Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Index finds that shadow IT and organizational silos create AI risks, while AI is driving rapid container adoption

Nutanix, a leader in hybrid multicloud computing, today announced the results of its 8th annual Enterprise Cloud Index (ECI) survey and research report, which measures the progress of global enterprises in cloud adoption. This year’s report takes a closer look at the challenges IT executives face in addressing the rapid increase in the use of AI within the enterprise and the need to modernize applications and infrastructure.

The rapid increase in enterprise AI adoption over the past year has led to a wave of infrastructure modernization as companies race to build and run more efficient applications. In fact, containers have become a core component of enterprise application strategies, with 85% of survey respondents reporting that AI is accelerating container adoption to improve speed, reliability, and scalability.

“This finding shows that because AI workloads can run anywhere, organizations need enterprise-grade security, resiliency, and portability,” said Lee Caswell, senior vice president of product and solutions marketing at Nutanix. “Organizations will also benefit from a common operating environment for virtual machines and containers that enables IT leaders to scale AI with confidence across hybrid environments.”

Key findings from this year’s report, based on survey responses, include:

• Organizational silos create new AI risks: While AI adoption is driving innovation, it is also creating operational challenges. 82% of respondents believe that silos between business units and IT make it difficult to effectively execute technology initiatives, delay implementation timelines, and increase complexity.
• Shadow IT creates AI challenges: 79% of respondents have encountered AI applications or agents that are implemented by employees in departments other than IT. 87% believe that misuse of AI poses risks such as leaking sensitive data or intellectual property. This highlights the need for close collaboration between IT teams and business stakeholders to keep AI deployments secure, compliant, and aligned with organizational goals.
• Agents unlock huge potential for organizations: The majority (61%) of IT executives expect AI agents to improve the customer or employee experience. Additionally, 58% expect AI agents to increase productivity and efficiency. Additionally, some believe AI agents could play a deeper role, with 57% believing AI agents could create new products, services, or revenue streams.
• Data sovereignty is non-negotiable: For 80% of respondents, data sovereignty is a top priority when making infrastructure decisions, including where to use containers. In fact, compliance obligations often force organizations to physically store data within the country in which it was collected. More than half (57%) feel the need to run their infrastructure in one country, either on-premises or through a local cloud region, primarily due to security or data protection concerns.
• Containers are the foundation of modern applications where AI is a key driver. Organizations are turning to containers to support AI-enabled workloads and modern application development. 87% of respondents expect the use of containers in applications to increase over the next three years, and 83% say they are already building new applications with containers. Furthermore, 85% of respondents believe that AI is accelerating container adoption, highlighting why enterprises need to evolve their infrastructure strategies to handle containerized workloads.
• The directive to deploy an AI application comes from the top, but the infrastructure isn’t fully ready to support it. 59% of respondents expect their organization to have five or more AI-enabled applications in the next three years. However, if organizations need to deploy AI workloads on-premises, 82% believe their current infrastructure is not fully prepared to support this.

For the eighth year in a row, Nutanix commissioned a global research study to assess the state of cloud adoption, containerization, and GenAI application deployment. The survey, conducted by Wakefield Research in November 2025, gathered responses from 1,600 cloud, IT, and engineering executives with at least manager-level positions. Respondents represent organizations with more than 500 employees in Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

For more information on the report and findings, download the full 8th ECI Annual Report here. Watch Dan Ciruli, VP of Cloud Native at Nutanix, comment on the report here.