Only One-Third of AI Projects Deliver Positive ROI, Yet Companies Continue to Invest in AI Infrastructure According to the 2026 Wasabi Global Cloud Storage Index

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The fourth annual Wasabi Global Cloud Storage Index explores how businesses allocate infrastructure and storage spending to support AI, the challenges organizations face when it comes to AI workload deployment, and the increasingly critical role cloud object storage plays in enabling cost-effective deployment of AI solutions at scale.

The Wasabi Cloud Storage Index, developed in collaboration with Vanson Bourne, is a leading source of industry trends and IT decision-maker insights on cloud infrastructure and storage services. Based on global survey data from 1,700 business and IT respondents, the study has uncovered key findings over the past three years on buying behavior, user satisfaction, and the impact of hyperscaler fee structures on storage costs. This year’s research explores emerging challenges, including AI data storage complexity, data quality issues, cloud security concerns, and the critical service features and capabilities they rely on to keep their data secure and accessible. Below are key insights uncovered this year:

Organizations are committed to AI infrastructure spending, and are allocating the majority of their budgets to data, storage, and compute – not software and SaaS

• AI infrastructure spend is a corporate priority: When asked about infrastructure budgets for AI, just 3% of respondents say they will lower spending. The majority (60%) say they plan to increase infrastructure budgets for AI projects, and 37% will maintain their existing budget.
• Budget allocations favor infrastructure, not software: Today, approximately two-thirds of AI budgets (66%) are allocated to the data, storage, and processing power needed to feed and run AI applications. Just 33% is allocated to AI software/SaaS solutions.

“When we look at revenue allocations at the highest level of the public cloud services market – the vast majority comes from software/SaaS, not infrastructure services (IaaS),” said Andrew Smith, director of strategy and market intelligence at Wasabi Technologies and a former IDC analyst. “But emerging AI workloads and initiatives are actually changing this dynamic. What’s fascinating to see within our survey results this year is how most AI budget allocation is going toward infrastructure, not SaaS. In other words, it’s the complete opposite of what we might expect from a traditional market standpoint, and it’s a great illustration of the critical role cloud storage and cloud infrastructure services play in this generational buildup of AI-enabled solutions and services.”

Many AI projects are still operating at a loss today, but the runway to achieve positive ROI is shortening

• No AI ROI? No problem – for now: 32% of respondents say their AI projects are delivering a positive return today. While this is a low number, many organizations are still in the early adoption phase. However, expectations are set to change rapidly. When asked about expectations for AI project ROI in the next 12 months, the number jumped 19 points to 51%.
• Overcoming data storage and data quality challenges are keys to AI implementation success: This year organizations were asked about challenges they face when implementing AI projects and solutions. Their top challenge: data storage (including cost, access, management). Their second challenge: data quality (including cleansing, preparation). These challenges both outranked the third highest choice: compute challenges (including cost, procurement). This highlights the key role data and storage play in a successful AI solution implementation.
• Many organizations turn to hybrid storage deployments to meet AI needs: 64% of respondents say they are deploying hybrid storage solutions (i.e., a mix of on-prem and public cloud) to support their AI workflows. This is an indication of the flexibility and potential complexity that organizations are dealing with when it comes to managing AI-related data across multiple environments. Interestingly, respondents identified two AI workflow areas where they prefer to use public cloud storage, specifically. Those workflow steps are data retrieval/ingest and aggregation and model retention and archiving. In other words, public cloud storage is often used to bookend an organization’s AI data pipeline.

“As organizations scale AI initiatives, they face mounting data storage and data quality challenges that can quickly erode ROI if not managed effectively,” said Dave Friend, founder and CEO at Wasabi Technologies. “Cost-efficient, reliable storage is essential to ensure high-quality data is readily available for AI models, enabling better outcomes without unsustainable infrastructure costs. This drives home the need for affordable, secure, high-performance cloud storage so budgets stay in line with expectations, and data remains secure and accessible.”

Cloud storage fees and budget overruns persist

• The fee problem: For the fourth year in a row, the Cloud Storage Index explored the impact of fees on cloud storage billing. Unfortunately, the status quo remains unchanged. Similar to previous years, 50% of user spending is allocated to fees, not storage capacity.
• Complex fee structures equate to budget overruns: One of the results of this fee-heavy pricing structure is budget excess. This year, 49% of respondents say they exceeded budgeted spending for cloud storage in 2025. Budget overruns are driven by a combination of increased storage usage, growth, and migration; compounded by storage fees. Unfortunately, 91% of respondents cited at least one fee-related reason why their spending on public cloud storage exceeded budget expectations.

Cloud data protection and security remain significant market concerns, and cloud storage services providers have a major role to play in helping users keep their data safe and accessible

• High prevalence of disruption due to cyberattacks: This year the findings show 44% of respondents have experienced a cyberattack resulting in loss of access to public cloud data.
• An emerging cloud data security gap: Perhaps as a result of this high rate of cyberattack and disruption, 41% of respondents also said their public cloud vendor does not provide the necessary tools/features needed to mitigate against cyberattack. This is a critical finding in the 2026 Cloud Storage Index, and sheds light on an important market need.

Conducted by Vanson Bourne, the Global Cloud Storage Index surveyed C-level leadership and managers at businesses across Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UK, the United States and Singapore.

Download the full 2026 Cloud Storage Index from Wasabi to learn more here.

Methodology

Wasabi commissioned independent market research agency Vanson Bourne to conduct research into cloud storage. The study surveyed 1,700 IT decision makers who had at least some involvement in or responsibility for public cloud storage purchases in their organization. The research took place in November and December 2025 and included organizations with more than 100 employees across all public and private sectors. All interviews were conducted using a rigorous multi-level screening process to ensure that only suitable candidates were given the opportunity to participate.

About Wasabi Technologies

Recognized as one of the technology industry’s fastest growing companies, Wasabi is on a mission to store the world's data by making cloud storage affordable, predictable and secure. With Wasabi, visionary companies gain the freedom to use their data whenever they like without being hit with unpredictable fees or vendor lock-in. Instead, they’re free to build best-of-breed solutions with the industry’s fastest-growing ecosystem of independent cloud application partners. Customers and partners all over the world trust Wasabi to help them put their data to work so they can unlock their full potential. Visit wasabi.com to learn more.