New BARC Research Commissioned by Actian Finds 76% Say Deploying AI Outside the Cloud Is Now More Important

Organizations make deliberate workload placement decisions across cloud, on-premises, and edge based on trust, dependency, and sovereignty

ROUND ROCK, Texas, Oct. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Actian, the data and AI division of HCLSoftware, today released Where Enterprise AI Runs: Deliberate workload placement across cloud, on-premises, and edge, a new research study conducted by BARC. The report shows that while cloud still dominates enterprise AI, organizations are increasingly rethinking where to run AI workloads as they face new pressures and requirements.

The BARC research finds that 77% of organizations use cloud for some AI workloads.¹ BARC also finds that 76% of organizations say deploying AI outside the cloud has become more important over the past year.

"Production AI brings more stringent requirements for control, protection of critical data, and auditability that experimentation does not demand," said Dr. Carsten Bange, founder and CEO of BARC. "While cloud is still the starting point, trust, dependency, and sovereignty are increasingly deciding factors in AI workload placements."

Why Organizations Are Deploying AI Outside the Cloud

The BARC research identifies the leading reasons for and benefits respondents cited of deploying AI outside the cloud:

• Internal drivers: Data sensitivity (55%) and mission-critical AI processes (49%).
• External drivers: Cybersecurity concerns (45%); customer, partner, or contract requirements (45%); and dependency on specific cloud or technology providers (42%).
• Benefits: Improved data privacy and confidentiality (62%), stronger regulatory compliance posture (40%), and cost optimization (37%).

Hybrid architectures, which place AI workloads across environments, are associated with higher AI maturity. Sixty-five percent of organizations with hybrid architectures have AI in production or deliver measurable business value from it, compared with 60% of cloud-only organizations.

What is Data and AI Sovereignty?

Actian views these pressures as signs of a broader need for data and AI sovereignty. Sovereignty is the ability to control, enforce, and prove how data, AI models, and agents are used, wherever they run. It has three dimensions:

• Control: Defining who can access data and models, under what conditions, and from where.
• Enforcement: Applying those rules during operation, not just in policy documents.
• Proof: Providing auditable evidence that the rules were applied.

Organizations rethinking AI deployment strategies must address these factors across every environment. This requires governance that follows the data as it moves across environments. Machine-readable data contracts enable consistency in applying policies wherever the data is processed.

"The research shows that organizations are becoming much more deliberate about where they run AI, particularly as concerns about sensitive data, security, and technology dependencies grow," said Emma McGrattan, chief technology officer of Actian. "But moving workloads out of the cloud doesn't automatically give you greater control. Sovereignty comes from being able to enforce your policies wherever AI operates and prove they're working. That's especially important as AI agents become more autonomous and harder to oversee."

Research Methodology

The research surveyed 329 respondents in executive, architecture and engineering, data and AI leadership, and other roles in June and July 2026. Participants represented industries including manufacturing, IT, financial services, and healthcare across Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific. 

The full BARC research, Where Enterprise AI Runs: Deliberate workload placement across cloud, on-premises, and edge, includes the complete findings. Additional details on the research are in the blog, Beyond Cloud-by-Default: What New Global Research Reveals About Enterprise AI. For more on data and AI sovereignty, read the O'Reilly report, Data and AI Sovereignty: Understanding Sovereign Data and AI Across Cloud, On-Premises, and Edge.

About Actian

Actian empowers enterprises to confidently manage and govern data at scale. Actian data management and data intelligence solutions help streamline complex data environments and accelerate the delivery of AI-ready data. Designed to be flexible, Actian solutions integrate seamlessly and perform reliably across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments. Learn more about Actian, the data and AI division of HCLSoftware, at actian.com.

¹All statistics cited in this release are from "Where Enterprise AI Runs: Deliberate workload placement across cloud, on-premises, and edge," commissioned by Actian and conducted by BARC, June and July 2026.

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SOURCE Actian