Veeam Software recently polled more than 250 senior IT and business decision-makers worldwide to uncover which key trends will shape IT in 2026. Cyber threats and the impact of AI maturity and regulation are the two most significant disruptors facing the industry in the coming year.
Organizational data remains a critical concern: nearly 60% of respondents report reduced visibility of where their data resides due to the growth of multi-cloud and SaaS environments. Meanwhile, AI-generated attacks are seen as the greatest risk to data security, and compliance pressures around data sovereignty – rated extremely or moderately important by 76% of leaders – are set to reshape cloud strategies worldwide.
The survey asked IT leaders what they see as the biggest disruptor in 2026, with nearly half pointing to security concerns.
- Threats to cyber security were cited by 49% of respondents as the biggest disruptor.
- AI maturity and regulation followed as the second-largest disruptor, with 22% of respondents.
- Other major disruptors included talent/skills shortages (10%) and cloud complexity and costs (8%).
- When asked which risk they felt least prepared for, cyber attacks (29%) and AI/automation missteps (27%) topped the list.
- AI-generated attacks (66%) were seen as the most significant threat to data, even ahead of ransomware (50%). This underscores a seismic shift: AI is no longer just a productivity tool; it is now a weapon in the hands of attackers.
Security, resilience, and sovereignty
IT leaders are prioritising security and resilience initiatives:
- Strengthening cyber security was overwhelmingly selected as the single ‘must win’ IT initiative for 2026, chosen by 45% of respondents.
- Building data resilience was the second most popular must win initiative at 24%.
- Leaders are putting their money where the risks are, with a combined 54% of respondents planning for a moderate or significant increase in their budget for data protection and resilience in 2026.
- Data sovereignty and compliance are shaping cloud strategy; 46% rated sovereignty as extremely important and 30% as moderately important. This highlights a growing recognition that resilience isn’t just technical – its regulatory and geopolitical. Organizations are preparing for a world where compliance and control over data location are as critical as firewalls and backups.
Visibility and recovery confidence remain low
Despite heavy investment in cyber security, confidence in recovery remains alarmingly low, and reduced visibility across sprawling IT environments means that leaders are often flying blind when it comes to knowing where their data resides. The survey revealed:
- Reduced data visibility: a substantial majority of IT leaders reported that the growth of their IT environment (e.g., multi-cloud, SaaS) has somewhat (44%) or significantly (16%) reduced their visibility of where all their data resides.
- Recovery confidence: only 29% of respondents were very confident in their ability to recover critical data if hit by a zero-day exploit tomorrow; 59% were only somewhat confident.
- Cloud outage preparedness: 71% are either not confident (30%) or somewhat confident (41%) in maintaining operations during a multi-day cloud provider outage.
