AI’s Impact on Enterprise Operations: Key Findings from F5 Report

Singapore, 21 May 2025 – Artificial intelligence (AI) is fast becoming a central force in enterprise operations. According to F5’s 2025 State of Application Strategy (SOAS) Report, 96 percent of IT decision-makers globally have implemented AI models, compared to just 25 percent a year ago. This marks a significant shift from experimentation to practical integration.

The study reveals growing confidence in AI’s ability to deliver tangible value. Nearly three-quarters of respondents (72 percent) are applying AI to improve application performance, while 59 percent are using it to reduce costs and inject security rules that help prevent zero-day attacks.

AI gateways are also gaining adoption. Half of the surveyed organisations have already implemented these gateways to link applications with AI tools, with another 40 percent planning to follow suit within the next year. Key use cases include managing AI models (62 percent), centralised control (55 percent), and protection against sensitive data leaks (55 percent).

“This year’s SOAS Report shows that IT decision makers are becoming confident about embedding AI into ops,” said Lori MacVittie, F5 Distinguished Engineer. “We are fast moving to a point where AI will be trusted to operate autonomously at the heart of an organization, generating and deploying code that helps to cut costs, boost efficiency, and mitigate security problems. That is what we mean when we talk about AIOps, and it is now becoming a reality.”

Security and Skills Top List of Ongoing AI Challenges

Despite the fast uptake, security remains a top concern. For those currently using AI models, protecting them is the number one issue.

Many organisations still feel unprepared for full-scale AI deployment. Around 60 percent report being held back by manual workflows, and 54 percent cite skill shortages as a major barrier. Costs are also rising. Nearly half (48 percent) say the expense of building and maintaining AI workloads is a problem, up from 42 percent in 2024.

The data challenge is multifaceted. A greater number of organisations report lacking scalable data practices, with 39 percent acknowledging this gap compared to 33 percent last year. Meanwhile, 34 percent expressed concern about trusting AI outputs due to bias or hallucination. There is some progress on data quality, however, with fewer respondents flagging it as a concern—48 percent, down from 56 percent in the previous year.

API Complexity Slows Automation Efforts

API-related issues are emerging as a major hurdle. A total of 58 percent of organisations now find APIs to be a point of friction, especially when dealing with various languages and configurations.

The most time-intensive tasks include managing vendor APIs (31 percent), creating custom scripts (29 percent), and integrating with systems such as ticketing tools (23 percent).

“Organizations need to focus on the simplification and standardization of operations, including streamlining APIs, technologies, and tasks,” said MacVittie. “They should also recognize that AI systems are themselves well-suited to handle complexity autonomously by generating and deploying policies or solving workflow issues. Operational simplicity is not just something on which AI is going to rely, but which it will itself help to deliver.”

Hybrid Cloud Adoption Expands Alongside AI Initiatives

The move to hybrid cloud is accelerating in tandem with AI investments. According to the report, 94 percent of organisations now run applications across a combination of environments. These include public and private clouds, on-premises data centres, edge computing setups, and colocation facilities.

The primary appeal is flexibility. Ninety-one percent of IT leaders cite responsiveness to changing business needs as the top advantage. This is followed by improved application resilience (68 percent) and cost optimisation (59 percent).

Deployment of AI workloads is also increasingly hybrid. More than half (51 percent) of respondents plan to run models across both cloud and on-premises systems. Notably, 79 percent have recently moved at least one application from public cloud back to private or colocation environments. This reflects a desire for greater control, reduced costs, and enhanced predictability, a dramatic rise from only 13 percent four years ago.

Still, the hybrid model presents challenges. Inconsistent delivery policies were highlighted by 53 percent of respondents, and fragmented security strategies by 47 percent.

“While spreading applications across different environments and cloud providers can bring challenges, the benefits of being cloud-agnostic are too great to ignore. It has never been clearer that the hybrid approach to app deployment is here to stay,” said Cindy Borovick, Director of Market and Competitive Intelligence, F5.

Asia Pacific Trends: AI Gateways and Infrastructure Challenges

In the Asia Pacific, China and Japan (APCJ) region, the uptake of AI gateways is robust. Forty-nine percent of organisations are already using them, with another 46 percent expected to adopt within the year. The most common uses include securing and managing AI models (66 percent), preventing data leaks (61 percent), and monitoring application demand (61 percent).

However, regional organisations still face barriers. Over half (53 percent) struggle with immature data quality, and 45 percent are discouraged by the high cost of AI workloads. Hybrid environments add further complexity. Seventy-nine percent cite inconsistent security policies, 59 percent experience irregular app delivery, and 16 percent face broader operational issues.

Building the Foundation for Programmable, AI-Driven IT

The report concludes with a clear message: success with AI will depend on programmable IT environments. By automating application delivery and security processes, organisations can scale AI more effectively.

F5 anticipates a shift by 2026 from task-specific AI to platforms capable of orchestrating full workflows. These systems, equipped with natural language interfaces, will reduce the need for traditional consoles and enable IT to run more fluidly.

“Flexibility and automation are no longer optional—they are critical for navigating complexity and driving transformation at scale,” Borovick emphasized. “Organizations that establish programmable foundations will not only enhance AI’s potential but create IT strategies capable of scaling, adapting, and delivering exceptional customer experiences in the modern age.”