As the technology landscape continues to evolve, Redis, a popular in-memory data store, is forging a different future under the guidance of its CEO Rowan Trollope and founder Salvatore Sanfilippo, who recently returned to the Redis community. In an interview, Trollope emphasized that Redis is the clear choice for developers seeking a feature-rich, high-performance database, rather than its fork, Valkey.

Trollope argued that Redis, since the launch of Redis 8.0 with Redis Stack capabilities, is a far more capable platform than Valkey. He highlighted several features that Valkey lacks, including vector search, real-time indexing and query engine, probabilistic data types, and JSON support. While some vendors, like Google Cloud, have started to fill in these gaps, Redis remains the more comprehensive option.

Sanfilippo, a renowned Redis expert, returned to the Redis community to help shape the database's future in the era of general artificial intelligence (genAI). He envisions Redis emerging as a core part of the genAI infrastructure stack, with sorted sets inspiring a new data type where the score is a vector. This vision aligns with Trollope's assertion that Redis has a real opportunity to become an integral part of the AI stack.

The discussion around Redis' future is a departure from the licensing debates that have dominated the conversation. Trollope noted that these debates are "popcorn fodder" that focus on the past, rather than the future of Redis as an integral part of the AI stack. Sanfilippo also emphasized that openness and licensing exist on a spectrum, rather than being a binary issue.

The fork, Valkey, was created by AWS and Google, primarily to further their business needs. While Valkey may be "Redis compatible," it will become increasingly distinct over time, much like AWS' fork of Elasticsearch, OpenSearch. This divergence is a positive development, as it allows for innovation and differentiation in the open-source community.

Ultimately, the average developer cares more about a database's capabilities than ideological debates around open source licensing. Trollope argued that Redis has driven innovation more quickly than Valkey, and its focus on genAI workloads sets it apart from its fork. Sanfilippo's return to the Redis community is a significant factor in this differentiation, as he brings his expertise and vision for the database's future.

As the technology landscape continues to evolve, Redis is poised to emerge as a leader in the genAI era. With its founder and CEO united in their vision, Redis is well-positioned to become an integral part of the AI stack, offering developers a unique and differentiated solution for their applications.