AI-driven cloud storage demand set to double by 2028

A recent survey commissioned by Seagate Technology anticipates significant growth in cloud storage driven by artificial intelligence (AI) data creation, with over half of the respondents expecting their cloud-based storage to more than double by 2028.

The global study, conducted by Recon Analytics across 15 industry sectors and 10 countries, suggests that AI applications will result in substantial data generation, consequently driving increased demand for storage solutions, particularly cloud-based options. According to IDC, a prominent analyst firm, 89% of data stored by leading cloud service providers is currently held on hard drives, highlighting their cost efficiency in terms of terabyte-per-dollar. The survey supports the continued reliance on hard drives for large-scale data storage needs.

Roger Entner, Founder and Lead Analyst of Recon Analytics, commented on the findings: "The survey results generally point to a coming surge in demand for data storage, with hard drives emerging as the clear winner. When you consider that the business leaders we surveyed intend to store more and more of this AI-driven data in the cloud, it appears that cloud services are well-positioned to ride a second growth wave."

Some key insights from the survey include that 72% of participants already utilise AI technology in their operations. Among those who primarily use cloud storage, 61% predict a more than 100% increase in their cloud-based storage over the next three years. Further emphasising this trend, storage is rated as the second most critical component of AI infrastructure, following security, with other considerations including data management, network capacity, compute power, and regulatory compliance.

Moreover, the survey reveals that 90% of businesses that have adopted AI believe that longer data retention significantly boosts AI outcomes' quality. Additionally, 88% of respondents agree that the adoption of "Trustworthy AI" necessitates storing more data for extended periods, underscoring the importance of retaining data integrity for effective AI model training.

In response to the findings, BS Teh, Chief Commercial Officer of Seagate, stated: "Trustworthy AI is really the key to enabling mainstream adoption of AI. With the vast majority of survey respondents saying they need to store data for longer periods of time to improve quality outcomes of AI, we're focused on areal density innovation needed to increase storage capacity for each platter in our HAMR-based hard drives. We have a clear pathway to more than double per-platter storage capacity over the next few years."

As companies continue to integrate AI applications into their operations, the demand for reliable and scalable storage solutions is expected to grow. This trend points towards a substantial transformation in how organisations view and manage their data infrastructure and storage solutions.