The nuance of data

Who would ever think I would enjoy a book about data? I could think of nothing more boring — until I read “Data, Strategy, Culture & Power: Win with Data-Centric AI by making human nature work for you.” From my work with my clients, I understand there is a lot more to data than meets the eye, particularly now with the onslaught of AI into business models. The old rule “rubbish in, rubbish out” still applies.

The question

Between 70–90% of all digital transformation initiatives, which include data, analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI) projects, fail. Why isn’t anyone getting it right?

It is a patchwork

Most companies rely on a data ecosystem that grew and evolved accidentally rather than intentionally. Instead of a cohesive, well-architected data infrastructure, this patchwork of databases, data warehouses, and data pipelines cobbled together over time leaves data teams with a fragmented and disorganized data ecosystem that is difficult to navigate, maintain, and scale.

You are broken

Ultimately every system, including the data ecosystem your company works within, is some degree of broken, all the time. You should anticipate fragility. This includes unavoidable failures, imperfect understanding, and fractured communication. The larger a system gets, the more broken stuff there…