--- description: Nutanix Enterprise AI 2.8 is GA with an MCP Gateway for agentic AI, while NKP 2.19 adds agent sandboxing and an AI app catalog. title: Nutanix Ships Enterprise AI 2.8 With a GA MCP Gateway as NKP 2.19 Rounds Out the Dual-Native Pitch image: https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/StorageReview-nutanix-enterprise-ai-1-1.jpg --- [![Storage Review]()](https://storagereview.com/) --- [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/@storagereview) [X (Twitter)](https://twitter.twitter.com/storagereview) [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/storagereview/) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/storagereview-com) [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/storagereview?sub_confirmation=1) [Email](mailto:info@storagereview.com) [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/1y6VnznABhHeOSMOmbDTz0) [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/StorageReview/) [Discord](https://discord.gg/TwMHb4azdC) [RSS Feed](https://www.storagereview.com/rss.xml) [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@storagereview) [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/@storagereview) [X (Twitter)](https://twitter.com/storagereview) [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/storagereview/) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/storagereview-com) [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/storagereview?sub_confirmation=1) [Email](mailto:info@storagereview.com) [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/1y6VnznABhHeOSMOmbDTz0) [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/StorageReview/) [Discord](https://discord.gg/TwMHb4azdC) [RSS Feed](https://www.storagereview.com/rss.xml) [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@storagereview) [![StorageReview.com](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Storage-Review-2x.png)](https://www.storagereview.com) ≡ Menu - [Home](https://www.storagereview.com/) - [Storage Reviews](https://www.storagereview.com/review) - [End User Reviews](https://www.storagereview.com/consumer) - [Enterprise Reviews](https://www.storagereview.com/enterprise) - [Ubiquiti Reviews](https://www.storagereview.com/best/ubiquiti-reviews) - [SR Merch](https://store.storagereview.com) - [Leaderboards](https://www.storagereview.com/best) - [Best Storage Arrays](https://www.storagereview.com/best/storage-arrays) - [Best Enterprise SSDs](https://www.storagereview.com/best/enterprise-ssds) - [Best Servers](https://www.storagereview.com/best/servers) - [Best Enterprise GPUs](https://www.storagereview.com/best/enterprise-gpus) - [Best Desktops for Local AI](https://www.storagereview.com/best/desktops-local-ai) - [Best Laptops for Local AI](https://www.storagereview.com/best/laptops-local-ai) - [Best Local LLM Tools](https://www.storagereview.com/best/local-llm-tools) - [Agentic AI Hardware](https://www.storagereview.com/best/agentic-ai-hardware) - [Best SSDs & Hard Drives](https://www.storagereview.com/best_drives) - [Best Portable SSDs](https://www.storagereview.com/best/portable-ssds) - [Best Business Laptops](https://www.storagereview.com/best/business-laptops) - [Best Mobile Workstations](https://www.storagereview.com/best/mobile-workstations) - [Best Desktop Workstations](https://www.storagereview.com/best/desktop-workstations) - [Best Mini PCs](https://www.storagereview.com/best/mini-pcs) - [Best Laptop Battery Life](https://www.storagereview.com/best/laptop-battery-life) - [Storage Reference Guide](https://www.storagereview.com/storage-reference-guide) - [About SR](https://www.storagereview.com/about-storagereview) - [StorageReview.com Sweepstakes Rules and Regulations](https://www.storagereview.com/storagereview-com-sweepstakes-rules-and-regulations) Search [Home](https://www.storagereview.com/) » [News](https://www.storagereview.com/news) » Nutanix Ships Enterprise AI 2.8 With a GA MCP Gateway as NKP 2.19 Rounds Out the Dual-Native Pitch # Nutanix Ships Enterprise AI 2.8 With a GA MCP Gateway as NKP 2.19 Rounds Out the Dual-Native Pitch by Harold Fritts on August 26, 2026 [AI](https://www.storagereview.com/enterprise/ai)  ◇  [Enterprise](https://www.storagereview.com/enterprise) Nutanix has announced the general availability of [Nutanix Enterprise AI (NAI) 2.8](https://www.nutanix.com/products/nutanix-enterprise-ai) alongside the upcoming release of Nutanix Kubernetes Platform (NKP) 2.19. The updates focus on bridging the gap between legacy virtualized environments and modern containerized AI workloads. By implementing a dual-native architecture, Nutanix aims to allow organizations to run virtual machines and containerized AI applications side by side on [existing infrastructure](https://www.storagereview.com/news/dell-powerstore-lands-on-nutanix-with-nci-7-6-bringing-external-all-flash-to-ahv), minimizing the need to create distinct infrastructure silos or migrate data across complex networking layers. “Enterprise AI should not require customers to rebuild the systems that already run their business,” said Thomas Cornely, EVP of product management at Nutanix. The company’s dual-native approach is designed to maintain consistent management and governance across VMs, containers, and AI frameworks, enabling near bare-metal execution on virtualized systems while retaining architectural flexibility. ## Nutanix Enterprise AI 2.8 Architecture and Capabilities NAI 2.8 provides a unified management plane for deploying, governing, and scaling large language models (LLMs) and agentic workflows across hybrid environments. The control plane delivers centralized visibility into token consumption, built-in observability metrics, and model-as-a-service functionality. ![Nutanix Enterprise AI diagram showing LLM choice, sovereign inferencing, and agentic systems feeding three pillars: reduce AI risk, AI choice, and confident adoption](https://www.storagereview.