Forrester Predicts Shifts In AI Infrastructure Demands
Enterprises will seek alternative AI accelerators to reduce costs and mitigate risks, according to Forrester. This shift will impact infrastructure investments and workload management.
Original reporting · forrester.com
Original: “Predictions 2027: Prepare For New Infrastructure Demands”
Read “Predictions 2027: Prepare For New Infrastructure Demands” at Forrester →
How this was written. Voyager Commercial wrote this article with a language model from Forrester’s reporting (model: @cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast); it describes that reporting rather than adding to it. The original, linked above, is the full story.
Key points from Forrester’s report
- Enterprises will seek alternative AI accelerators to reduce costs and mitigate risks.
- The demand for private AI infrastructure will increase, driven by the need for dedicated infrastructure to support sensitive and high-volume workloads.
- Infrastructure investments will shift towards industry-specific edge devices to address latency and connectivity challenges.
- AI will become a standard part of infrastructure and operations, requiring more distributed and adaptable infrastructure.
- Technology leaders must make decisions about where workloads are run and how to keep infrastructure resilient in changing conditions.
Forrester reported that a significant portion of companies will require non-traditional accelerator options for their AI infrastructure. This change is driven by the need to reduce costs and minimize supply chain and geopolitical risks. As a result, companies will likely segment their workloads across different accelerator types based on specific requirements.
The demand for private AI infrastructure is expected to increase, with a significant percentage of large enterprises building their own infrastructure for inference workloads. This is due to the growing need for dedicated infrastructure to support sensitive and high-volume workloads. Rising costs and complex workflows will further drive this demand.
Infrastructure investments are expected to shift towards industry-specific edge devices, with organizations in various industries running AI workloads and analytics at the edge. This will help address latency, resiliency, and connectivity challenges in environments such as factories and hospitals. Small language models and domain-specific AI models will be deployed on operational technology devices to improve efficiency.
According to Forrester, AI will become a standard part of infrastructure and operations, requiring more distributed, specialized, and adaptable infrastructure. Technology leaders must make decisions about where workloads are run and how to keep infrastructure resilient in changing business and geopolitical conditions.
Forrester's Predictions 2027 report provides a deeper dive into these trends, including the growth of context infrastructure initiatives and agent portfolio rationalization. The report is available to Forrester clients, who can also explore additional research on the Predictions 2027 hub.
The integration of AI into infrastructure and operations will require significant changes in how companies manage their workloads and infrastructure. Forrester's research provides guidance for technology leaders navigating these changes and balancing control with adaptation.
As AI transforms various industries, including retail and manufacturing, companies must balance the need for control with the need for adaptation. Forrester's Predictions 2027 guides, blogs, and webinars provide insights into what this requires and how companies can prepare for the changes ahead.
Questions and answers
What is driving the demand for alternative AI accelerators?
The need to reduce costs and mitigate supply chain and geopolitical risks is driving the demand for alternative AI accelerators.
What will happen to infrastructure investments in the next year?
Infrastructure investments are expected to shift towards industry-specific edge devices to address latency and connectivity challenges.
How will AI impact infrastructure and operations?
AI will become a standard part of infrastructure and operations, requiring more distributed, specialized, and adaptable infrastructure.
