Terry KS Nutanix’s latest Enterprise Cloud Index reveals that AI adoption is accelerating container use and infrastructure modernisation, with 85% of enterprises linking AI to faster container uptake. However, 82% say their current on-premises infrastructure is not fully ready to support AI workloads.
MALAYSIA, 4 MARCH 2026 – Nutanix has released the findings of its eighth annual Enterprise Cloud Index (ECI), highlighting how rapid AI adoption is reshaping enterprise infrastructure strategies worldwide.
The global study reveals that artificial intelligence is triggering a new wave of infrastructure modernisation, as organisations rush to build and run applications more efficiently. Containers have emerged as a core pillar of enterprise application strategy, with 85% of respondents stating that AI is accelerating container adoption to improve speed, scalability and reliability.
According to Lee Caswell, SVP of Product and Solutions Marketing at Nutanix, enterprises increasingly require enterprise-grade security, resilience and portability as AI workloads expand across hybrid and multicloud environments. He noted that a unified operating environment for both virtual machines and containers would help IT leaders scale AI deployments with greater confidence.
The survey also points to growing operational risks tied to AI expansion. Eighty-two percent of respondents believe organisational silos between business units and IT teams are hindering effective technology execution, slowing deployment timelines and increasing complexity.
Shadow IT has become another critical concern. Seventy-nine percent of IT leaders report encountering AI applications or agents deployed by non-IT staff, while 87% believe unauthorised AI use introduces significant risks, including potential exposure of sensitive data and intellectual property.
Despite these challenges, enterprises see strong upside in AI agents. Sixty-one percent expect AI agents to enhance customer and employee experiences, while 58% anticipate productivity gains. More than half of respondents also believe AI agents could create new products, services or revenue streams.
Data sovereignty remains a decisive factor in infrastructure planning. Eighty percent of organisations rank data sovereignty as a top priority when determining where to run applications and containers. Over half prefer to keep infrastructure within a single country, whether on-premises or in a local cloud region, driven largely by compliance and security requirements.
Container adoption is expected to accelerate further. Eighty-seven percent of respondents anticipate increased container usage over the next three years, and 83% are already building new applications in containers. However, readiness gaps persist, with 82% acknowledging their current on-premises infrastructure is not fully prepared to support AI workloads.
The research, conducted in November 2025 by Wakefield Research, surveyed 1,600 cloud, IT and engineering executives from organisations with at least 500 employees across multiple global markets, including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, India and Singapore.
The findings underscore a pivotal moment for enterprises: while AI ambitions are accelerating from the top down, infrastructure modernisation must keep pace to unlock its full potential.