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/StorageReview-nutanix-enterprise-ai-1.jpg) To facilitate agentic AI frameworks, the platform introduces a generally available Model Context Protocol (MCP) Gateway. This gateway serves as a standardized access layer for AI agents to interface with external tools and enterprise datasets without requiring custom engineering. A companion MCP Server for Nutanix Cloud Platform (NCP) is also available to grant agents secure, governed access to Nutanix-managed infrastructure resources. On the compute and serving side, NAI 2.8 adds multi-GPU private inference and fine-tuning capabilities. High-throughput serving is achieved through tensor parallelism across distributed nodes, supplemented by batch processing and speculative decoding. Speculative decoding uses lightweight draft models to reduce token-generation latency by up to 2.5 times without impacting model precision. For model customization, the platform introduces Parameter-Efficient Fine-Tuning with Low-Rank Adaptation (LoRA) for models with fewer than 8 billion parameters, enabling organizations to train adapters on domain-specific data using single-GPU instances and deploy them directly into production serving pipelines. Security controls within NAI have been structured to isolate agentic workloads and prevent model breakout. The platform enforces granular Identity and Access Management (IAM), custom role-based access controls, model-sharing restrictions, and full support for air-gapped NVIDIA NIM deployments. ## Nutanix Kubernetes Platform 2.19 Additions The upcoming NKP 2.19 release focuses on standardizing Kubernetes operations across bare-metal and virtualized deployments. The platform has received formal CNCF Certified Kubernetes AI Conformance, verifying API standardization for enterprise AI orchestration. ![Nutanix Kubernetes Platform graphic arraying the CNCF ecosystem tools NKP bundles, from GateKeeper and Calico to NAI, Helm, Istio, and Velero]() The release introduces NKP Metal, which applies hyperconverged infrastructure management principles to bare-metal Kubernetes. This includes automated provisioning of operating systems, firmware, and container runtime components, along with native persistent storage. For virtualized deployments, NKP Full Stack on Nutanix AHV integrates with Nutanix Flow to enforce microsegmentation and network-level sandboxing, thereby isolating AI agents and preventing lateral movement within the network. NKP 2.19 also adds a curated AI Applications Catalog for automated deployment of frameworks such as Kubeflow, Milvus, and Slurm. Hardware resource management has been updated with validated GPU integration profiles and dynamic hardware allocation. ## Storage Architecture and Partner Programs Storage throughput remains a critical dependency for sustained GPU compute efficiency. To support high-concurrency training and inference pipelines, Nutanix Unified Storage (NUS) has achieved enterprise-level NVIDIA certification. The validated architecture provides low-latency, linear-scaling data paths to keep accelerator pipelines saturated during distributed workloads. ![Nutanix Unified Storage diagram showing file, object, and volume services under Prism Central and Data Lens, deployable hyper-converged or dedicated]() Alongside the platform updates, Nutanix launched the Powered by Nutanix: Verified Services program and announced the general availability of Service Provider (SP) Central. SP Central provides a multitenant control plane that allows managed service providers to provision, operate, and monetize infrastructure, container, and AI services under flexible licensing models. NAI 2.8 and SP Central are available immediately, with NKP 2.19 scheduled for release in the near term. **Engage with StorageReview** [Newsletter](https://www.storagereview.com/storage_newsletter) |  [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/StorageReview "Opens in a new window") | Podcast  [iTunes](https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/storagereview-com-storage-reviews/id1060681115 "Opens in a new window")/ [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/1y6VnznABhHeOSMOmbDTz0 "Opens in a new window") |  [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/storagereview/ "Opens in a new window") |  [Twitter](https://twitter.com/storagereview "Opens in a new window") |  [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@storagereview? "Opens in a new window") |  [RSS Feed](https://www.storagereview.com/rss.xml) ![]() ### Harold Fritts I have been in the tech industry since IBM created Selectric. My background, though, is writing. So I decided to get out of the pre-sales biz and return to my roots, doing a bit of writing but still being involved in technology. 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