Businesses Shift AI Spending from Experiment to Core Infrastructure

A new study from Russian enterprise software vendor VK Tech and MARC Agency reveals a significant shift in corporate strategy: artificial intelligence is no longer a side project but a central driver of data management overhaul. The survey of 154 large enterprises indicates that 74% plan to fund AI solutions within the next two years, with 71% aiming to boost their data office budgets by 2026.

Investment priorities are clear. Over the next 24 months, companies are focusing funds on AI agents (62%), machine learning (53%), and generative AI with large language models (51%). To support these initiatives, they are demanding faster, secure AI agents, resilient storage, unified data platforms, and better data quality tools. Consequently, 45% of respondents cite deploying AI and LLM solutions as a top data office objective, while 40% are modernizing data infrastructure and 39% are improving data quality and security.

"Businesses now see AI not as an isolated experiment, but as part of a broader transformation in how they handle data," said Ekaterina Kanunnikova, Director of Product for Data Services at VK Tech. "This is evident in the substantial budgets being allocated to AI, simultaneous strengthening of data offices, infrastructure upgrades, and stricter demands on data quality. Demand will grow for storage tools, including S3-compatible object storage and unified lakehouse platforms. This approach helps control scaling costs, reduces infrastructure complexity, and improves data for analytics and AI."

Currently, businesses primarily apply AI to boost operational efficiency, power analytics and business intelligence, and enhance marketing personalization. However, the primary challenge identified is data security, followed closely by quality control and rising demands on the technology stack. In this environment, infrastructure investment is becoming a non-negotiable prerequisite for realizing AI's potential. VK Tech recently reported its 2025 revenue grew 38% year-over-year to 18.8 billion rubles.

Source: Lenta.RU