The top trends shaping the future of cloud adoption over the next four years have been announced by Gartner, the technological research and consulting company.

“These trends are accelerating the shift in how cloud is transforming from a technology enabler to a business disruptor and necessity for most organisations,” said Joe Rogus, director, advisory at Gartner, during the opening keynote of the firm’s IT Infrastructure, Operations, and Cloud Strategies conference.

“Over the next few years, cloud will continue to unlock new business models, competitive advantages and ways of achieving business missions.”

According to the research firm, the following six trends will shape the future of cloud:

Trend #1: Cloud Dissatisfaction

While cloud adoption continues to grow, not all implementations succeed.

Gartner has predicted that a quarter (25%) of firms will have experienced significant dissatisfaction with their cloud adoption by 2028 due to unrealistic expectations, suboptimal implementations, and/or uncontrolled costs.

Enterprises need a clear cloud strategy and effective execution to remain competitive, with Gartner research indicating those that have successfully addressed upfront strategic focus by 2029 will find their cloud dissatisfaction decrease.

Trend #2: AI/ML Demand Increases

Demand for AI/ML is set to surge, with hyperscalers positioned at the core of this growth.

Gartner highlighted that they’ll drive a shift in how compute resources are allocated by embedding foundational capabilities into their IT infrastructure, facilitating partnerships with vendors and users, and leveraging real and synthetic data to train AI models.

The research firm predicts half (50%) of cloud computer resources will be devoted to AI workloads by 2029, up from less than 10% today.

Trend #3: Multicloud and Cross Cloud

Many organisations that have adopted multicloud architecture find connecting to and between providers a challenge.

This lack of interoperability between environments can slow cloud adoption, with Gartner predicting more than 50% of organisations will not get the expected results from their multicloud implementations by 2029.

The firm recommends identifying specific use cases and planning for distributed apps and data in the organisation that could benefit from a cross-cloud deployment model. This enables workloads to operate collaboratively across different cloud platforms, as well as different on-premises and colocation facilities.

Trend #4: Digital Sovereignty

AI adoption, tightening privacy regulations, and geopolitical tensions are driving demand for sovereign cloud services.

Organisations will be increasingly required to protect data, infrastructure, and critical workloads from control by external jurisdictions and foreign government access, Gartner said.

It predicts over 50% of multinational organisations will have digital sovereign strategies by 2029, up from less than 10% today.

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Trend #5: Sustainability

Cloud providers and users are increasingly sharing responsibility for sustainable IT infrastructure.

Gartner said this is being driven by regulators, investors, and public demand for greater alignment between technology investment and environmental goals.

As AI workloads demand more energy, organisations are also under pressure to better understand, measure, and manage the sustainability implications of emerging cloud technologies.

Gartner research shows the percentage of global organisations prioritising sustainability as part of procurement will rise to over 50% by 2029.

Trend #6: Industry Solutions

There’s an upward trend toward industry-specific cloud platforms, with more vendors offering solutions that address vertical business outcomes and help scale digital initiatives.

Over 50% of organisations will use industry cloud platforms to accelerate their business initiatives by 2029, according to Gartner.

The research firm recommends organisations approach industry cloud platforms as a strategic way to add new capabilities to their broader IT portfolio, rather than a total replacement—enabling organisations to avoid technical debt, and to drive innovation and business value instead.