Tim Pfaelzer, SVP and General Manager, EMEA at Veeam

AI is revolutionising how organisations unlock value from their data, providing instantaneous insights and uncovering opportunities that were previously out of reach. To realise these benefits, businesses are entering the agentic era, driven by a new generation of AI agents that can act on data at machine speed. These agents are becoming autonomous, 24/7 digital workforces, scaling productivity and accelerating decision-making. The rise of the agentic era is driving tremendous investment in AI, particularly among hyperscalers, which have reportedly spent more than $650 billion building the foundations for the next phase of AI innovation.

The potential of AI agents has earned a significant vote of confidence from enterprises, with 88% of organisations already actively piloting them across their technology stacks. However, it’s important to recognise that only around 7% of organisations have the foundational capabilities in place to be truly AI-ready. This presents a significant risk. A major challenge is the lack of visibility into data, which can cause AI models and agents to act on incomplete, outdated, or inaccurate information, leading to unreliable outcomes at machine speed.

To address this, organisations must build a trust layer through complete visibility, governance, and resilience across every data asset. By ensuring AI agents are powered by secure, accurate, and readily recoverable data, businesses can unlock AI’s full potential without allowing it to become their Achilles’ heel.