Businesses finally seeing AI ROI, but 62% can’t handle the storage demands

Artificial intelligence is demanding more data storage, but many businesses are struggling to meet the demand, according to new research from Seagate Technology. While 99% of IT leaders expect AI to increase storage needs over the next three years, only 38% of organizations feel prepared to handle the expansion. Seagate's 2026 Data Infrastructure Readiness Report, based on a survey of 2,712 enterprise technology decision-makers across several countries, revealed that 32% of respondents anticipate their storage demand will grow by more than 50% due to AI.

The most common challenges to deploying AI were found to be data quality and readiness (53%) and storage infrastructure (43%). Despite the growing storage needs, only 38% of organizations believe their infrastructure is equipped to handle the expansion. The report highlights a widening gap between the pace of AI adoption and the underlying data infrastructure required to support it.

Sustainability and energy concerns are also influencing how organizations shape and expand their AI infrastructure, with 77% of surveyed organizations delaying or restructuring AI infrastructure expansion due to these factors. Seagate defines the need for continued investment in data strategy, government, and AI infrastructure as a new imperative called sustainable scaling, which aims to increase AI capacity and business value while continuously improving infrastructure efficiency.