The acceleration of digital transformation and the widespread adoption of AI have led to a shift in most business operations taking place in the digital realm, across all industries. As a result, data has emerged as the most critical business asset.
“The importance of data is not up for debate,” says Anne-Marie Pretorius, co-founder and MD of Bizmod. “There is a growing reliance on data, because in the digital world, the only currency that matters is data.”
To extract meaningful value from data, it must meet essential criteria – it must be accessible, accurate, analysable, and be able to generate insights. These insights should then enable organisations to put plans in place to increase revenue, decrease costs, enhance customer service, and secure long-term business stability.
Pretorius says that many organisations – regardless of size or sector – encounter similar data issues. The most common include:
- Poor data quality
- Data silos
- High infrastructure cost
- Poor data governance
- Unclear data ownership
- Low data literacy
- Underdeveloped data analytics capabilities
- Inconsistent data-driven decision-making
These issues often result in fragmented customer experiences, cost duplication and waste, missed business opportunities, operational outages, increased governance and compliance risks and shrinking profit margins.
Pretorius offers six key insights into how companies can overcome these challenges.
Leadership must prioritise data – If people are the heart of the organisation, then data is the nervous system. Solving data issues requires active involvement from the CEO and executive leadership; without this commitment, meaningful progress is unlikely.
- Build a resilient data foundation – Break down data silos, bring data warehouses and lakes closer to a centralised capability, and apply consistent practices across the data lifecycle, including data quality management, metadata, and master data governance.
- Focus analytics on real business impact – Invest in data mining and analytics and ensure that initiatives are aligned with tangible business use cases. Mature decision-making stems from both big picture insights and granular data points. Analytics without action is a wasted investment.
- Empower your people – While technology and data strategies are critical, people remain the key to execution. An ongoing investment in employees through training, awareness, and access to the right tools is essential to convert insights into action.
- Augment internal data with external sources – Once internal data is understood and reliable, enrich it with external resources to enhance the depth and effectiveness of the analytics.
- AI is a tool, not a solution – AI will not fix broken data systems on its own. It requires high-quality inputs and precise prompts. Only when you understand and control your data can AI deliver true value, becoming a powerful asset.
As digital transformation accelerates and AI adoption continues to grow, the strategic management of data has become non-negotiable. Pretorius concludes, “Data is a core enterprise asset, just like financial capital and human resources, and by addressing foundational challenges and fostering a culture of data-driven decision-making, organisations can unlock new levels of efficiency, innovation, and competitive advantage.”