and to be able to do that, we have to take the data, we have to be able to action on it, as I said before, and we have to analyze it and then be able to deliver to our fans. You can't do that with any old system. We have to make sure that we have the latest technologies, innovation, the storage to do that, the intelligence storage to do that, to be able to deliver an experience to get our fans off their couch and at our stadium and having a great time.

Christophe Bertrand

>> I'm telling you, data is very sexy, there's no question. But one of the things that I feel is very important is how you leverage to your point, your customers in your marketing and how you amplify the message. Clearly great with the 49ers, but I've seen other great examples at the keynote today. So Gabie, as the CMO, how do you take this experience and this message of really of success, of transformation of the business and how do you apply it beyond the NFL, this business and other type of customers?

Gabie Boko

>> Yeah, I think it's really about the soul of the story and finding partners that share the same values. One of the things that we really love about partnering with the 49ers and we know you love about partnering with us is that we do really share the same values of our people, the people who are employees and the community. I think that that makes a difference When you're speaking about data and how data influences everybody's lives, then you need to actually trust the fact that the people who are partnered with you actually have those same values, right? I think that when you tell those kinds of stories, data becomes more than just an act or a thing in a box. It really becomes about where it changes humans and where that possibility comes from and how it moves. That's something that I think we share with all of our sponsors. There are a few here at INSIGHT today, and I'm just privileged that we share it, that same value and that same set of expectations about where we want our data to go with the 49ers.

Christophe Bertrand

>> I think this is great, and certainly I've seen this through the other examples that we saw earlier today. Great keynote by the way, and really enjoyed your section particularly.

Gabie Boko

>> Thank you so much.

Christophe Bertrand

>> I'm sure that's available on-demand on-

Gabie Boko

>> I'm hoping that it's on-demand right now.

Christophe Bertrand

>> Okay, excellent. Good. So you mentioned Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara. It's not just the 49ers, obviously that's a whole facility that has a life of its own in many ways beyond the NFL and the 49ers. I remember seeing the Barca play a few years ago on a beautiful day and soccer is coming up, World Cup, et cetera.

Gabie Boko

>> Soccer.

Costa Kladianos

>> Yeah, soccer. Well, there's that.

Gabie Boko

>> No, football, it's football. It's a different football.

Christophe Bertrand

>> It's football in Europe.

Costa Kladianos

>> Exactly, yeah.

Christophe Bertrand

>> So let's talk about NetApp's technology in the context of the stadium and what else you can do with it beyond just supporting the 49ers, how does that play out for the stadium and its events?

Costa Kladianos

>> Yeah, absolutely. And I mean we like to call ourselves the Intelligent Stadium, just piggying back off the intelligent data infrastructure.

Gabie Boko

>> Oh, I love that.

Costa Kladianos

>> It's a great idea, you have great marketing people over there.

Gabie Boko

>> Thank you so much.

Costa Kladianos

>> And what that means again, and going back to 70,000 VIP experiences is we want it to be frictionless. I mean, getting to the game and parking, that's really your first impression of the stadium and we want that to be a seamless experience. So how can we leverage AI? How can we leverage data to make that a better experience for you? As you go into the stadium through the ticketing, how can we avoid lineups in there? How can we get you right through there without any issues? And then understanding what do you want to eat, what do you want to drink? Knowing where you're sitting, and really taking the thinking out of that and putting the emphasis on the field or on the concerts. I mean, like you said, we've had soccer, we've had some small unknown singers like Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran, and I hope to have many more. We want to make sure you're enjoying the experiences and not thinking about everything around we want it to be wow, and we want the stadium to be intelligent. We're at right now an incredible time in technology where AI is really changing what we do, changing how we think, and it's how do we leverage that? We don't want to do it for intelligence for intelligence's sake. We want to have business value. We want to have something for our fans to do that and be more efficient in our processes, so how can we leverage that and then create an incredible experience going forward.

Christophe Bertrand

>> Yeah, and I hope you get tickets to all of these concerts. I hope it's a perk of the job.

