Private AI cloud: complete definition in AI for SMEs

A private AI cloud is a dedicated hosting infrastructure — physical server, isolated VM or GPU cluster — where a company runs its AI models and processes its data without those data ever reaching third-party servers. Unlike public clouds (AWS, Azure, GCP) where data shares a shared infrastructure, a private cloud guarantees complete hardware and software isolation.

What it changes for an SME

For an SME handling sensitive data (health, legal, finance, GDPR customer data), a private cloud is often the solution to reconcile AI and compliance:

• patient data, contracts or HR files never leave your perimeter;
• the model (Llama, Mistral) runs on your server, not a third party's;
• billing is fixed (server cost), not proportional to call volume.

What you should know

A private cloud adds maintenance (updates, monitoring, capacity). It is not plug and play. For an 11–50 employee company, the question is: do call volume and data sensitivity justify a dedicated server, or does a public cloud with encryption suffice? An AI audit answers that before any investment.