Decide where data and AI matter
Strategy
We are instinctively drawn to clearer pictures. We polish spectacles, redraw maps and reconcile accounts to the last decimal place, comforted by the thought that a more faithful description of reality must lead to better decisions. Sometimes it does. A navigator benefits from a more accurate chart because he can
Leadership
Most discussions of competitive advantage focus on what a company has. History suggests a different question: What do other companies not yet understand? Advantage comes from asymmetry. Once something is widely recognized as valuable, capital flows in, talent follows, best practices spread, and the advantage begins to disappear. Technology provides
Strategy
Enterprise architects worry endlessly about vendor lock-in. The concern is understandable. Buy a software platform and you become dependent on another company's roadmap, pricing, and priorities. Build it yourself and, at least in theory, you remain free. It is a comforting idea. It is also where the
Strategy
Large organisations often treat data quality as though it were synonymous with data value. Quality does not create value. It magnifies it. Consider contact records, company information, or organisational hierarchies. If a vendor can sell you a cleaner version next Tuesday, its value is bounded by the price of a
Leadership
Adding capable people ought to accelerate progress. Yet organisations frequently discover the reverse. The first few hires add momentum. The next few create leverage. Then, almost imperceptibly, a growing proportion of effort is devoted not to the work itself but to explaining, coordinating, negotiating, and administering it. Capability accumulates. Progress
Innovation
Imagine two companies making the same mistake. The first discovers it after three weeks. The second discovers it after three years. The mistake is identical. Yet one survives and the other may not. Why? Because mistakes have a peculiar property. They grow while nobody is looking at them. A product
Strategy
Every generation believes its defining technology changes the rules of business. Usually, it changes the tools. Today it's AI. Before that it was social media, mobile, the internet, and the personal computer. Each expanded what organizations could do. None changed what organizations ultimately depend on. Every business is
Value
Most data strategies fail for the same reason cities go bankrupt: they try to govern everything. Somewhere, a well-meaning data owner is responsible for 4,000 attributes. Each has a definition, lineage and quality score. The effort is impressive. The economics are less clear. Finance offers a useful clue.