The new age of cloud: responding to a shifting paradigm

Cloud has evolved from a flexible IT backbone into the foundation of digital transformation, Artificial Intelligence innovation, and business resilience. But as the technology matures, new pressures – from geopolitics to regulation and rising costs – are forcing leaders to rethink how they use it.

PwC’s 2025 EMEA Cloud Business Survey explores how more than 1,400 business and technology leaders across 26 territories in Europe, the Middle East and Africa are navigating this reality – and what defines success in the next era of cloud.

Cloud adoption has reached critical mass, but maturity, governance, and value realisation still vary widely.

Across industries, organisations are moving beyond migration to focus on optimisation, sovereignty, and trust—all while preparing for agentic AI and the next generation of intelligent workloads.

The findings reveal a decisive shift: cloud is no longer just about scale and efficiency. It’s about resilience, accountability, and innovation at speed.

Geopolitics and regulation are redefining the rules of cloud. Governments are introducing localisation requirements, while new frameworks such as the EU AI Act, DORA, and NIS2 reshape compliance expectations.

In response, 82% of organisations are refining their cloud strategy to balance agility with control. Across EMEA, sovereign and trusted cloud models are gaining traction – turning sovereignty from a compliance obligation into a strategic differentiator.

Sovereignty is no longer just about compliance – it’s about resilience, trust, and innovation.

Infrastructure change is imminent: 94% of organisations plan to adjust and expand their cloud architecture and coverage, driven by scale, flexibility, and sovereignty.

Almost all organisations plan to adjust their architecture in the year ahead, and multi-cloud is already the norm. By combining public, private, and sovereign clouds, businesses can adapt faster, optimise performance, and access best-in-class services.

Sovereign and national clouds are growing rapidly – from Europe’s trusted local partners to the Middle East’s sovereign public cloud initiatives. The result: more flexibility, more competition, and stronger value across the ecosystem.

Companies that connect sovereignty with innovation will build cloud strategies that are both resilient and future-ready.

AI is no longer an add-on – it’s the engine of cloud innovation. Agentic AI is already driving cloud decisions: 86% of organisations say agentic AI capabilities are decisive for provider selection – yet only 29% are scaling it.

Agentic AI transforms cloud from infrastructure into intelligence, enabling systems to act, adapt, and learn autonomously. Cloud provides the compute, scale, and reach these capabilities require – making it the true engine room of AI-driven transformation. 

Organisations that link AI investment directly to cloud strategy will define the next wave of digital advantage.

The promise of cloud is agility – but discipline defines value.

FinOps has become the go-to framework for aligning financial accountability with performance. Yet maturity remains low: only 1 in 10 organisations have fully integrated advanced practices.

Embedding FinOps into the cloud operating model helps turn spend into a predictable, value-driven investment – and ensures that innovation scales sustainably.

Cloud is entering a new era – one defined by sovereignty, trust, and intelligent automation. The winners will be those who combine governance with innovation and resilience with speed.

To turn ambition into advantage, organisations should:

• Treat cloud as a strategic platform, not just infrastructure.
• Embed FinOps and governance to keep agility under control.
• Integrate AI responsibly to unlock the next wave of value.
• Strengthen sovereignty and trust to ensure compliance and resilience.