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Delivering AI-powered video at global scale
Visionular, a leading deep-tech company specializing in AI-powered, standard-aligned video compression and streaming optimization, is transforming how video is delivered worldwide. When rapidly rising cloud expenses, complex video workloads, and demanding performance requirements threatened both margins and customer satisfaction, it turned to Akamai. Cloud computing services, including LKE: Managed Kubernetes Engine, Block Storage, and Object Storage, helped Visionular address its challenges and deliver better video experiences to its global audience.
Overcoming the challenges of cloud-intensive, AI-driven video workloads
As video quality rises and AI-enhanced processing becomes standard, the cost and complexity of delivering video at scale have grown dramatically. Video workloads are some of the most cloud-intensive operations in the industry, demanding heavy compute for encoding and AI inference, large storage footprints for libraries and archives, and significant bandwidth for global delivery.
Like many organizations operating in this landscape, Visionular began feeling the strain of:
- Rising cloud costs across compute, storage, and egress
- Latency issues during global live-streaming events
- The need for more flexible, multicloud workflows
- Scaling efficiently for unpredictable traffic peaks
According to Zoe Liu, CEO at Visionular, “Video workloads can easily outpace revenue if not carefully managed. Every percentage point of compression efficiency directly translates to savings, improves the visual experience, and unlocks new possibilities for streaming at scale.”
With AI-powered video use cases accelerating — driving higher resolutions, more variants, and heavier processing requirements — these pressures intensified. This drove Visionular to explore more efficient, globally distributed delivery models capable of supporting next-generation workloads without escalating costs, while also unlocking new opportunities.
Choosing Akamai for high-performance, edge native infrastructure
When evaluating cloud providers, Visionular had clear priorities: “We needed transparent, predictable pricing that avoids egress cost traps, and high-performance compute optimized for video processing,” Liu explained.
Akamai stood out in four key areas:
- Edge native architecture with built-in low-latency networking
- Modern, accelerator-optimized hardware including GPUs for video workloads
- Predictable pricing, a rarity among hyperscalers
- Deep expertise in content and media delivery
After a thorough assessment, Visionular chose Akamai for its low-latency, predictable, and scalable cloud solutions:
- Akamai Cloud: Edge native infrastructure optimized for video workloads, reducing latency by processing and delivering content closer to end users globally
- LKE: Managed Kubernetes Engine: Managed container orchestration for flexible scaling of compute-intensive AI video processing
- Block Storage: High-performance persistent storage for rapid read/write operations, ideal for encoding and caching video assets
- Object Storage: Cost-efficient, durable storage for massive video libraries, enabling global delivery at scale
“Akamai’s edge native architecture aligns perfectly with our mission,” Liu said. “Its cost structure is transparent, and infrastructure is tailored for video at scale.”
Seamless deployment leads to immediate results
The migration to Akamai’s platform was smooth and collaborative. “Akamai’s team worked closely with ours to optimize workloads for compute efficiency,” Liu recalled. “We transitioned core workloads quickly and saw immediate gains.”
Key outcomes included:
- Reducing compute and storage costs by up to 40% compared to hyperscalers
- Lowering latency for global live-streaming customers
- Gaining fast, scalable infrastructure capable of handling peak event traffic without compromise
Improving ROI for customers and enhancing the end-user experience
Visionular’s customers using Akamai’s content delivery network enjoy a seamless integration while benefiting from content delivered from locations closer to end users.
While Visionular reduces bitrate at the source through AI-driven, standards-aligned encoding that adapts to diverse content, Akamai extends that efficiency by delivering the optimized streams across its edge network. The result is lower egress, reduced storage requirements, and more consistent performance at scale. Together, the combination reduces total delivery cost while significantly improving the visual experience for end users — all without requiring workflow changes.
“Our customers now see either lower subscription costs or improved margins,” Liu said. “And they get a more reliable, higher-quality video experience.”
Akamai as a strategic technology partner
Beyond infrastructure, Akamai became a strategic partner. “The Akamai team acts as a true partner, not just a vendor. It takes the time to understand our workload specifics and proactively suggest optimizations,” Liu explained.
Visionular also noted long-term technical advantages: “Akamai consistently delivers top-tier price-to-performance ratios. Its use of cutting-edge accelerator-optimized hardware, including GPUs, directly improves our AI-driven encoding throughput, lowering compute and operational costs — savings we can pass on to our clients,” she continued.
Preparing for the future of AI-driven video delivery
Visionular aims to democratize world-class video experiences by making them more efficient, affordable, and sustainable. With AI-assisted encoding and real-time optimization becoming standard, combining codec intelligence with an edge platform unlocks new capabilities, like adaptive AI tuning at the edge and smarter delivery.
“This approach moves video delivery toward a model where quality and cost are continuously optimized across both the encoding and delivery layers,” said Liu.
Partnering with Akamai, Visionular is well-positioned to continue leading this evolution of AI-powered video globally. “As we expand and integrate more advanced AI workloads, we see Akamai Cloud becoming the preferred platform for latency- and cost-sensitive workloads, while creating new opportunities to scale,” Liu concluded.
About Visionular
Visionular Inc. is a next-generation video encoding, processing, and streaming software and cloud solution company. With nearly 200 enterprise customers globally, Visionular leverages the power of AI and machine learning to deliver high-quality video streaming at minimal bitrates and compute resources. Visionular’s solutions empower video streaming services to reduce CDN and compute costs while elevating the visual quality and overall visual experience.
About Akamai
Akamai is the cybersecurity and cloud computing company that powers and protects business online. Our market-leading security solutions, superior threat intelligence, and global operations team provide defense in depth to safeguard enterprise data and applications everywhere. Akamai’s full-stack cloud computing solutions deliver performance and affordability on the world’s most distributed platform. Global enterprises trust Akamai to provide the industry-leading reliability, scale, and expertise they need to grow their business with confidence. Learn more at akamai.com and akamai.com/blog, or follow Akamai Technologies on X and LinkedIn.