AI, networking and the road to real transformation
Matthew Jones
Director of Operations
Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping how global enterprises operate, compete, and grow. But amid all the excitement, one critical truth often gets overlooked: real transformation doesn’t start with algorithms. It starts with infrastructure. AI and networking have come out as a critical roadblock for many enterprises’ transformation plans.
The IDC InfoBrief, sponsored by Expereo, Enterprise Horizons 2025, Technology Leaders Priorities: Achieving Digital Agility has uncovered the true state of AI and networking by surveying 650 global technology leaders, and there’s still a long way to go to realize the full potential of AI.
According to this year’s survey, 84% of enterprises are already using AI and the conversation has shifted. This is no longer about if AI will shape business priorities. It’s about how networking for AI needs to evolve.
The disconnect between AI strategy and infrastructure reality
This year’s InfoBrief reveals that 87% of IT leaders believe AI will be critical or important to fulfilling their business goals in the next 12 months. But a shocking 94% of companies say their networks limit their ability to run large data/AI projects in some way. It’s exposed that almost all enterprises still don’t have the high-performance, scalable, and resilient connectivity needed to truly enable it.
Over half (52%) admit that their current connectivity infrastructure either isn’t capable or will require upgrades to support upcoming technology initiatives (including AI, cloud, and data strategies). The top network inhibitors of AI found in this year’s InfoBrief were:
- Networks not able to scale up/down flexibly: 46%
- Network performance issues (app responsiveness, latency, etc.): 45%
- Lack of bandwidth for large data transfers: 33%
- Inadequate cloud connectivity: 26%
This is where transformation efforts are impacted. The business case for AI is clear, the ambition is there, the board is bought in. But the network isn’t there yet.
Download the IDC InfoBrief, sponsored by Expereo, Enterprise Horizons 2025, Technology Leaders Priorities: Achieving Digital Agility
Uncover how 650 global IT leaders are building AI-ready networks that deliver real-world results.
AI is the destination, network connectivity needs to be the road
When enterprise leaders consider the impact of AI on business, most focus on outcomes: improved productivity, better decision-making, cost reduction. And the benefits are already measurable. This year’s InfoBrief found that 66% of enterprises report that AI is already having a positive impact on costs.
But what’s less discussed is the importance of networking for AI workloads. Training models, deploying them at the edge, ensuring they perform across global operations all depend on agile, resilient infrastructure.
AI doesn’t function in isolation. It requires vast amounts of data to move securely and efficiently between endpoints, clouds, and data centers. This means your AI implementation must be closely aligned with your network architecture. Otherwise, you risk building intelligence on a foundation that can’t support it.
And that risk is growing. Nearly a third (28%) of leaders say expectations for AI are increasing faster than their ability to meet them.
Rethinking your network for the AI era
Most enterprises’ networks were designed for traditional traffic, not the massive amounts of AI data usage we’re seeing. To fully support AI at enterprise scale, networks must evolve across several areas:
- Reach: Consistent, high-quality connectivity across regions, cloud providers, and edge environments.
- Scalability: Flexible bandwidth to handle data surges without compromising performance or user experience for applications.
- Resilience: Always-on connectivity with built-in redundancy and self-healing capabilities to keep AI services uninterrupted.
- Visibility: Deep, real-time insight into network health and traffic to enable proactive optimization.
Finding a strategic partner for an AI-driven future
The most advanced AI model in the world is useless if it can’t run where, when, and how your business needs it to.
That means working with a provider who understands not only how networks function, but how they must evolve to support the realities of AI. One who can help you navigate complexity, maintain compliance, and deliver application performance everywhere you need it.
Interestingly, the IDC InfoBrief, sponsored by Expereo, Enterprise Horizons 2025, Technology Leaders Priorities: Achieving Digital Agility found that45% of technology leaders were turning to external partners, like managed service providers, for networking support.
We’re seeing an increase in requests from our own customers for increased bandwidth and support with making their networks completely AI-ready. Expereo’s range of connectivity solutions can be brought together to create a tailored network strategy able to handle the needs of your AI plans today while being scalable and agile to the needs of tomorrow.
Expereo addresses the critical need for resilience with Enhanced Internet, Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite connectivity:
- Enhanced Internet ensures application traffic is always routed via the best-performing path.
- FWA and LEO serve as instant failover options so operations remain online even when fixed-line connections fail.
For scalability, Expereo’s SD-WAN dynamically allocates bandwidth, allowing AI workloads to scale up or down without latency or service degradation.
When it comes to visibility, the expereoOne platform delivers a real-time view of your network’s health, enabling teams to monitor data usage site-by-site and make proactive adjustments.
And to ensure global reach, Expereo combines Global Internet with local expertise and access diversity through FWA and LEO, enabling highly-redundant connectivity that keeps applications performing reliably across every region. All enabled by local-language support and 24/7 customer service.
Prepare your connectivity for AI with Expereo
It’s clear that a successful AI implementation strategy must be closely aligned with your network architecture transformation. When you work with Expereo, you get a consultative partner who can guide you on the exact AI and networking transformation you need to achieve your ultimate AI business goals. Whether that means scaling bandwidth, enhancing application performance, or adding resilience to your network.
Get in touch today to discuss how we can design, build and run a network that can support your current and future AI goals.