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, according to NetApp.
“2025 is shaping up to be a defining year for AI, as organisations transition from experimentation to scaling their AI capabilities,” said Gabie Boko, chief marketing officer of NetApp.
“Intelligent data infrastructure, with unified data storage at its core, will be key to unlocking AI’s potential,” said Boko.
For this year’s Data Complexity Report, NetApp partnered with Wakefield Research to conduct a quantitative research study during November 2024.
Respondents include more than 1,300 IT executives in nine markets — the United States; the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain; and Australia/New Zealand, Singapore, India and Japan.
Two-thirds of companies worldwide report that their data is either fully or mostly optimised for AI. 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 optimising data for AI, achieving future breakthroughs will demand even greater commitment and resources.
The study classified the surveyed markets into AI leading and AI lagging countries. The four Asia-Pacific markets of India, Japan, Singapore and Australia & New Zealand (A/NZ) all fall into the leading bucket, with the overall proportion of APAC respondents saying that their business’s data is fully or mostly optimised for AI averaging 73%, slightly above the global number.
Data unification is emerging as a critical driver of AI success, with 79% of global tech executives recognising the importance of unifying data to achieve optimal AI outcomes.
In APAC, 85% of tech executives recognised the importance of unifying data to achieve optimal AI outcomes in 2025. Every country is increasing their data management or infrastructure investments except India, reflecting India’s previous investments and lead in AI adoption.
In India, 44% of tech executives see data management or infrastructure as their current top priority, with a lower 37% seeing it as a future top priority. In the other parts of APAC, tech executives in Japan (42%), Singapore (49%) and A/NZ (43%) see data management and infrastructure investments as their top future investment priority – which are higher than their current top priority.
Also, 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, Singapore and A/NZ and the United States (who are farther ahead in their AI journey) facing nearly twice the number of security issues compared to AI-lagging countries like Germany, France and Spain.
As much as 72% of APAC respondents said the rise in AI adoption has led to an increase in security challenges for their businesses.
AI-driven security challenges are weighing heavily on the minds of global tech leaders, with 59% identifying these threats as a leading global stressor. Likewise in APAC, over half of the surveyed respondents (54%) have recognised AI-driven security challenges as their top stressor.
This heightened focus reflects the growing complexity of cyber risks. Executives at the board and C-suite levels continue to prioritise cybersecurity and ransomware protection, with 38% ranking it as a top priority.
However, there’s a silver lining — the strategic measures organisations 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.
