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80% of IT leaders reported that expectations from senior leaders have grown in the past 12 months, and only 38% believe their current systems are fully equipped to handle the new demands
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – January 20, 2026 – Netskope (NASDAQ: NTSK), a leader in modern security and networking for the cloud and AI era, has today published new research revealing that only a minority (38%) of infrastructure and operations (I&O) leaders interviewed believe their existing infrastructure can handle the new demands of AI, and even fewer (18%) are completely confident they have the team and budget to meet the performance, resilience, and security expectations of their organization in the AI era.
Researchers interviewed global I&O leaders, aiming to discover how well integrated IT activities were to broader business plans. They discovered that senior leadership and their technology teams need to align more effectively in order to overcome potentially significant operational hurdles when upgrading infrastructure for AI demands:
- Soaring expectations: Four in five I&O leaders (80%) believed their organization’s IT infrastructure to be central to delivering core business goals, and the same number (80%) have seen expectations from senior leaders rise in the last 12 months. 83% of I&O leaders feel that expectations on them have personally intensified.
- The alignment disconnect: Nearly two-thirds (63%) of I&O respondents felt far removed from the strategic conversations that shape IT decisions, and 20% admitted they lack a clear understanding of their CEO’s or CIO’s objectives. 37% describe their role and function as “reactive”.
- Mutual barriers: 61% reported their CEO’s feelings of frustration when IT infrastructure isn’t as transparent or easy to understand as he or she would like.
- Misaligned KPI prioritization and attainability: I&O leaders believe senior leadership to be most interested in security, visibility, and cost, and less inclined to discuss resilience or performance. Majorities believed C-suite expectations around performance (55%), resilience (58%), and security (59%) were unrealistic given their current systems, and they felt least able to affect control over security and performance.
- Reactive approaches: 60% of I&O leaders believe that their organization had a defensive ‘if it ain’t broke’ mindset when it comes to investing in IT infrastructure and operations.
While the promise of AI undoubtedly dominates C-suite conversations around digital transformation and growth (and is perhaps key in driving 65% of I&O leaders to believe that IT infrastructure is more important in the running of their organization today than ever before) AI enablement has not necessarily been the priority for I&O teams. In fact, more long running challenges topped the priority list for I&O leaders, including improving the security and performance of remote access technologies (43%), and improving visibility into network operations and performance (35%) which both outrank work to support the organization’s adoption of AI (34%).
Mike Anderson, Chief Digital and Information Officer at Netskope commented on the findings; “AI has increased demand on enterprise infrastructure at a pace that legacy systems were never built to support. Our research shows that this strain has been amplified by a widening communication gap inside organizations. Senior leaders want clearer insight into the resilience and readiness of their IT environments, while I&O teams are under growing pressure to deliver performance, security, and reliability with limited resources. The way forward begins with translating infrastructure decisions into business terms so leadership can see how modernization reduces risk, improves agility, and prepares the organization for safe and effective AI adoption. When IT and the C-suite share this understanding, infrastructure becomes a strategic advantage rather than a constraint.”
The research offers five recommendations for I&O leaders to forge stronger connections with the C-suite:
- Translate infrastructure decisions into business outcomes (e.g., talk about agility and risk reduction, not just technology terms like “ZTNA roll-out”).
- Engage earlier and more actively in strategic planning to design infrastructure for the future.
- Advocate for architectural simplicity and consolidation to move away from reactive ‘Band-Aid’ fixes.
- Create ongoing visibility for senior leaders with transparent reporting that demystifies the “black box” of the IT estate.
- Position I&O as an enabler of safe, fast AI adoption to reduce C-level anxiety and build trust.
To learn more, download the research report, Crucial Conversations: Line of Sight, here.
About Netskope
Netskope (NASDAQ: NTSK), a leader in modern security and networking for the cloud and AI era, addresses the needs of both security and networking teams by providing optimized access and real-time, context-based security for people, devices, and data anywhere they go. Thousands of customers, including more than 30% of the Fortune 100, trust the Netskope One platform, its Zero Trust Engine, and its powerful NewEdge network to reduce risk and gain full visibility and control over cloud, AI, SaaS, web, and private applications—providing security and accelerating performance without trade-offs.
Learn more at netskope.com, on LinkedIn, and on Instagram.
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