Only 10% of Financial Institutions Prioritize AI-Ready Storage Despite Data Growth Topping Infrastructure Agenda, New Research Finds

Hitachi Vantara report reveals that despite data management being the top data storage priority, financial institutions are underprioritizing AI-enabled storage and unified data platforms needed to manage growth, suggesting a misaligned approach to governance

SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Financial institutions are making data growth their top storage priority, but few are prioritizing the AI-ready infrastructure and stronger data foundations needed to manage that growth at scale, according to a new report from Hitachi Vantara, the data storage, infrastructure and hybrid cloud management subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd. (TSE: 6501). The research found that 35% of organizations cite managing data growth as a top data storage priority, the highest response across the survey, yet only 10% prioritize enabling AI-ready storage and data platforms and just 9% prioritize the implementation of centralized data hubs for governance, reporting, AI/ML and reuse.

Click here to download the full report: https://www.hitachivantara.com/en-us/gated-forms/how-financial-institutions-unlock-more-value-from-data-object-storage

Based on a survey of 100 financial services decision-makers across banking, payments and investment firms globally, the research points to a divided market still working to align storage investments with long-term data strategy. While managing data growth ranked highest, it was still only cited by slightly more than one-third of participants (35%), while other near-term priorities closely grouped around governance, accessibility and modernization.

Notably, the survey found that the second-highest priority cited was ensuring data sovereignty, regulatory compliance and policy-driven governance (30%). The findings show that governance and sovereignty requirements are already influencing how financial institutions prepare for an AI-driven future, including:

• 99% of respondents say data sovereignty concerns influence where they run AI workloads
• 19% report that data sovereignty concerns significantly limit AI workload scalability or performance
• When it comes to which factors are most important when looking at object storage, 65% cite cost or total cost of ownership. That's nearly 20 percentage points higher than the next choice (data resilience and availability, selected by 46% of respondents).

"Financial institutions clearly recognize that data management is becoming more complex, but many are not yet fully addressing what their environments require," said Octavian Tanase, chief product officer, Hitachi Vantara. "As data volumes grow, organizations need unified data platforms that can span block, file and object storage to reduce fragmentation, improve visibility and support consistent governance for the mission-critical data that financial institutions depend on. This includes unstructured data used for analytics and AI, as well as the mission-critical databases and transaction systems that support core operations. That activation depends on the data availability and resilience needed to keep information accessible, protected and ready for use."

Cost Concerns Shape Storage Decisions
The research also shows why these priorities can be difficult to align. When selecting object storage platforms, 65% of financial institutions cite cost as the most important factor, underscoring how near-term cost pressures can compete with the longer-term investments needed to ensure proper accessibility, governance and AI readiness. That balance is especially important in financial services, where AI-ready environments must have object storage to support emerging analytics use cases and block storage to handle the mission-critical systems that continue to run core banking, payments and investment operations.

Sovereignty requirements add another layer of complexity, especially as financial institutions determine where AI workloads and data can reside. Of note, 23% restrict AI workloads to specific regions, 21% train models centrally while keeping data local, and 16% split training and inference across locations due to sovereignty rules. Together, these findings show how cost discipline, regulatory control and fragmented deployment models can complicate efforts to build consistent, AI-ready data foundations.

A Two-Speed Market Is Taking Shape
Adoption of object storage is splitting along maturity lines. While 35% of organizations report enterprise-wide deployments across multiple workloads and teams, 36% remain in early-stage or pilot phases, reflecting a two-speed market where some institutions are building scalable, integrated data management processes and others continue to operate in less mature deployment environments.

As financial institutions expand AI and analytics initiatives, object and block storage are becoming more important foundations for how data is stored, governed and reused. Modern object storage can help institutions connect data across teams and workloads, support data lakehouse architectures and reduce the need for complex data movement that can add cost, risk and operational friction. For highly regulated financial institutions, that foundation must also connect with the mission-critical block storage environments behind core databases, transaction systems and other operational data sources that must be managed in highly secure and resilient storage systems.

"Financial institutions are being asked to manage more data, in more places, while maintaining control, resilience and compliance," Tanase said. "Modern storage platforms, such as Hitachi Vantara's Virtual Storage Platform One, feature block, object and file storage systems that can help organizations address that complexity by supporting scalable, governed and accessible data environments that serve both traditional retention needs and emerging AI-based demands, including data lakehouse architectures supported by open table formats and native S3 Tables capabilities."

Across the broader VSP One portfolio, Hitachi Vantara helps organizations bring block and object storage capabilities together as part of a secure, resilient data foundation for mission-critical applications, core data platforms and AI at scale.

Methodology
Hitachi Vantara commissioned FStech to assess evolving infrastructure and data management priorities among financial institutions. The study surveyed 100 global senior decision-makers across banking, payments and investment firms, spanning IT, data, security and AI leadership roles. The research explored object storage usage patterns, platform selection criteria, deployment models, data sovereignty considerations and the growing role of modern storage architectures in supporting analytics and AI initiatives.

For more information on how Hitachi Vantara is helping financial institutions build scalable, AI-ready data foundations, visit www.hitachivantara.com.

Additional Resources

• Report: How Financial Institutions Unlock More Value from Data with Object Storage
• Blog: The Gap Between AI Ambition and AI Readiness
• Webinar: Is Object Storage the New AI Foundation? (Spoiler: Yes.)
• Press Release: Hitachi Vantara Named a Leader in 2026 GigaOm Radar for Object Storage for Strength in Storage Optimization and Enterprise Scalability
• Analyst Report: 451 Research: Boost Resiliency and Performance for Modern Data Infrastructures
• Press Release: Hitachi Vantara Launches Virtual Storage Platform One Block High End Storage to Power the Next Era of AI and Mission-Critical Workloads
• Blog: Growing Our Platform, to Help You Grow Your Business

Connect With Hitachi Vantara 

• LinkedIn
• X
• Facebook
• Instagram

About Hitachi Vantara
Hitachi Vantara is transforming the way data fuels innovation. A wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd., Hitachi Vantara provides the data foundation the world's leading innovators rely on. Through data storage, infrastructure systems, cloud management and digital expertise, the company helps customers build the foundation for sustainable business growth. To learn more, visit www.hitachivantara.com. 

About Hitachi, Ltd.
Through its Social Innovation Business (SIB) that brings together IT, OT (Operational Technology) and products, Hitachi aims to be a global leader in continuously transforming social infrastructure through digital, contributing to a harmonized society where the environment, wellbeing, and economic growth are in balance. Hitachi operates worldwide across four sectors – Digital Systems & Services, Energy, Mobility, and Connective Industries – as well as a Strategic SIB Business Unit focused on new growth areas. With Lumada at its core, Hitachi creates value by combining data, technology and domain knowledge to solve customer and social challenges. Revenues for FY2025 (ended March 31, 2026) totaled 10,586.7 billion yen, with 606 consolidated subsidiaries and approximately 290,000 employees worldwide. Visit us at www.hitachi.com.

HITACHI is a trademark or registered trademark of Hitachi, Ltd. All other trademarks, service marks, and company names are properties of their respective owners.

SOURCE Hitachi Vantara