Organizations Worldwide Brace for a Year of AI
Transformation, Security Challenges, and Sustainability
Imperatives
NetApp® (NASDAQ: NTAP), the intelligent data infrastructure
company, today released its second annual Data Complexity Report,
which examines how global organizations are navigating the
increasing complexity of managing their data for AI. This year’s
report provides a global view into how AI will impact organizations
in 2025 and beyond, offering insights to help businesses leverage
AI’s potential while navigating the complexities and risks that
accompany this transformative technology.
“2025 is shaping up to be a defining year for AI, as
organizations transition from experimentation to scaling their AI
capabilities,” said Gabie Boko, Chief Marketing Officer, NetApp.
“This year’s Data Complexity Report shows that businesses are
making significant investments to drive innovation and efficiency,
but these efforts will succeed only if global tech executives can
address the mounting challenges of data complexity, security, and
sustainability. Intelligent data infrastructure, with unified data
storage at its core, will be key to unlocking AI’s potential.”
AI Investment: Will AI Break the Bank?
Two-thirds of companies worldwide report that their data is
either fully or mostly optimized for AI—meaning their data is
accessible, accurate, and well-documented for AI-use cases.
However, despite this progress, 2025 will still demand investment
in AI and data management. In fact, 40% of global technology
executives believe that unprecedented investment in AI and data
management will be required for their companies in 2025. While
companies have made strides in optimizing data for AI, achieving
future breakthroughs will demand even greater commitment and
resources.
Data Silos: Will Your Data Impede AI Success?
Data unification is emerging as a critical driver of AI success,
with 79% of global tech executives recognizing the importance of
unifying data to achieve optimal AI outcomes. Companies that have
unified data storage have been able to remove data silos by
connecting data regardless of type or location across hybrid
multicloud environments so it is always accessible. Companies that
prioritize unifying data are more likely to reach their AI goals in
2025, with only 23% of companies that prioritize unifying data
saying they won’t reach their goals, versus 30% of companies that
don’t prioritize unifying data. Investing in data management and
infrastructure has become the top priority for organizations, with
executives emphasizing it twice as much as other AI-related
initiatives – a trend set to grow. Looking to the future,
organizations that embrace data unification will be better
positioned to fully harness the transformative power of AI,
ensuring they stay ahead in an increasingly competitive
landscape.
Data Security: Will Cyber Threats Scale Along with
AI?
Global tech executives are bracing for a significant rise in
security threats alongside AI adoption, with 41% predicting a sharp
increase in 2025. Data privacy and security concerns have remained
top challenges globally year-over-year, with AI-leading countries
like India, Japan and the United States (whom are farther ahead in
their AI journey) nearly twice as likely to report an increase in
the number of security issues compared to AI-lagging countries like
Germany, France, and Spain.
The rise of AI has increased the attack surface of many
organizations, creating new challenges such as protecting AI-models
themselves, defending data sets that are more exposed to attacks,
and ensuring data is available and secure for use in AI
applications. AI-driven security challenges are weighing heavily on
the minds of global tech leaders, with 59% identifying these
threats as a leading global stressor. This heightened focus
reflects the growing complexity of cyber risks. Executives at the
board and C-suite levels continue to prioritize cybersecurity and
ransomware protection, with 38% ranking it as their top priority.
However, there's a silver lining: the strategic measures
organizations have implemented appear to be paying off. The focus
on cybersecurity as a top priority has decreased by 17% since
2023—a promising sign that progress is being made in combating
these ever-evolving threats.
Data Sustainability: Is AI Putting the Planet at
Risk?
As AI adoption accelerates, 34% of global tech executives
anticipate major shifts in corporate sustainability processes, and
33% expect new government energy policies and investments.
AI-driven data growth and the infrastructure needed to turn data
into business value uses a lot of energy, which runs counter to
sustainability goals, with AI-leading countries experiencing a
greater impact than AI-lagging countries. Carbon footprint
reduction remains extremely or very important, especially in
regions with high AI adoption, though its focus has declined year
over year, from 84% of companies in 2023 to 72% in 2024. The
challenge moving forward will be managing the environmental costs
of AI while maximizing its potential for innovation.
This year’s Data Complexity Report highlights a pivotal shift:
businesses that invest in intelligent data infrastructure,
prioritize security, and factor in sustainability are not only
future-proofing their operations but also gaining a significant
competitive advantage in the AI-driven landscape.
“AI’s transformative potential hinges on secure, scalable, and
sustainable data strategies,” said Krish Vitaldevara, Senior Vice
President and General Manager, NetApp. “The organizations leading
in advanced analytics and AI are those that have unified and
well-cataloged data, robust security and compliance for sensitive
information, and a clear understanding of how data evolves. By
tackling these challenges, they can drive innovation while ensuring
resilience, responsibility, and timely insights in the new AI
era.”
To learn more, read the full report here:
https://www.netapp.com/pdf.html?item=/media/120560-2024-data-complexity-survey-report.pdf
Join NetApp and Steve McDowell of NAND Research for a LinkedIn
Live event on Wednesday, December 11 at 11am ET:
https://www.linkedin.com/events/the2024netappdatacomplexityrepo7271211960103317505/theater/
Methodology
NetApp partnered with Wakefield Research to conduct a
quantitative research study during November 2024, among 1,300+ IT
executives in 9 markets: US, EMEA (UK, France, Germany, Spain) and
APAC (Australia/New Zealand, Singapore, India and Japan).
About NetApp
NetApp is the intelligent data infrastructure company, combining
unified data storage, integrated data services, and CloudOps
solutions to turn a world of disruption into opportunity for every
customer. NetApp creates silo-free infrastructure, harnessing
observability and AI to enable the industry’s best data management.
As the only enterprise-grade storage service natively embedded in
the world’s biggest clouds, our data storage delivers seamless
flexibility. In addition, our data services create a data advantage
through superior cyber resilience, governance, and application
agility. Our CloudOps solutions provide continuous optimization of
performance and efficiency through observability and AI. No matter
the data type, workload, or environment, with NetApp you can
transform your data infrastructure to realize your business
possibilities. Learn more at www.netapp.com or follow us on
X, LinkedIn, Facebook, and
Instagram.
NETAPP, the NETAPP logo, and the marks listed at
www.netapp.com/TM are trademarks of NetApp, Inc. Other
company and product names may be trademarks of their respective
owners.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241210263987/en/
Media Contact: Kenya Hayes NetApp
kenya.hayes@netapp.com
Investor Contact: Kris Newton NetApp
kris.newton@netapp.com
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