Costa Kladianos

>> I got to work, but my family loves it.

Christophe Bertrand

>> Let's go back to what you described about the fans and let's maybe center on the fans for a second. How has technology changed that experience for your average fan who shows up? You mentioned parking, you mentioned food choices, the security as well. Maybe give us a little more details on what you've been able to achieve to date.

Costa Kladianos

>> Yeah, I mean fans want more. They expect more from the game day experience. We talked a little bit about the frictionless. They don't want to wait in lines, they want to get to their seat. They want to make sure that their, something as similar you don't think of, they want to make sure their favorite food item is not sold out. So how can you use machine learning and data to understand to have enough inventory, not too much, not too little, so that fans get what they want and then they also want to know more about their favorite players. If I'm a fan of Christian McCaffrey, I mean, who isn't? To see how amazing the amazing feats these guys are doing on the field, you can't really tell the stands because they're all so good and they're all against each other, it looks great. But really getting into that data and understanding he's this fast, he's ran this much, these are the stats. Really getting into that and being more personable and bringing the game to the fans is important to us. And we have to have that data in the back end to understand that. So it's no longer just, can I go to the game? Can I have a hot dog and sit there and watch. They want a different experience. They want something that technology to elevate that and bring them something that they can't do at home. And again, we want to bring you value to your money as well. It's not the cheapest thing to go to any game or any sporting event or entertainment event.

Gabie Boko

>> Right.

Costa Kladianos

>> You want to make sure you're getting your money's worth, you're having a great time, and to do that and then you're going to share it with your friends. You're going to say, "I'm here. I'm having an amazing time. This is the experience you get at Levi's Stadium and the 49ers, you should come too. You should be a fan," because our fans aren't just at Levi's Stadium, they're around the world. The 49ers have an incredible fan base. You'll see it when we face other teams. We have a lot of fans in the other stadiums, so we want to make them think that they're there. So again, that all goes back to data. How do we use it to really understand our fans and create the best experience for them, whether they're in the stadium or whether they're at home.

Gabie Boko

>> They don't call them faithful to the Bay for nothing.

Costa Kladianos

>> Absolutely.

Gabie Boko

>> The bar is high.

Christophe Bertrand

>> Exactly. It's really data as a differentiator. Not so much for the coaches, but really for the business itself and the extension to the individual. So I think it's very powerful. So Gabie, what lessons can we draw from the successes of the 49ers and apply to other industries?

Gabie Boko

>> In marketing, I think we're always looking for the right storyline. And when you think about us as the intelligent data infrastructure company, it's not just about the technology for us. I think what we're saying is it's a full circle story. In terms of how we talk about unified storage, we now talk about also unified data and we extend that even beyond into, we just signed a three-year agreement to do take data analytics education to high schoolers in the Bay Area with the 49ers. So this is full circle. When we talk about intelligent data infrastructure, we talk about telling the right story and we do it through partners and we make good on that data story all the way down to the next generation. So that's, I think, the takeaway. So how do you tell a great story and then live up to the promise that you sell.

Christophe Bertrand

>> All right, my final question is we have to go. Tell me about this season. What is your prediction? What does your data say?

Costa Kladianos

>> Well, my prediction, it doesn't mean much. Their football staff will forget more than I'll ever know. But the Super Bowls here in Levi's Stadium, we have a couple of injuries, but the team's going to rally around and I hope that we're going to be in Santa Clara with our next Super Bowl. I say that every year and I hope to win it every year. So I trust in our team, I trust in our staff, and I trust in our data.

Christophe Bertrand

>> Costa, Gabi, thank you so much-

Gabie Boko

>> Thanks so much, Christophe....

Christophe Bertrand

>> for the feedback. Great story, great use of data, and I hope I can catch again one of these days very soon. Thank you.

Costa Kladianos

>> Thank you.

Christophe Bertrand

>> To our viewers, stay tuned, we'll be right back.