About the cloud survey report, 2024
500Industry leaders
5Industries
To assess how prepared companies are to realize the combined potential of cloud and AI, MIT Tech Review Insights in partnership with Infosys Cobalt surveyed 500 business leaders across industries like IT, manufacturing, financial services, consumer goods, and more, about how their organizations are thinking about—and acting upon—an integrated cloud and AI strategy. The findings show that, even though cloud adoption is high, cloud usage for AI is still in the early stages – only 8% have integrated it fully.
Becoming a truly "AI-first enterprise" will require a significant, sustained investment in cloud infrastructure and strategy. In 2024, cloud evolved beyond its initial purpose as a storage tool and cost saver to become a crucial driver of innovation, transformation, and disruption. Now, enterprises are looking to the cloud to support large language models (LLMs) to maximize R&D performance and prevent cybersecurity attacks, among other high impact use cases.
Key insights
Two-thirds of respondents have an "advanced" cloud infrastructure, with 67% of respondents claiming that they have a "developed" or "advanced" cloud infrastructure, while around 33% claiming their infrastructure as "growing" or "nascent."
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Less than 10% of executives have fully integrated AI into their operations. While nearly half 48% of executives say their firms are experimenting with AI, only 8% say they've comprehensively integrated AI into their business.
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50% executives report they're using cloud services only to integrate data for AI purposes. Another 30% are using cloud infrastructure for computing capacity, and just 13% report having a "detailed roadmap" on how cloud investments will advance AI adoption beyond data and computer power/scale.
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When asked about the factors limiting their organization's cloud readiness for AI, 45% of respondents cite "concerns about data security and ethical use of data, privacy, and overall safety." Another 45% selected "complexity of AI projects," and 36% noted data challenges.
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71% of executives expect spending on cloud infrastructure for AI to increase by at least 25% in the next two years. Cloud spending will increase in the next few years. More than one-quarter 27% predict it will increase by 50-100%. Only 5% of respondents believe their companies' investment in cloud infrastructure will stay stagnant.
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