LONDON, United Kingdom, October 1, 2024 – Digital Realty (NYSE: DLR), the largest global provider of cloud and carrier-neutral data center, colocation, and interconnection solutions, today unveiled the findings from its "The State of Data and AI in Europe" report; a European spin-off of the company’s recently launched 2024 Global Data Insights Survey. This comprehensive study of over 2,000 IT leaders uncovers a significant rise in artificial intelligence (AI) maturity within large organizations, with 85% of respondents in Europe implementing AI strategies and 42% actively monetizing the technology.

Despite this progress, the survey highlights a critical gap: monetization efforts are yet to drive fundamental business success. Only 27% of enterprises in Europe consider their current AI use transformative, underscoring the need for greater investment in digital infrastructure to unlock AI's full potential.

Nearly all businesses in Europe have integrated AI to some extent, with a growing recognition of the importance of robust data strategies. Two-thirds (65%) of respondents in Europe identify these strategies as essential for effectively managing and leveraging data assets to execute AI initiatives successfully.

However, significant challenges remain. Many European enterprises lack the digital infrastructure necessary for both data and AI success. Chief among these challenges is data storage, with 57% of European enterprises reporting insufficient storage capacity to execute their strategies. Additionally, 57% acknowledge that their IT infrastructure must be strategically positioned to ensure effective deployments. The phenomenon of Data Gravity, where data accumulates in certain infrastructure corners, exacerbates these issues, making it difficult to move data due to network bandwidth constraints, application dependencies, and performance concerns.

Colin McLean, Chief Revenue Officer at Digital Realty, commented on the findings: “We’re witnessing a decisive shift towards using AI to deliver tangible organizational value. As seen in this survey, achieving this requires digital infrastructure capable of managing high data volumes, supporting AI workloads, and providing real-time intelligence. A well-crafted data strategy is essential for reaching AI maturity and real business outcomes. This strategy will likely include high density colocation and robust, on-demand, interconnection, as part of the digital infrastructure requirements.”

Recognizing the critical need to align data location with AI strategy is pivotal. AI is being deployed across more locations within organizations, increasing data creation and necessitating readily available, stable data for AI processing, particularly at the edge. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of respondents in Europe agree that prioritizing data location is vital to addressing key challenges, including storage, processing, interconnection, compliance, and infrastructure suitability.

A shortage of computational power is also a growing concern. Over half (53%) of enterprises in Europe lack the necessary computational power to run AI processing where required and to scale with demand. Organizational roadblocks, such as insufficient leadership knowledge or support for data-based AI strategies, further hinder progress.

Business and IT leaders are adjusting budgets to manage growing data volumes and unlock AI's competitive advantages. Yet only 14% are currently using AI to create a competitive edge, indicating a pressing need for organizations to rethink their data strategies to realize a substantial return on AI investments.

About Digital Realty
Digital Realty brings companies and data together by delivering the full spectrum of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions. PlatformDIGITAL®, the company's global data center platform, provides customers with a secure data meeting place and a proven Pervasive Datacenter Architecture (PDx®) solution methodology for powering innovation and efficiently managing Data Gravity challenges. Digital Realty gives its customers access to the connected data communities that matter to them with a global data center footprint of 300+ facilities in 50+ metros across 25+ countries on six continents. To learn more about Digital Realty, please visit digitalrealty.com or follow us on LinkedIn and X.

For Additional Information

Media Contacts
Will Reynolds
Digital Realty
+44 7469 695775
wreynolds@digitalrealty.com

Investor Relations
Jordan Sadler / Jim Huseby
Digital Realty
+1 737 281 0101
InvestorRelations@digitalrealty.com

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This press release contains forward-looking statements which are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially, including the company's strategy, expected growth in digital transformation, and customer demand. For a list and description of such risks and uncertainties, see the reports and other filings by the company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

AI Adoption Surges: IT Leaders Say Data Strategies Are Key to Success, Digital Realty Study Finds