Recap of VMware Explore 2025 in Las Vegas

Across the Tech Pond launches with a frank debrief from the Venetian show floor in Las Vegas. David Marshall, Neil C. Hughes, and Antony Savvas compare notes on a pivotal year for VMware under Broadcom and ask the question on every attendee’s mind.

Did Hock Tan’s keynote do enough to steady nerves among customers and partners, or did it simply sharpen the divide between those all-in on private cloud and those still weighing their next move?

The conversation digs into VMware Cloud Foundation 9 as the center of gravity for Broadcom’s strategy. We look at why private cloud momentum is real for large enterprises, what mid-market buyers are actually adopting, and how the promised bundle of security, developer tooling, and Private AI could land in the data center.

You will hear reactions to the Walmart spotlight, the Tesco dispute that set comment sections alight, and the Canonical and NVIDIA angles that could speed AI workloads without sending costs skyward.

We also talk about the vibe. Attendance felt lighter, the expo was thinner, and several familiar backup and hardware names were missing. The closing party underwhelmed, yet the conversations were rich and the message was clear. If Broadcom wants everyone on this journey, it needs more proof, more voices beyond the Fortune 100, and a stronger signal to the partner ecosystem.

We close with a look ahead to 2026 and a cheeky open question. If private cloud repatriation is the story, will hyperscalers still command the biggest booths next year? Tune in for the take you would have wanted if you could not make the trip.