Matthew Shaxted is the CEO of Parallel Works, leading the organization in democratizing HPC and AI by offering workflow technologies that use diverse computing environments. Since co-founding the company in June 2015, Matthew has been instrumental in guiding its expansion and innovation, leveraging his deep expertise in civil engineering simulation and data analytics. He plays a pivotal role in aligning customer needs with the company’s technology roadmap and effectively translating these requirements into business opportunities. Matthew’s visionary leadership and strategic insight continue to propel Parallel Works’ success in the HPC and AI industries.

For those unfamiliar, could you provide an overview of Parallel Works and how it assists organizations in managing and leveraging their computing resources?

From day one, our mission has been to democratize access to high-performance computing (HPC) and technical compute resources for scientists, engineers, and researchers. As the landscape has evolved, so have we. Today, we sit at the convergence of HPC and AI—where supercomputing now powers everything from AI model training to advanced inference workloads.

We’ve grown beyond traditional HPC to support broader enterprise computing needs, helping organizations manage increasingly complex infrastructures. Our platform simplifies how teams orchestrate and run AI, machine learning (ML), and HPC workloads across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. Even users without deep HPC expertise can easily access powerful compute resources like GPUs and run their applications with ease. With support for both SaaS and on-premises deployments, our solution gives companies the flexibility to operate within their own cloud or data center boundaries.

Parallel Works originated from Argonne National Laboratory in 2015. How has the company’s mission evolved since its inception, and what core challenges are you addressing today?

While we started with a focus on HPC, our mission has expanded in step with the explosive growth of AI infrastructure. Today, we’re addressing key challenges around enabling easy, compliant access to large-scale GPU compute resources. This includes simplifying orchestration, ensuring security compliance, such as FedRAMP for Department of Defense workloads, and automating workload placement to optimize for business objectives and cost.

The ACTIVATE platform is central to your offerings. Can you elaborate on how it simplifies orchestration across hybrid and multi-cloud environments, particularly for AI and HPC workloads?

Our ACTIVATE Platform is a hybrid, multi-cloud orchestration solution that gives organizations the flexibility to run workloads as a SaaS offering or within their own cloud or on-premises environments. It abstracts away infrastructure complexity, enabling users to run AI and HPC workloads without needing to manage schedulers or understand the underlying hardware. The platform also supports secure, elastic environments tailored for sensitive workloads — including those that meet the stringent requirements of the Department of Defense.

Parallel Works recently introduced new AI capabilities. Can you walk us through what’s new and how these innovations support enterprise AI adoption?

We’re excited about several new AI-focused capabilities. We have developed a Kubernetes provider tailored to AI/ML workloads, making containerized AI deployments easier. We’ve also validated on-premises reference architectures so enterprises can deploy our platform inside their secure boundaries with minimal setup. Additionally, we’ve built an AI-driven benchmarking and task placement tools that automate workload distribution based on performance, cost, and other metrics—helping enterprises run AI workloads more efficiently from development through large-scale training.

AI and high-performance computing (HPC) are converging, changing how enterprises approach infrastructure planning and resource utilization. While hyperscalers depend on large-scale compute resources, most enterprises require flexible, scalable AI solutions that can leverage partial compute and avoid overprovisioning. Our newest offering, ACTIVATE AI, is designed to meet these needs by providing control and performance adaptability across diverse environments so they can scale smart, not just big.

Collaborations are vital in tech. Could you discuss your partnerships and how they enhance your platform’s capabilities?

Partnerships are central to our mission of simplifying access to high-performance computing and accelerating innovation. We work closely with a wide range of technology providers—including independent software vendors, cloud service providers, and storage specialists—to ensure our platform remains adaptable, secure, and scalable.

One key example is our partnership with Hammerspace, which plays a critical role in enabling data agility. Hammerspace provides a global namespace that unifies data access across disparate storage environments—on-premises or in the cloud. This integration eliminates data silos, reduces operational complexity, and empowers our users to build and scale multi-cloud or hybrid-cloud workflows with ease.

By collaborating with partners like Hammerspace and others, we’re able to extend the capabilities of the Parallel Works platform, offering users a seamless, flexible, and cost-effective path to advanced computing.

When it comes to multi-cloud computing, what are the primary challenges enterprises face, and how does Parallel Works aim to address them?

Enterprises often struggle with managing diverse compute and data resources, maintaining security and compliance, and optimizing costs across multiple clouds. Parallel Works addresses these challenges by providing an orchestration control plane that automates task placement, ensures compliance and integrates with global namespaces for smooth data access. This approach simplifies multi-cloud management and helps organizations get the most out of their computing investments.

Looking ahead, what are your priorities for Parallel Works in the next 12 to 18 months, especially concerning product development and market expansion?

We’ve been driving several strategic initiatives to support our customers’ evolving needs. Most recently, we launched a FedRAMP High IL5 cloud enclave tailored for Department of Defense users, providing secure and compliant access to cloud compute. Alongside this, our launch of ACTIVATE AI expands our AI and ML capabilities with Kubernetes support and intelligent workload placement powered by AI.

We’re also advancing our benchmarking tools to make it easier for organizations to compare performance and cost across systems. In parallel, we’re strengthening partnerships with major cloud and GPU providers to better support enterprises navigating increasing complexity in their AI and compute environments.

On a personal note, what drives your passion for high-performance computing and AI, and how do you envision Parallel Works shaping the future of these technologies?

It’s incredibly exciting to see new generations of talent entering HPC, driven by the surge in AI interest. This fresh energy is revitalizing the field. At Parallel Works, we’re passionate about making HPC and AI infrastructure more accessible and efficient. Our vision is to let users focus on their business goals and applications while our platform handles the complexity of compute orchestration and data management seamlessly. We believe this will accelerate innovation and broaden adoption across industries.

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