Nasuni has released its annual industry research report, The State of Enterprise File Data Annual Report 2026, revealing that enterprises continue to face major obstacles in turning AI investments into measurable business outcomes. According to the report, although 97% of organizations have deployed or piloted AI agents, more than half of AI projects are still failing to achieve their intended objectives.
The report points to unstructured data management as a key barrier to AI success, with enterprises increasingly recognizing the need to modernize their data infrastructure to support AI-driven operations, analytics, and automation.
Nasuni’s research highlights a growing disconnect between enterprise AI adoption and operational readiness. While organizations are rapidly adopting AI tools and agentic AI technologies, many lack the data infrastructure needed to support large-scale AI deployment.
According to the report, 90% of organizations face barriers when scaling AI initiatives. Key challenges include data security concerns, integration complexities, and lack of trust in enterprise data systems.
Sam King, Chief Executive Officer at Nasuni, said:
"Enterprises are moving fast on AI projects, but most aren't getting the results they want."
King added:
"What this report makes clear is that AI success depends on how well you manage and prepare your data. Too many organizations are still relying on outdated approaches to unstructured data management, limiting their ability to unlock its full value. Your proprietary, operational data is your greatest asset, but only if it's accessible and ready for your teams and the AI that supports them."
The report found that nearly all surveyed enterprises struggle with unstructured data management, despite unstructured data representing the majority of organizational data footprints.
Nasuni reported that 46% of organizations discovered issues related to data quality and governance during AI deployments, while 79% experienced inconsistent file access and performance across different locations.
These operational challenges are impacting enterprise readiness for advanced AI use cases, including agentic AI systems and automated decision-making platforms.
Although only 16% of organizations currently view unstructured data management as a top IT investment priority, the report found that 60% plan to invest in this area over the next 18 months.
In addition to data management concerns, the report identified rising infrastructure costs as another major challenge for enterprise IT teams.
According to the findings, 62% of organizations expect hardware costs to increase as AI adoption drives demand for critical components such as DRAM and compute infrastructure. Enterprises are also facing increased operational complexity as AI workloads become more data-intensive.
The report noted that industries including architecture, engineering, construction (AEC), manufacturing, and energy are experiencing sector-specific challenges related to cybersecurity, recovery times, governance, and AI leadership alignment.
Nasuni stated that these gaps will continue to widen as organizations adopt more advanced AI and agentic systems, making modernized data foundations increasingly important for long-term AI success.
The research surveyed 1,000 purchasing decision-makers across the US, UK, France, and the DACH region, including Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. All participating organizations had more than 1,000 employees. The study was conducted online by Sapio Research in March 2026.
Nasuni is a leading unstructured data platform for enterprises where file data is mission-critical for both people and AI. We power the operational file layer where work happens — helping organizations manage, protect, and activate data so teams can work smarter, reduce costs, and operate securely without limits.
Built on a patented architecture that fuses cloud object storage with enterprise file services — including permissions, versioning, and a global namespace — Nasuni delivers high-performance file access, global data availability, and a scalable, governed, AI-ready single source of truth across every major cloud.
Trusted by more than 1,300 enterprises globally, Nasuni helps organizations modernize file infrastructure, strengthen data security, and support AI-driven operations.
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