NetApp has shed light on the pressing issues faced by organisations globally as they strive to optimise their strategies for AI success.
“2025 is shaping up to be a defining year for AI, as organisations transition from experimentation to scaling their AI capabilities,” said Gabie Boko, NetApp’s Chief Marketing Officer.
“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.”
The findings of NetApp’s latest Data Complexity Report paints a detailed picture of where businesses currently stand on their AI journeys and the key trends that will shape the technology’s future.
Cost of transformation
Two-thirds of businesses worldwide claim their data is “fully or mostly optimised” for AI purposes, highlighting vast improvements in making data accessible, accurate, and well-documented. Yet, the study reveals that the journey towards AI maturity requires further significant investment.
A striking 40% of global technology executives anticipate “unprecedented investment” will be necessary in 2025 just to enhance AI and data management capabilities.
While considerable progress has been made, achieving impactful breakthroughs demands an even greater commitment in financial and infrastructural resources. Catching up with AI’s potential might not come cheap, but leaders prepared to invest could reap significant rewards in innovation and efficiency.
Data silos impede AI success
One of the principal barriers identified in the report is the fragmentation of data. An overwhelming 79% of global tech executives state that unifying their data, reducing silos and ensuring smooth interconnectedness, is key to unlocking AI’s full potential.
Companies that have embraced unified data storage are better placed to overcome this hurdle. By connecting data regardless of its type or location (across hybrid multi-cloud environments,) they ensure constant accessibility and minimise fragmentation.
The report indicates that organisations prioritising data unification are significantly more likely to meet their AI goals in 2025. Nearly one-third (30%) of businesses failing to prioritise unification foresee missing their targets, compared to just 23% for those placing this at the heart of their strategy.
Executives have doubled down on data management and infrastructure as top priorities, increasingly recognising that optimising their capacity to gather, store, and process information is essential for AI maturity. Companies refusing to tackle these data challenges risk falling behind in an intensely competitive global market.
Scaling risks of AI
As businesses accelerate their AI adoption, the associated risks – particularly around security – are becoming more acute. More than two-fifths (41%) of global tech executives predict a stark rise in security threats by 2025 as AI becomes integral to more facets of their operations.
AI’s rapid rise has expanded attack surfaces, exposing data sets to new vulnerabilities and creating unique challenges such as protecting sensitive AI models. Countries leading the AI race, including India, the US, and Japan, are nearly twice as likely to encounter escalating security concerns compared to less AI-advanced nations like Germany, France, and Spain.
Increased awareness of AI-driven security challenges is reflected in business priorities. Over half (59%) of global executives name cybersecurity as one of the top stressors confronting organisations today.
However, progress is being made. Despite elevated concerns, the report suggests that effective security measures are yielding results. Since 2023, the number of executives ranking cybersecurity and ransomware protection as their top priority has fallen by 17%, signalling optimism in combating these risks effectively.
Limiting AI’s environmental costs
Beyond security risks, AI’s growth is raising urgent questions of sustainability. Over one-third of global technology executives (34%) predict that AI advancements will drive significant changes to corporate sustainability practices. Meanwhile, 33% foresee new government policies and investments targeting energy usage.
The infrastructure powering AI and transforming raw data into business value demands significant energy, counteracting organisational sustainability targets. AI-heavy nations often feel the environmental impact more acutely than their less AI-focused counterparts.
While 72% of businesses still prioritise carbon footprint reduction, the report notes a decline from 84% in 2023, pointing to increasing tension between sustainability commitments and the relentless march of innovation. For organisations to scale AI without causing irreparable damage to the planet, maintaining environmental responsibility alongside technological growth will be paramount in coming years.
Krish Vitaldevara, SVP and GM at NetApp, commented: “The organisations 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.”
You can find a full copy of NetApp’s report here (PDF)
(Photo by Chunli Ju)
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