Nutanix: GenAI strategies prioritise security & scaling

Research conducted by Nutanix underscores the challenges enterprises face in scaling and securing Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) as they integrate it into existing infrastructures.

The seventh Enterprise Cloud Index (ECI) reveals that over 80% of organisations have implemented a GenAI strategy, though their targets differ significantly. An overwhelming majority, 95%, cite security and privacy as their primary concern, acknowledging that more could be done to secure GenAI models. Integration with existing IT infrastructure remains a major obstacle for 98% of respondents aiming to scale GenAI from development to production.

Lee Caswell, Senior Vice President of Product and Solutions Marketing at Nutanix, commented on the report's findings: "Many organisations have reached an inflection point with GenAI implementation and deployment. This year's ECI revealed key trends that we're hearing from customers as well, including challenges with scaling GenAI workloads from development to production, new requirements GenAI creates for data governance, privacy, and visibility, and integration with existing IT infrastructure. To successfully unlock ROI with GenAI projects, organisations need to take a holistic approach to modernising applications and infrastructure and embrace containerisation."

According to the ECI, application containerisation is becoming the standard infrastructure model, with nearly 90% of organisations reporting some level of application containerisation. This shift is driven by the increasing adoption of GenAI, where 94% agree their organisations benefit from leveraging cloud-native applications and containers.

While many see GenAI as a tool for boosting productivity, automation, and efficiency, challenges persist in data security and privacy. A vast majority, 95%, recognised the need for enhanced security measures, reflecting the ongoing tension between GenAI adoption and traditional security frameworks.

Nutanix highlighted infrastructure modernisation as essential for supporting GenAI at scale. Supporting GenAI applications requires robust infrastructure to manage security, data integrity, and resilience. The necessity for updates in IT infrastructure was viewed as a primary investment area by the surveyed organisations.

GenAI adoption is also prompting changes in workforce needs, with 52% of respondents identifying IT training as necessary and 48% considering hiring new IT talent. Furthermore, 53% of respondents expressed interest in developing AI expertise to meet the evolving technological landscape.

The survey conducted by UK researcher Vanson Bourne captured insights from 1,500 IT and DevOps decision-makers globally, covering a broad range of industries and geographical regions, including the Americas, EMEA, and the Asia-Pacific-Japan region.