AI is driving a storage revolution: why businesses need a future-ready data infrastructure
Recent research from Seagate and Western Digital (WD) reveals a growing challenge for businesses adopting AI: storage infrastructure is emerging as a critical bottleneck, often ranking ahead of compute constraints. Nearly all surveyed enterprises expect AI to increase their storage requirements, yet only a minority feel fully prepared for the data growth ahead.
Key findings from recent research
Research conducted by Seagate among more than 2,700 enterprise technology decision-makers found that:
- 99% of organizations expect AI to increase storage requirements within the next three years.
- Only 38% believe they are fully prepared to meet future AI-driven data demands.
- Storage infrastructure (43%) ranks as a more significant AI deployment challenge than compute availability (27%).
- 98% of respondents view storage as strategic business infrastructure, rather than simply a back-end IT component.
Complementary research commissioned by Western Digital and IDC confirms the trend:
- 94.7% of organizations report storing more data due to AI adoption.
- 74% expect data volumes to grow by at least 25% over the next three years.
- 74.3% retain data longer because of AI and GenAI workloads.
- Organizations increasingly need access not only to active data, but also to archived data that can be reused for AI training, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), analytics, and business intelligence.
Why this matters
For many organizations, storage has traditionally been viewed as a commodity purchase. AI is changing that perception.
A modern storage strategy directly impacts:
AI performance and scalability
AI applications depend on fast access to large datasets. Insufficient storage architecture can become a bottleneck even when compute resources are available.
Data availability and business insights
Historical data is becoming more valuable as organizations use AI to discover patterns, train models, and generate new business intelligence.
Compliance and security
As data volumes grow, businesses must ensure proper retention, governance, backup, and recovery capabilities. Research shows that security and compliance investments are among the top priorities for AI-ready infrastructure.
Cost optimization
Not all data requires the same storage tier. A balanced architecture combining high-performance flash, capacity HDD systems, backup, and archive solutions can significantly reduce long-term costs while maintaining performance where it matters most.
Yuri Koval, BDM Storage Systems at ASBIS, said: “A modern storage strategy is no longer just an IT requirement. It is a strategic business enabler that directly impacts AI readiness, operational efficiency, security, and long-term growth.”
“Organizations that invest in the right mix of performance, capacity, and data management solutions today will be better positioned to unlock AI-driven innovation, improve operational efficiency, and support long-term growth,” he added.
How ASBIS can help
As a leading Value-Added Distributor and Solution Provider, ASBIS helps partners and customers build storage infrastructure that is ready for today’s AI-driven data economy.
Our expertise covers:
- Professional consultation and infrastructure assessment
- Storage sizing and project calculations
- Selection of optimal technologies and architectures
- Supply and logistics across multiple markets
- Deployment and installation support
- Integration with AI, data center, backup, and enterprise IT environments
Working with leading storage vendors and technology partners, ASBIS helps organizations design, calculate, deploy, and optimize scalable, secure, and cost-effective storage solutions aligned with their business objectives and future growth plans.
Source: Seagate Research, WD and IDC research