  Three quantitative features of string theory on AdS_5 x X_5, for any
(quasi)regular Sasaki-Einstein X_5, are recovered exactly from an expansion of
field theory at strong coupling around configurations in the moduli space of
vacua. These configurations can be thought of as a generalized matrix model of
(local) commuting matrices. First, we reproduce the spectrum of scalar
Kaluza-Klein modes on X_5. Secondly, we recover the precise spectrum of BMN
string states, including a nontrivial dependence on the volume of X_5. Finally,
we show how the radial direction in global AdS_5 emerges universally in these
theories by exhibiting states dual to AdS giant gravitons.
