This talk explores an overlooked dimension of today's AI conversation: the difference between intelligence and memory. Through the lens of a decades-long friendship, the talk illuminates AI's missing piece: the ability to maintain long-term context.AI, Big Data, Data, Emotions, Engineering, Innovation, Machine Learning, Memory, TechnologyWhile today's AI can analyze complex papers and compose symphonies, it starts fresh with every conversation, like having a brilliant colleague with amnesia. The speaker, who works at the intersection of AI and high-performance storage systems, exposes a fascinating paradox: our machines can think faster than ever, but they're held back by their inability to remember efficiently.The next leap in AI isn't about faster processing—it's about fundamentally rethinking how AI systems maintain and access their persistent memories or storage. This requires a shift in how we architect AI systems, bringing storage and processing closer together in ways that mirror human cognition. The result reshapes how AI systems maintain context across conversations, projects, and time—moving beyond today's powerful but forgetful systems toward ones that can learn and adapt from long-term experience.For anyone curious about AI's future, this talk reveals the infrastructure bottleneck we must solve to unlock the next wave of artificial intelligence. Aditi Garg leads development of the world’s fastest cloud storage solution at Amazon Web Services, powering AI workloads for thousands of global enterprises. A Columbia University graduate and former co-founder of Virimodo, a Techstars-funded AI platform, she has witnessed firsthand how storage bottlenecks can make or break the most ambitious AI projects. From her unique vantage point at the intersection of cutting-edge AI and enterprise infrastructure, Aditi has developed insights into the fundamental limitations holding back artificial intelligence—and the breakthroughs needed to overcome them.” This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx