More than half of Japanese companies plan to increase AI‑related infrastructure budgets, according to the 2026 Wasabi Global Cloud Storage Index. The survey of 250 Japanese respondents highlights a shift toward data, storage, and compute spending, a strong preference for hybrid storage, and persistent challenges with cloud storage fees and security.
AI Infrastructure Budgets Rise in Japan
The Index reports that 64% of Japanese respondents intend to raise their AI infrastructure budgets, while 35% will keep them unchanged. Only 0% said they would cut spending. Across the same cohort, roughly two‑thirds of AI budgets (67%) are allocated to data, storage, and processing power, with the remaining 33% directed to AI software or SaaS solutions.
Andrew Smith, director of strategy and market intelligence at Wasabi Technologies, noted that “emerging AI workloads and initiatives are actually changing” the traditional dominance of SaaS in public‑cloud revenue, emphasizing the growing importance of storage and infrastructure for AI projects.
Hybrid Storage Preferred for AI Workloads
Sixty‑one percent of Japanese respondents use hybrid storage—combining on‑premises and public‑cloud resources—to support AI workflows. The survey identified two AI pipeline stages where public‑cloud storage is most commonly employed: data retrieval/ingest and aggregation, and model retention/archiving. These “bookend” steps suggest organizations rely on the cloud for both ingesting large datasets and preserving trained models.
Dave Friend, founder and CEO of Wasabi Technologies, said that cost‑efficient, reliable storage is essential to keep AI data high‑quality and budgets in line as initiatives scale.
Fee Structures Keep Cloud Storage Costs High
For the fourth consecutive year, the Index found that 51% of Japanese user spending is devoted to storage fees rather than capacity. Budget overruns remain common: 49% of respondents in Japan reported exceeding their 2025 cloud‑storage budgets, with 93% citing at least one fee‑related cause. The fee‑heavy pricing model is attributed to increased storage usage, data growth, and migration of applications to the cloud.
Key Takeaways
- 64% of Japanese firms plan to increase AI infrastructure budgets, while 0% intend to cut them.
- 67% of AI spend in Japan is allocated to data, storage, and compute, leaving 33% for software/SaaS.
- 51% of Japanese cloud‑storage spending goes to fees, and 49% exceeded their 2025 storage budgets.
TechInsyte's Take
The data confirms that Japanese enterprises view AI infrastructure—not SaaS—as the primary cost driver, prompting broader hybrid‑storage strategies. However, persistent fee complexity and budget overruns signal that storage pricing models remain a pain point. CIOs and cloud leaders should scrutinize fee structures and evaluate hybrid approaches that balance performance, cost, and security as AI workloads expand.
Source: Businesswire
