Data Streaming Goes Mainstream: 90% of IT Leaders to Increase DSP Investment in 2025, Says Confluent Report
In a world racing toward real-time intelligence, data streaming platforms (DSPs) have officially moved from “nice to have” to non-negotiable—especially for companies looking to succeed with artificial intelligence. That’s the clear takeaway from Confluent’s 2025 Data Streaming Report, which surveyed over 4,175 IT leaders across 12 countries.
According to the findings:
- 89% of IT leaders say DSPs ease AI adoption by solving for data access, quality, and governance
- 90% plan to increase investments in data streaming in 2025
- 87% expect DSPs to play a bigger role in feeding AI systems with real-time, contextual, and trustworthy data
- 44% report a 5x ROI on their DSP investments
“They’re not just another IT system—they’re the fuel for modern enterprises,” said Rey Perez, Chief Customer Officer at Confluent. “Whether it’s powering agentic AI or enabling real-time fraud detection, DSPs are key to competitive advantage.”
Why Real-Time Data Is Critical to AI
Modern AI agents—from customer-facing chatbots to internal copilots—rely on real-time access to accurate data about operations, customers, and transactions. DSPs provide the connective tissue that delivers trustworthy, low-latency streams of information across an organization.
“Where would we be without a data streaming platform? I think we’d be out of business,” said Sudhakar Gopal, EVP & CIO at Citizens Bank. “It enables us to exchange data between all our point-to-point applications, so we can make game-changing decisions in real time.”
Report Highlights
- Strategic Priority: 86% of leaders now rank DSPs as mission-critical to their business strategy
- Shift Left Movement: 81% say that adopting a shift-left approach to data governance and processing has reduced both costs and risk
- Upward Trend in ROI: The percentage of leaders reporting a 5x ROI increased from 41% in 2024 to 44% in 2025
The report’s findings reinforce what many enterprises are realizing firsthand: data streaming is the backbone of AI innovation, customer experience, and digital agility.
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