The database industry is undergoing a fundamental transformation as AI reshapes how organisations design and operate their data systems. With billions of human interactions soon to be joined by trillions of AI-driven agents, the demands on infrastructure are unprecedented. At the centre of this change is a new emphasis on scalability, resilience, and affordability, all while navigating the complexities of multi-cloud environments. In a conversation with AIM, Spencer Kimball, CEO of CockroachDB, shared his perspective on the company's current standing in a rapidly evolving database market. While acknowledging the competition from other players in the space, like MongoDB and AWS, Kimball emphasised CockroachDB’s focus on solving scale, resilience, and multi-cloud chall