Data strategy and AI strategy belong together …
“To keep pace with modern business, data strategy is shifting toward more autonomous real-time systems that deliver intelligence at the moment decisions are made. Driven by agentic AI, modern data teams are moving beyond simply looking at what happened. Now they’re automating complex workflows that analyze what’s happening, anticipate what might happen next, and recommend or take action.”
… because data intelligence is becoming agentic …
“Data agents are AI-powered software agents that access governed enterprise data and tools to answer questions and perform defined tasks. Instead of navigating reports and filters, a user can now ask, “Why did sales decline last quarter?” and receive an analysis directly. Dashboards remain valuable for monitoring and shared context, while agents handle questions that weren’t anticipated when the dashboard was built.”
… and agents need the right data …
“But remember, data agents are only as good as the quality of the data they’re given. Reliable insights and predictions depend on high-quality, well-governed data. They also need context to understand what the data means, making metadata more important than ever.”
… so don’t think of a data strategy or an AI strategy—think of a holistic data and AI strategy:
“The future of data intelligence isn’t just about getting answers faster. It’s about building the trusted foundation that allows people and AI to make better decisions together.”
This week’s Good Read is by Michelle Smith, an editor at O’Reilly Media:
