AI innovation is nonstop. Your cloud foundation should be too.

AI innovation is accelerating at a relentless pace, and organizations that fail to modernize their cloud infrastructure will be left behind. This Accenture report, built on the analysis of 216 corporate cloud environments, executive interviews and thousands of real-world projects, provides a strategic roadmap for building the technology foundation needed to sustain AI at scale.

The starting point is stark: 59% of enterprise workloads remain on legacy or on-premises systems, and only 8% of organizations dedicate their cloud to experimenting with advanced technologies. At the same time, 86% of C-suite leaders plan to increase AI investment in 2026, creating a critical gap between ambition and actual technical capability.

The report redefines cloud: no longer a migration destination, but an adaptable digital core that integrates data, AI models and operations as a unified system. This foundation spans public, private, hybrid, multi-cloud, sovereign and edge environments, and must embed governance, security and observability by design.

To guide action, Accenture identifies three maturity profiles and their paths forward. Stabilizers (around 60% of companies) are held back by legacy systems, limited automation and cloud strategies disconnected from business goals; their priority is rebuilding trust in cloud by unlocking cost and capacity. Optimizers (roughly a third) have completed their migrations but operate in continuity mode, without repeatable innovation or real data-AI integration; they must break free from incrementalism and turn their stable base into an innovation engine. Innovators (the remaining 8%) are already experimenting with AI at scale, but still face challenges around real-time data integration and full automation; their next step is to reinvent core business processes with AI embedded in the workflow.

The report details the cost of inaction—strategy-execution gaps, innovation lockout, structural cost inefficiency, data bottlenecks and cybersecurity exposure—and provides concrete actions for each profile, illustrated with real cases from companies such as BBVA, Eneva and Essity.

Aimed at the entire C-suite—CEOs, CIOs, CFOs, CHROs and supply chain leaders—the report makes clear that cloud transformation is no longer an IT matter alone: it is a strategic decision that defines an organization's competitive capacity in the age of AI.

Key points

• Cloud is no longer a migration destination: it is the foundation for scaling AI across the enterprise.
• Only 8% of organizations have their cloud ready for advanced technologies.
• 59% of workloads remain on legacy or on-premises systems.
• 86% of the C-suite will increase AI investment in 2026, but infrastructure is not ready.
• Inaction generates technical debt, data gaps and greater exposure to cyberattacks.
• Modern cloud integrates public, private, hybrid, multi-cloud, sovereign and edge environments.
• Accenture defines three maturity profiles: Stabilizers, Optimizers and Innovators, with specific actions for each.
• Stabilizers must free up cost and capacity to rebuild trust in cloud.
• Optimizers must shift from continuity mode to repeatable AI-driven innovation.
• Innovators must embed AI into core business processes to generate new revenue and competitive advantage.
• Cloud transformation is a decision for the entire leadership team, not just IT.