Every so often the news cycle lines up in a way that feels less like “three separate stories” and more like different camera angles on the same problem. Over the last few days we have seen fresh numbers on AI adoption inside European businesses, more commentary on how cybersecurity is crossing its own AI turning point, and continued pressure on the infrastructure decisions sitting underneath all of that.[1][2][3] If you are planning platforms with Hammer or selling into enterprise and mid market customers, these threads are already shaping the questions that land in your inbox.
AI adoption in EU enterprises is no longer a side project
According to recent figures linked to Eurostat’s work on digital transformation, around 20 percent of EU enterprises with at least ten employees are now using some form of AI technology. That is up sharply from roughly 13 to 14 percent a year earlier, and the growth is not confined to one sector. Companies are applying AI to analytics, customer interaction and process automation rather than treating it as a lab experiment on the edge of the business.[1]
For teams working with Hammer that shift shows up in quite practical ways. Requests that used to be framed as “we need a new server cluster” now arrive with questions about AI assisted workloads, GPU options, memory footprints and how all of that ties into storage and networking. Being able to lean on Hammer’s servers and AI technologies makes those conversations easier to land. You can align customers on whether they really need accelerated platforms for their use case or whether a well specified x86 design, paired with the right storage and network, will carry them further than they expect.
Behind the scenes, that also nudges refresh discussions away from purely speeds and feeds and into how ready the environment is to absorb more AI quietly over the next eighteen to twenty four months. That is where having a consistent view of Hammer’s server and compute portfolio becomes an advantage rather than just a catalogue.
Cybersecurity is adjusting to an AI heavy landscape
On the security side, commentary this month has described 2025 as the year cybersecurity finally “crossed the AI Rubicon”, with defenders and attackers alike leaning into AI for automation, targeting and evasion.[2] Security leaders are being pushed to think less about individual tools and more about how AI changes the tempo of attacks and the volume of alerts their teams need to deal with.
For partners, that does not just mean talking about software. The physical and logical layout of infrastructure starts to matter more. Segmented networks, dedicated management planes and resilient paths for logging and telemetry are suddenly part of the security story rather than an afterthought. When you can connect those needs to concrete building blocks from Hammer’s networking range and the broader infrastructure portfolio, you move from abstract “zero trust” conversations into specific designs. That might be as simple as recommending more considered top of rack switching today, or as involved as planning out separate network paths for security tooling on the next refresh.
The important point is that cyber discussions are increasingly tied to how the underlying infrastructure is shaped. Partners who can talk credibly about both at once are the ones who tend to get invited in earlier.
Infrastructure and storage feel the strain of quiet AI growth
Underneath adoption statistics and security headlines sits a more familiar story about capacity. Recent market analysis from firms like TrendForce has highlighted how AI related workloads are helping to drive demand for high performance storage, particularly enterprise SSDs, after a period of pricing adjustment and supply cuts.[3][4] Even when there is no single dramatic event, the direction of travel is clear. More data, more reads and writes, and more expectation that systems will feel responsive regardless of how complex the workload has become.
In day to day work with customers, that often turns into a balancing act. They want the performance profile of fast flash, but they also want cost behaviour that looks more like traditional disk. This is exactly where Hammer’s heritage in enterprise data storage solutions and enterprise components becomes useful. You can help customers shape storage tiers that match their actual use cases, placing latency sensitive AI and analytics workloads on suitable SSD platforms while moving long lived or low touch data onto capacity optimised drives. The end result is usually a design that feels more measured than “all flash everywhere” but still feels quick enough for real users.
At the same time, the physical side of infrastructure has to carry that load. Power, cooling and space constraints do not disappear just because AI is exciting. Being able to lean on proven platform choices from Hammer’s infrastructure and servers and AI technologies ranges helps ensure that ambitious plans still fit inside real world data centres and comms rooms.
What this means for your 2026 planning
Looked at together, these strands tell a simple story. AI use inside European enterprises is growing steadily, security thinking is catching up with what that means in practice and the infrastructure stack beneath everything is being asked to carry more weight without unlimited budget.[1][2][3]
For enterprises, MSPs and partners working with Hammer, this week is a useful reminder to check which assumptions might have quietly expired. Capacity, resilience and performance targets that felt ambitious a year ago may now represent the minimum customers expect. Reviewing server choices, storage tiers, network design and physical infrastructure through that lens, and mapping them to the options available through Hammer’s product families, can make 2026 plans feel more realistic and less reactive.
For more detail on Hammer’s ranges and how they fit together in real environments, visit www.hammerdistribution.com.
References
- European Newsroom summarising Eurostat findings on “20% of EU enterprises use AI technologies” (Dec 2025)
- GovTech – “2025: The Year Cybersecurity Crossed the AI Rubicon”
- IDC – Worldwide AI infrastructure and spending outlook (2025–2029)
- TrendForce – “AI demand fuels enterprise SSD growth; NAND market outlook”