88% of Executives Fear Data Sovereignty Failures Could Cost Them Their Jobs

85% of surveyed organizations are willing to compromise on advanced features and functionality to work with a local or sovereign provider.

Rhea-AI Summary

Everpure (P) released global research finding that 88% of large-enterprise C-suite leaders believe a data sovereignty failure could cost them their jobs. Data sovereignty concerns who can access and control data and which jurisdictions apply. The survey found that 64% of organizations lack a formal strategy, while 91% of leaders worry about financial and reputational damage to their organizations.

Among respondents, 62% lack full visibility into who can access, control and manage their data, and 56% have no mitigation plans for geopolitical data exfiltration or service disruption. Another 56% lack the skills and capacity to deliver sovereignty initiatives. Everpure recommends applying governance and controls according to each dataset's, application's and workload's risks. Vanson Bourne surveyed 2,100 C-suite and IT leaders at large enterprises across eight countries in June 2026.

Key Figures

Executives fearing job consequences: 88% Organizations concerned about financial or reputational damage: 91% Organizations without a formal strategy: 64% +2 more

Executives fearing job consequences

88%

C-suite leaders surveyed said a data sovereignty failure could cost them their jobs

Organizations concerned about financial or reputational damage

91%

Survey respondents worried about damage to their organization

Organizations without a formal strategy

64%

Data sovereignty strategy readiness

Organizations without mitigation plans

56%

Plans for geopolitical data exfiltration or service disruption

Survey scope

2,100 enterprise leaders across eight countries

Global Data Sovereignty Report 2026

Key Terms

denial of service (dos), saas

2 terms

denial of service (dos) technical

"potential Denial of Service (DoS) incidents."

An attack that intentionally makes a computer system, network, or online service unavailable by overwhelming it or exploiting resource limits so legitimate users cannot access it; common methods include flooding the target with excessive traffic, sending requests that exhaust memory or processing capacity, or exploiting software bugs to crash services. A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) is a similar outage caused by many coordinated machines, which is harder to stop; denial-of-service incidents affect availability only and do not necessarily mean data was altered or stolen.

saas technical

"limiting their use of SaaS providers reliant on non-domestic infrastructure."

SaaS, or Software as a Service, is a way of delivering computer programs over the internet, allowing users to access and use them through a web browser without needing to install or maintain the software themselves. For investors, it highlights a business model where companies generate recurring revenue by providing ongoing access to their software, often leading to predictable income and growth potential.

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New Everpure research reveals a "sovereignty gap"—64% of enterprises lack formal data sovereignty strategies to control their data and defend against geopolitical risks and AI exposure.

LONDON, Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Everpure (NYSE: P), the company revolutionizing storage and data management, today released new global research revealing that 88% of large enterprise C-suite leaders believe a data sovereignty failure could cost them their jobs, while 91% worry about financial and reputational damage to their organization. Despite these high stakes, 64% of organizations operate without a formal data sovereignty strategy in place—exposing a vulnerability in modern enterprise data management in today's uncertain geopolitical environment.

Data sovereignty has evolved into a defining business risk—with challenges ranging from foreign-mandated data exfiltration to potential Denial of Service (DoS) incidents. Everpure's Global Data Sovereignty Report 2026 surveyed 2,100 enterprise leaders across eight countries to evaluate strategic intent against real operational readiness. The results reveal a stark divide:

Data Sovereignty Concern is Real:

• 90% of organizations recognize data sovereignty as a business concern, with the overwhelming majority expecting severe financial or leadership consequences in the event of a failure.
• 85% are willing to compromise on advanced features and functionality to work with a local or sovereign provider.
• 40% are already limiting their use of SaaS providers reliant on non-domestic infrastructure.

