C-Suite Executives in leading enterprises are leveraging GenAI and application containerization to drive a new era of infrastructure modernization.
The seventh annual Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Index (ECI) provides critical, actionable insights for C-Suite Executives on the strategic imperatives shaping global IT. With organizations increasingly adopting hybrid multicloud strategies, the latest ECI report underscores a significant transformation with 85% of enterprises having developed a Generative AI (GenAI) strategy, with more than 50% actively deploying GenAI, and 98% utilizing Kubernetes to enhance scalability and agility.
Based on input from 1,500 IT and business leaders worldwide, the ECI findings emphasize the need for infrastructure modernization, robust data security, and workforce upskilling. For C-Suite Executives, the ECI report serves as an enterprise roadmap for aligning technology investments with business outcomes, driving growth, and maintaining competitive advantage in an era of accelerated transformation and infrastructure modernization.
4 Key Takeaways for C-Suite Executives from the ECI Report:
1. Containerized Applications Are Driving a New Industry Standard
As GenAI drives demand for scalable, agile IT environments, containerization has become a cornerstone of modern infrastructure. Its role in enabling seamless operations across hybrid multicloud environments makes it indispensable for enterprises advancing modernization efforts and scaling innovation.
- Widespread Enterprise Adoption: Over 54% of organizations have fully containerized their applications.
- Modernization Imperative: Despite containerization benefits, 81% of organizations identify infrastructure gaps as an area requiring improvements, while 64% report challenges with scaling container application development.
C-Suite Key Takeaway #1: Containerization is a business-critical enabler of innovation, agility and competitiveness. This infrastructure and app development approach should be considered the gold standard for delivering seamless, secure access to data across hybrid and multicloud environments. To remain ahead, C-Suite Executives must champion containerization and IT modernization initiatives and prioritize orchestration platforms that unlock the full potential of cloud native architectures.
2. The Rise of Generative AI Applications Within the Enterprise
The ECI report highlights that GenAI is no longer an experimental technology—it has become a strategic driver of enterprise priorities, reshaping operations and enabling transformative growth.
- Widespread Enterprise Adoption: Over 85% of organizations have a GenAI strategy, with 55% actively deploying solutions.
- Priority Areas: While 53% of organizations currently leverage GenAI to enhance customer support and experience, priorities are shifting. In the next 1–3 years, 51% plan to focus GenAI efforts on critical areas such as cybersecurity, fraud detection, and loss prevention.
- Investment Needs: 54% of respondents highlight IT infrastructure as a critical area for investment, alongside IT training (52%) and talent acquisition (48%).
C-Suite Key Takeaway #2: GenAI is more than a technological innovation; it is a cornerstone of enterprise transformation. To harness its power, C-Suite Executives must align GenAI initiatives with broader business objectives, prioritize infrastructure modernization, and address critical talent gaps. By doing so, C-Suite Executives can position their companies to turn GenAI into a sustainable competitive advantage for their enterprise.
3. From Development to Production: GenAI Workload Implementation & Lifecycles
Scaling GenAI workloads is a high-stakes challenge for enterprises. Success demands seamless integration, robust infrastructure strategies, and a comprehensive approach to lifecycle management to bridge operational gaps and unlock measurable ROI.
- Scaling Barriers: Nearly all organizations (98%) face significant challenges in scaling GenAI workloads, with integration into existing IT infrastructure emerging as the primary hurdle (54%), followed by skills shortages (53%) and limited visibility into ROI (52%).
- Lifecycle Management: Only 75% of enterprises have established tools or processes to manage the full lifecycle of GenAI models, from development to maintenance, underscoring gaps in readiness that require immediate attention.
- Monitoring and Optimization: While 99% of organizations plan to monitor and optimize GenAI models in production, only 41% are leveraging automated tools, revealing opportunities to improve efficiency and oversight.
- Hardware Dependency: The report highlights that 60% of respondents have defined plans for GenAI-specific hardware, with the remaining 40% still only investigating its use.
C-Suite Key Takeaway #3: To operationalize GenAI at scale, C-Suite Executives must prioritize infrastructure modernization, lifecycle management tools, and specialized hardware. By building frameworks for continuous monitoring and seamless system integration, C-Suite Executives can position GenAI as a driver of sustained competitive advantage and long-term enterprise success.
4. Understanding GenAI’s Impact on Data Security Strategies and Related Skillsets
The adoption of GenAI is fundamentally transforming data security, governance, and compliance frameworks. C-Suite Executives must navigate these changes with precision, addressing critical gaps in expertise, privacy, and governance (compliance) to unlock GenAI’s full potential while minimizing enterprise risks.
- Security as a Priority: Data privacy and security rank as top priorities for 95% of respondents, with 38% identifying sensitive data usage as the primary challenge when using large language models (LLMs).
- Organizational Readiness: Despite broad awareness of the importance of security, 95% of organizations acknowledge the need to improve GenAI model security.
- Investments Needed: To strengthen GenAI-related security and compliance, organizations are focusing on key areas such as cybersecurity (50%), IT talent acquisition (48%) and data governance (38%).
- Talent Development: Only 21% of organizations report having all the necessary skills for GenAI adoption, while 69% are actively hiring to address gaps. Encouragingly, 53% of employees view advancements in GenAI as opportunities to grow their AI skill sets.
C-Suite Key Takeaway #4: Data security is a cornerstone of GenAI success. C-Suite Executives must invest in robust governance frameworks, cybersecurity measures, and skill-building programs to mitigate risks and support sustainable growth. Addressing talent shortages through hiring and upskilling will be key to fostering enterprise readiness.
C-Suite Executive Summary
The ECI reaffirms the growing relevance of hybrid multicloud as the cornerstone of enterprise IT. C-Suite Executives can unlock unprecedented levels of growth, productivity, and scalability, delivering better business results by combining the agility of hybrid multicloud with the efficiency of containerized applications and the transformative power of Generative AI.
To learn how Nutanix can help your enterprise deliver better business outcomes, visit our website or contact your Nutanix account executive. You can also view the complete Seventh Annual Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Index report here.
About the Report
The 7th Annual Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Index (ECI) report, based on a global survey of 1,500 IT, DevOps, and Platform Engineering decision-makers across industries and regions, examines the state of enterprise cloud deployments, containerization trends and Generative AI (GenAI) adoption. Conducted in Fall 2024 by Vanson Bourne, the research highlights key insights into Kubernetes adoption, the implementation of GenAI solutions, and the associated benefits and challenges. This year’s findings also delve into emerging GenAI workflows, addressing critical issues like data security, compliance, and the need for infrastructure modernization.
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