Only 12 percent of businesses say they're ready for AI

A new report from data integrity company Precisely finds that despite 60 percent of organizations saying AI is a key influence on data programs, only 12 percent report that their data is of sufficient quality and accessible for effective AI implementation.

While 76 percent of enterprises say data-driven decision-making is a top goal for their data programs, 67 percent still don't completely trust the data they rely on for these decisions, up from 55 percent in 2023.

A lack of data governance is the primary data challenge inhibiting AI initiatives, cited by 62 percent of organizations. This is likely due to the role that data governance programs play in managing an organization's data usage -- including where it's stored, its lineage, who has access to it, whether it has personally identifiable information (PII) attributes, and more.

In addition 42 percent say a shortage of skills and resources continues to be one of the biggest challenges to their data programs, up from 37 percent in 2023.

"While organizations are eager to benefit from AI’s capabilities, a talent shortfall impedes AI integration," says Murugan Anandarajan, PhD, professor and academic director at the Center for Applied AI and Business Analytics at Drexel University's LeBow College of Business, which collaborated on the research. "Our research findings highlight that gap, with 60 percent of respondents citing a lack of AI skills and training as a significant challenge in launching AI initiatives – a signal to business leaders that upskilling must be a strategic imperative."

Data quality is also an issue, 64 percent of respondents identify data quality as their top data integrity challenge, up from 50 percent in 2023. Overall perceptions of data quality have declined too, with 77 percent of respondents rating the quality of their data as average or worse, compared to 66 percent in the previous year.

The most significant barrier to achieving high-quality data is the lack of adequate tools for automating data quality processes, cited by 49 percent of respondents. Inconsistent data definitions and formats (45 percent), and data volume (43 percent) are also concerns.

"Our joint research with Drexel Lebow reveals a marked decline in organizations' confidence in their data readiness despite the increase in importance of data-driven decision-making," says Josh Rogers, CEO at Precisely. "To fully capitalize on the business benefits of analytics and AI, organizations need to invest in data integrity. Establishing a foundation of accurate, consistent, and contextual data can serve to help them make informed decisions with confidence and truly realize the value of their AI initiatives."

You can get the full report from the Precisely site.

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