Recognition without Readiness:

• Despite these revelations, 64% of organizations operate without a formal data sovereignty strategy in place.
• 62% lack full visibility into who can access, control and manage their data.
• 56% have no mitigation plans for geopolitical data exfiltration or service disruption.
• 56% admit they lack the skills and capacity to deliver sovereignty initiatives, while 36% are facing challenges with executive buy-in.
• Only 9% say protection from extraterritorial data access is a top priority.

The findings expose a clear "sovereignty gap" between executive recognition of risk and actual operational readiness. Many companies still treat sovereignty as a routine cybersecurity or compliance exercise. As a result, organizations fail to secure control of their data, and cannot defend against geopolitical threats that could result in significant consequences.

"Senior leaders understand their jobs are on the line over data sovereignty, yet many are still focused on the wrong risks. Sovereignty is not simply about where data is stored, but having full visibility and control over it through modern data management. Who can access data, which jurisdictions apply and whether business-critical data or services could be disrupted are key questions every organization should be asking." - Alex McMullan, Chief Technology Officer, International, Everpure.

"Digital sovereignty has moved from a compliance conversation to a critical board-level concern. The challenge for executives is not just about knowing where their data are hosted. It is about being in total control of all data access and transfers (including all metadata), guaranteed protection against extra-territorial data requests, and managing IT and vendor risks in light of geopolitical uncertainties."
- Rahiel Nasir, Research Director and Lead Analyst, Worldwide Digital Sovereignty, IDC.

Everpure's Recommendation: Sovereignty by Design
A successful sovereignty strategy requires moving from passive risk recognition to targeted operational execution. Organizations can follow a set of interconnected steps to become sovereign by design - a business-driven, risk-aware framework where sovereignty controls and governance are applied according to the risk of each data set, application and workload. The focus shifts from national sovereignty to corporate sovereignty, an approach based on an organization's specific risk appetite and view on regulation.

This model enables businesses to protect critical assets from key sovereignty risks without sacrificing the flexibility, innovation or scale of global SaaS and cloud providers. Everpure Data Intelligence supports this model by discovering, classifying and contextualizing enterprise data across the Everpure Platform, public clouds, SaaS applications, and third-party storage. This facilitates sovereignty by providing total visibility of their data estate, enabling organizations to make informed decisions about how data should be governed and protected.

By focusing on data and mitigating against risks, organizations can become sovereign by design - transforming sovereignty from a barrier to innovation to a source of resilience and competitive advantage.

Notes to Editors
Everpure commissioned research company Vanson Bourne to examine the views of 2,100 C-suite and IT leaders from large enterprises across eight countries in June 2026.

The research covers the UK, France, Germany, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and India – representing diverse regulatory and geopolitical landscapes where data sovereignty has become a defining factor for business outcomes.

Additional Resources

• Access the full report: Global Data Sovereignty Report 2026
• Blog: Sovereignty's Data Imperative
• Read more: How to Achieve Sovereignty by Design
• Data sovereignty infographic

About Everpure
Everpure (NYSE: P) allows organizations to take control of their data with an industry-leading, ever-evolving storage and data management platform. We help companies unleash the power of their data by ensuring it is accessible, intelligent, and ready to perform in the AI era. We make data management effortless while simultaneously scaling performance and significantly reducing energy consumption. With one of the highest Net Promoter Scores for over a decade, Everpure is the choice of the world's most innovative organizations. For more information, visit www.everpuredata.com.

 

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SOURCE Everpure

FAQ

AI-generated questions and answers. How Rhea-AI works. Not financial advice.

What did Everpure's 2026 data sovereignty research find?

64% of organizations operate without a formal data sovereignty strategy, while 88% of large-enterprise C-suite leaders believe a failure could cost them their jobs. The research also found that 91% worry about financial and reputational damage to their organizations.

Which countries were included in Everpure's 2026 data sovereignty survey?

The survey covered the UK, France, Germany, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and India. Everpure commissioned Vanson Bourne to examine the views of 2,100 C-suite and IT leaders from large enterprises in June 2026.