Digital Realty’s 2024 Global Data Insights Survey: Strategic Data Management Key as AI Adoption Accelerates Across APAC

Digital Realty, the largest global provider of cloud and carrier-neutral data centre, colocation, and interconnection solutions, today released the Asia Pacific findings of its 2024 Global Data Insights Survey, highlighting a significant surge in Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption among enterprises in the region. The report is aimed at gaining insights into how enterprises are creating business strategies and redesigning legacy IT infrastructures to support their AI ambitions and goals.

The 2024 Global Data Insights Survey of 2,000 IT leaders across 21 countries including Australia, India, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea found that although many enterprises in Singapore (46%), South Korea (66%), and Hong Kong (45%) rate themselves as mature in AI adoption, only a quarter of enterprises in the region consider their current AI use to be transformative. This suggests a strong need for greater investment in digital infrastructure to unlock AI’s full potential.

IT leaders across Asia Pacific acknowledged in the 2024 Global Data Insights Survey the essential role of strategic data management in effectively unlocking the full value of AI. The survey revealed that 65% of companies in the region are actively executing a formal data strategy for their current or planned IT locations, with 77% of Asia Pacific companies adopting a distributed data approach to tackle data gravity challenges.

According to the 2024 Global Data Insights Survey, 72% of enterprises are incorporating data location strategies into their AI plans, allowing them to place high-density storage and processing capacity in key locations to maximise AI’s performance. Additionally, 56% plan to expand their infrastructure in one to five more locations within the next two years. This expansion will enable adherence to data sovereignty regulations, and allow them to scale AI workloads crucial for their future digital infrastructure plans.

2024 Global Data Insights Survey Finds New Priorities, Key Challenges

As organisations prioritise data-driven initiatives, further investment in digital infrastructure is necessary to fully harness the potential of AI. Infrastructure hurdles continue to impede the success of AI investments in the region, with over half (56%) of Asia Pacific enterprises lacking the digital infrastructure required for both data and AI success.

Key infrastructure challenges that the 2024 Global Data Insights Survey found include:

• Insufficient data storage for large AI datasets (64%)
• Inadequate computational power for AI processing (55%)
• Ensuring reliable connections to distributed data sources (49%)

To achieve data and AI success, IT leaders in Asia Pacific emphasise the need for data centre providers to enable secure data exchange between users, networks, clouds, and IT providers on a single data center platform. Key requirements they shared include:

• Infrastructure capable of managing AI’s power and energy demands for data storage, processing, and hosting (51%)
• Proximity of high-performing AI workloads to data and users (46%)
• Compliance with AI and data privacy regulations (45%)

Sustainability is also a top priority in Asia Pacific, with 59% of respondents stating that their sustainability goals are the most important factor impacting AI strategy.

Serene Nah, Managing Director and Head of Asia Pacific for Digital Realty, commented, “In Asia Pacific, the race to harness AI’s power is accelerating. Businesses are realizing that AI is not just a buzzword, but a strategic imperative for driving innovation and growth. The key to success lies in a data-centric infrastructure that can seamlessly integrate data from various sources, deliver high-performance computing, and ensure robust connectivity. By prioritising sustainability and leveraging cutting-edge technologies, organisations can unlock the full potential of AI while minimising environmental impact.”