Educational institutions at digital crossroads as they face rapidly evolving IT landscape full of AI capabilities, Nutanix report
Nutanix, a specialist in hybrid multicloud computing, has announced the findings of its seventh annual global Public Sector Enterprise Cloud Index (ECI) survey and research report. This shows that 83% of public sector organisations have a GenAI strategy in place, with 54% actively implementing, and 29% preparing for implementation.
In autumn of 2024, Vanson Bourne surveyed 1,500 IT and DevOps/platform engineering decision-makers around the world. The respondent base spanned multiple industries, business sizes, and geographies, including North and South America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA); and Asia-Pacific-Japan (APJ) region.
As public sector organisations ramp up GenAI adoption, 76% of IT decision-makers say their current infrastructure needs moderate to significant improvement to support modern, cloud native applications at scale. This year’s public sector ECI found that infrastructure modernisation emerged as a top priority, underscoring the growing demand for systems capable of meeting GenAI’s requirements for enterprise ready data security, data integrity, and resilience.
Public sector leaders are increasingly leveraging GenAI applications/workloads into their organisations. Real-world GenAI use cases across the public sector gravitate towards constituent/employee support and experience solutions (e.g., chatbots) and content generation. However, concerns remain with 92% of public sector leaders highlighting the need for their organisations to do more to secure GenAI models and applications. The results of that need, according to 96% of respondents, is security and privacy becoming higher priorities for their organisations.
“Generative AI is no longer a future concept, it’s already transforming how we work,” says Greg O’Connell, VP, Federal Sales, Public Sector at Nutanix (pictured above). “94% of public sector organisations are already putting AI to work and expect returns in as little as one year. As public sector leaders look to see outcomes, now is the time to invest in AI ready infrastructure, data security, privacy, and training to ensure long-term success.”
Key findings from this year’s report include:
Respondents indicate a significant amount of work needs to be done to improve the foundational levels of data security/governance required to support GenAI solution implementation and success. 92% of public sector respondents agree that their organisation could be doing more to secure its GenAI models and applications. Luckily, many IT decision-makers in the public sector are aware of this impending sea change, with 96% agreeing that GenAI is changing their organisation’s priorities, with security and privacy becoming higher priorities.
Running modern applications at enterprise scale requires infrastructure solutions that can support the necessary requirements for complex data security, data integrity, and resilience. Unfortunately, 76% of respondents in the public sector believe their current IT infrastructure requires at least moderate improvement to fully support cloud native apps/containers. Furthermore, IT infrastructure investment was ranked as a top area of improvement among public sector respondents, a sign that IT decision-makers are aware of the need to improve.
When it comes to GenAI adoption, public sector metrics show progress, with 94% of respondents saying their organisation is leveraging GenAI applications/workloads today. Most public sector organisations believe GenAI solutions will help improve levels of productivity, automation, and efficiency. However, they also note a range of challenges and potential hindrances regarding GenAI solution development and deployment, including data security and privacy, and the need for continued upskilling and hiring to support new GenAI projects/solutions.
RTIH AI in Retail Awards
Our sister title, RTIH, organiser of the industry leading RTIH Innovation Awards, proudly brings you the first edition of the RTIH AI in Retail Awards, which is now open for entries.
As we witness a digital transformation revolution across all channels, AI tools are reshaping the omnichannel game, from personalising customer experiences to optimising inventory, uncovering insights into consumer behaviour, and enhancing the human element of retailers' businesses.
With 2025 set to be the year when AI and especially gen AI shake off the ‘heavily hyped’ tag and become embedded in retail business processes, our newly launched awards celebrate global technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world and the resulting benefits for retailers, shoppers and employees.
Our 2025 winners will be those companies who not only recognise the potential of AI, but also make it usable in everyday work - resulting in more efficiency and innovation in all areas.
Winners will be announced at an evening event at The Barbican in Central London on Wednesday, 3rd September.
This will kick off with a drinks reception in the stunning Conservatory, followed by a three course meal, and awards ceremony in the Garden Room.
Please email our Editor, Scott Thompson, if you have any questions or need further information: scott.thompson@retailtechinnovationhub.com
Key 2025 dates
Friday, 18th July: Award entry deadline
Tuesday, 22nd July: 2025 finalists revealed
Wednesday, 23rd July - Friday, 8th August: Judging days
Wednesday, 3rd September: Winners announced at the 2025 RTIH AI in Retail Awards Ceremony, to be held at The Barbican in Central London.
