F5 Research Finds Most Enterprises Still Fall Short in AI Readiness, Face Security and Governance Issues Blocking Scalability

• F5’s 2025 State of AI Application Strategy Report reveals 25% of apps on average use AI, yet only 2% of enterprises qualify as being highly AI-ready.
  
• 77% of companies are moderately ready for AI but still face significant security and governance hurdles.
• 71% of organizations use AI to boost security, while only 31% have deployed AI firewalls.

SEATTLE – F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV), the global leader in delivering and securing every app and API, today unveiled its 2025 State of AI Application Strategy Report, revealing that only 2% of global organizations are highly ready to scale AI securely across operations. The report compiles insights from 650 global IT leaders and additional research with 150 AI strategists, representing organizations with at least $200 million in annual revenue.

The report unveils stark truths about the state of AI readiness for enterprises today and their ability to adapt at sufficient speeds to keep pace with new innovations. The most notable findings of the report reveal that while 77% of companies demonstrate moderate AI readiness, most lack robust governance and cross-cloud security, exposing them to risks. Meanwhile, 21% of companies fall into the low-readiness category, limiting their competitive edge as AI transforms industries.

F5’s research reveals trends illustrating the rapid expansion of AI use by today’s enterprises. All told, 70% of moderately ready organizations have generative AI in active use, and virtually everyone else is working on it. Additionally, 25% of apps, on average, use AI. Highly ready organizations typically use AI in a much higher percentage, with portfolio-wide saturation expected. Low-readiness organizations use AI in less than one-quarter of their apps, typically in siloed or experimental settings. Moderately ready organizations currently have AI present in about one-third of applications. 

The report provides a snapshot of the latest trends in enterprises grappling with embracing AI. Nearly two-thirds of survey respondents (65%) use two or more paid models and at least one open-source model. The average organization uses three models, and the use of multiple models correlates with deployment in more than one environment or location. The majority of models in use today are paid models such as GPT-4, but open-source alternatives are also popular. The top open-source models cited are Meta’s Llama variants, Mistral AI variants, and Google’s Gemma. 

“As AI becomes core to business strategy, readiness requires more than experimentation—it demands security, scalability, and alignment,” said John Maddison, Chief Product and Corporate Marketing Officer at F5. “This report highlights actionable steps for organizations to operationalize AI with confidence. AI is already transforming security operations, but without mature governance and purpose-built protections, enterprises risk amplifying threats.”

Cybersecurity Challenges in AI Adoption

The report highlights critical cybersecurity issues as organizations scale AI capabilities, revealing concerning trends about enterprises’ ability to tackle the complexity of securing AI workloads. Key cybersecurity trends identified in the report include:

• Organizations see AI as a viable cybersecurity asset: 71% of all respondents already use AI to augment security.
• AI-specific protections are lacking: Only 18% of moderately ready organizations have deployed an AI firewall, with 47% aiming to have done so within a year.
• Data governance weaknesses: Just 24% of organizations practice continuous data labeling, indicating reduced transparency and increased risks of adversarial attacks.
• Cross-cloud inconsistencies: Hybrid environments create governance gaps, leaving workflows and data exposed to vulnerabilities.
• Expanded attack surface: The use of diverse AI models exacerbates risks without proper control frameworks for open-source tools.

Recommendations to Improve AI Readiness

The report introduces the AI Readiness Index, a framework measuring six factors of operational maturity, including security and infrastructure alignment. F5 outlines key actions for enterprises to enhance AI scalability and security, including:

• Diversify AI models: Use both paid and open-source AI tools while improving governance to mitigate risks.
• Expand AI use across workflows: Move beyond pilots and embed AI in operations, analytics, and security for enterprise-wide transformation.
• Integrate AI-specific security: Deploy protections like AI firewalls and formalize data governance processes, including data labeling, to safeguard workflows.

Organizations with high AI readiness can scale effectively, mitigate risks, and leverage innovation strategically. Those without maturity frameworks face operational bottlenecks, compliance challenges, and stifled growth. The AI Readiness Index serves as a roadmap for enterprises to benchmark progress and implement actionable changes for secure scalability. Download the 2025 State of AI Application Strategy Report to benchmark your readiness, identify gaps, and accelerate secure AI scaling.

Supporting Materials

• Blog: The State of AI Readiness: Moving from Ambition to Architecture
• Blog: Accelerate AI: An In-Depth Look at Industry-Leading AI Innovation from F5
• Resource: Accelerate AI Details