A new report has found that the majority of UK businesses have plans to increase their AI infrastructure spend, prioritising data, storage and compute buildouts, despite only 25% seeing positive ROI on AI projects to date.

Developed in collaboration with Vanson Bourne, Wasabi surveyed 1,700 IT decision makers globally, with 200 based in the UK. The data confirms UK businesses are investing in the data infrastructure underpinning AI, but cloud storage fees are causing organisations to overspend. 

The report indicated 56% of UK businesses plan to increase their investment, despite the majority yet to see a positive ROI. Despite this, almost half (4%) believe they’ll see positive returns in the next year. 

When asked about the challenges they face implementing AI projects and solutions, the top response was data storage challenges like cost, data access and management. 

Below, we’ll take a look at some of the key data points and takeaways from the report.

AI budget allocations favour infrastructure, not software

When asked about infrastructure budgets for AI, just 3% of UK respondents say they will lower spending. In the year ahead, the vast majority say they will either increase infrastructure budgets for AI projects (56%) or maintain their existing budget (42%).

In the UK, the majority of AI budgets (62%) are spent on the data, storage, and processing power needed to feed and run AI applications. Meanwhile, surprisingly, only 36% is allocated to AI software/SaaS solutions.

72% of UK respondents say they are deploying hybrid storage solutions (i.e., a mix of on-prem and public cloud) to support their AI workflows. An indication of the flexibility and potential complexity that organisations are dealing with when it comes to managing AI-related data across multiple environments. 

Security & Budgeting Concerns 

Cloud storage services providers have a major role to play in helping users keep their data safe and accessible. However, only half (51%) of UK organisations are completely confident their data would meet regulatory/compliance requirements if audited by a third party. 

Meanwhile 62% – significantly more than the global average of 53% – are not completely confident their data would remain operational and unaltered after a cyberattack. 

UK businesses are rightly nervous about prolific cyber threats marking an opportunity for cloud providers to step up and foster trust.

When asked why they lack confidence, many respondents said their public cloud vendor does not provide the tools needed to mitigate against cyberattacks, which highlights a market opportunity for more innovative and expansive data storage capabilities. 

48% of the UK’s cloud storage spending is allocated to fees, instead of actual storage capacity. One of the results of this fee-heavy pricing structure is budget challenges. In 2025, 46% of UK respondents say they exceeded budgeted spending for cloud storage. 

Why Infrastructure Is Now Taking the Lead

“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. 

“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. 

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“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 build-up of AI-enabled solutions and services.” 

“As organisations 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.”