AI Drives Container Adoption but Exposes Enterprise Risks — Nutanix, Inc.

Event summary

Nutanix's 2026 Enterprise Cloud Index survey found 85% of respondents say AI is accelerating container adoption for speed, reliability, and scalability.
82% of IT executives report organizational silos hinder effective AI deployment, slowing timelines and increasing complexity.
79% of respondents encounter shadow IT with unauthorized AI applications, raising concerns over data exposure and compliance risks.
61% of IT leaders expect AI agents to enhance customer or employee experiences, while 58% see productivity gains.

The big picture

Nutanix's findings highlight a critical tension between rapid AI-driven innovation and the operational challenges of siloed IT environments. As enterprises race to modernize infrastructure for AI workloads, shadow IT and compliance pressures create friction points that could slow deployment timelines. The shift toward containerization underscores broader industry trends in hybrid cloud adoption and the need for unified operating environments.

What we're watching

Infrastructure Readiness: Whether enterprises can modernize their on-premises infrastructure to fully support AI workloads, as 82% currently view their systems as unprepared.
Shadow IT Risks: The pace at which organizations will address unauthorized AI deployments and align business units with IT security protocols.
Container Strategy: How enterprises evolve their infrastructure to handle containerized workloads, as 87% expect container use for applications to increase over the next three years.