Curated News
By: NewsRamp Editorial Staff
August 28, 2025
CTERA Survey: Cybersecurity Top Priority as AI Ambitions Outpace Readiness
TLDR
- CTERA's survey reveals AI as a 2025 priority for 57% of leaders, offering competitive advantages through enhanced customer experience and predictive intelligence.
- CTERA's report details AI deployment stages with 70% partial implementation and 27% in pilot phases, while identifying compliance and security as primary hurdles.
- CTERA's findings on ransomware resilience and AI integration help organizations protect critical data and build more secure digital infrastructures for society.
- Every organization surveyed experienced ransomware attacks in two years, with 17% suffering permanent data loss despite growing cybersecurity awareness.
Impact - Why it Matters
This report matters because it reveals critical vulnerabilities in enterprise data protection while highlighting the rapid but potentially risky push toward AI adoption. The finding that every organization surveyed experienced ransomware attacks in the past two years underscores the pervasive threat facing businesses of all sizes. For readers, this means their employers, clients, or investments may be at risk of data loss, financial damage from ransom payments, or operational disruption. The disconnect between AI ambitions and organizational readiness suggests many companies may be rushing into AI implementation without proper safeguards, potentially exposing sensitive data or facing compliance issues. The strong leadership preference for cloud strategies indicates a fundamental shift in how businesses manage data, which could affect job roles, security protocols, and technology investments across industries. Understanding these trends helps professionals anticipate market shifts, assess organizational risks, and make informed decisions about technology adoption and cybersecurity investments.
Summary
CTERA, the leader in Integrated Data Intelligence, has released its comprehensive 2025 State of Data and Cloud Strategy Survey Report, revealing critical insights about enterprise priorities and challenges. The survey of 300 senior IT and security leaders across global regions shows that while cybersecurity remains the top priority for 80% of organizations, AI adoption is gaining significant momentum with 57% prioritizing it for the coming year. However, the report exposes a troubling reality about ransomware threats - every organization surveyed experienced an attack within the past two years, with 17% suffering permanent data loss and 10% paying ransoms, highlighting widespread vulnerability despite growing awareness.
The CTERA report uncovers a significant disconnect between AI ambitions and organizational readiness. While 70% of organizations report partial deployment of AI-based assistants and 27% are in pilot phases, only 10% are focused on closing the skills gaps needed to achieve their AI goals. Organizations face substantial hurdles in AI deployment, with 67% citing compliance and regulatory concerns as the biggest challenge, followed by security risks (57%), data silos limiting AI access (45%), and implementation costs (44%). The survey also reveals strong leadership support for cloud-first strategies, with 61% prioritizing cloud technologies over private data centers, though this enthusiasm decreases at lower organizational levels.
Cheryle Cushion, SVP Marketing at CTERA, emphasized that enterprises are navigating complex IT priorities while balancing immediate cybersecurity needs with forward-thinking AI strategies. The company's Intelligent Data Platform positions itself as a solution for ransomware resilience, streamlined cloud storage deployment, and seamless cloud migration. For those interested in deeper insights, the full 2025 State of Data and Cloud Strategy Survey Report is available for download, providing comprehensive data and analysis that can help organizations better align their strategic planning with operational execution in an increasingly complex digital landscape.
Source Statement
This curated news summary relied on content disributed by citybiz. Read the original source here, CTERA Survey: Cybersecurity Top Priority as AI Ambitions Outpace Readiness
