Western Digital points to rising need for scalable AI data storage

A Western Digital study of global enterprises shows growing preference for reliable, scalable and cost-efficient storage systems as AI workloads expand, with HDD-based infrastructure continuing to dominate large-scale data retention strategies worldwide.

As artificial intelligence moves into large-scale production environments, data storage is emerging as a challenge equal in importance to computing power. Western Digital Corporation highlights that enterprises are increasingly focused on building infrastructure capable of handling rapidly growing and continuously generated AI data.

The company notes that while compute resources are often reused across training and inference cycles, AI-generated data—such as training datasets, logs, embeddings and outputs—keeps accumulating. This shift is driving a stronger focus on long-term data retention and sustainable infrastructure planning, especially as organisations move beyond experimentation into full-scale AI deployment.

Reliability, scale and cost take priority in AI systems

According to insights from a global customer and distributor study, 66% of respondents are prioritising proven and stable infrastructure over adopting new but untested technologies. The preference reflects a growing need for predictable performance as AI systems scale.

Reliability and workload support have emerged as top priorities, with 69% of respondents focusing on AI training and inference performance as well as system availability. At the same time, latency optimisation is becoming less critical, with only 7% ranking it as a priority compared to scalability and operational efficiency.

Capacity expansion is also a major factor shaping investment decisions, with 87% of enterprises prioritising storage growth and total cost of ownership optimisation. The findings indicate a broader shift toward infrastructure designed for sustained AI operations rather than short-term performance gains.

HDD remains central to large-scale AI data storage

The study also highlights the continued importance of hard disk drives (HDDs) in enterprise storage strategies. Around 70% of respondents reported operating predominantly HDD-based environments, while 35% said HDDs account for more than three-quarters of their total storage capacity.

Enterprises continue to view HDDs as a cost-effective solution for managing large-scale and long-duration data storage needs. Industry voices cited in the study emphasise that HDDs remain relevant due to their scalability and lower cost per terabyte, particularly for bulk storage applications in AI-driven environments.

Experts from Western Digital underline that AI infrastructure is evolving into a continuous data system rather than a purely compute-driven model. The emphasis, they note, is shifting toward building long-term, scalable storage architectures that can support sustained AI data growth over time.