DUBAI, UAE, December 11, 2025: Veeam® Software, the #1 global leader by market share in Data Resilience, polled more than 250 senior IT and business decision-makers worldwide to uncover what key trends will shape IT in 2026. Cybersecurity 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.
“IT and business leaders are entering 2026 with unprecedented complexity,” said Anand Eswaran, CEO of Veeam. “Cybersecurity and AI are today’s reality – and accelerating in 2026. Organizations must prioritize data resilience and compliance while embracing innovation responsibly. At Veeam, we see this as an opportunity to lead with trust, security, and simplicity.”
Cybersecurity and AI Dominate the Disruptors and Risk Landscape
The survey asked IT leaders what they see as the biggest disruptor in 2026, with nearly half pointing to security concerns.
• Cybersecurity threats were cited by 49% of respondents as the biggest disruptor.
• AI maturity and regulation followed at 22%.
• Other disruptors included talent/skills shortages (10%) and cloud complexity and costs (8%).
• Risks leaders felt least prepared for: cyberattacks (29%) and AI/automation missteps (27%).
• AI-generated attacks (66%) were seen as the most significant data threat, ahead of ransomware (50%).
Security, Resilience and Sovereignty Take Center Stage
In response to rising risks, IT leaders are prioritizing resilience and security:
• Strengthening cybersecurity is the top “must win” initiative for 2026 (45%).
• Building data resilience ranked second (24%).
• 54% plan moderate or significant increases in data protection and resilience budgets in 2026.
Data sovereignty is shaping cloud strategy: 46% rated it extremely important and 30% moderately important. Organizations increasingly recognize that resilience is both technical and regulatory.
Visibility and Recovery Confidence Remain Low
Despite heavy cybersecurity investment, confidence in recovery remains low:
• 60% reported reduced data visibility due to multi-cloud and SaaS expansion.
• Only 29% feel very confident about recovering critical data after a zero-day exploit; 59% somewhat confident.
• 71% are not confident or only somewhat confident in maintaining operations during a multi-day cloud outage.
The Call for Accountability and External Standards
Leaders want accountability across the board:
• 41% believe executive accountability would have a major impact on cybersecurity resilience.
• 88% say ensuring partner compliance with security standards will be extremely or moderately important in 2026.
• 72% support a ban on ransomware payments; 51% strongly support it.
About the Survey
This survey collected feedback from 250+ respondents across the Americas, APJ, and EMEA. It covered the impact of AI, data management challenges, leadership expectations, incident recovery confidence, and future backup and recovery strategies.
For more information, visit https://www.veeam.com.
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Veeam®, the #1 global market leader in data resilience, believes every business should be able to bounce forward after a disruption with complete confidence in their data. Veeam solutions provide data backup, recovery, portability, security, and intelligence across cloud, virtual, physical, SaaS, and Kubernetes environments.
Headquartered in Seattle with offices in over 30 countries, Veeam protects more than 550,000 customers worldwide, including 82% of the Fortune 500.
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