Most organizations have no clear idea of the value of the data they hold on themselves and their customers. According to technology research and consulting firm Gartner, 30 percent of chief data and analytics officers (CDAOs) say that their top challenge is the inability to measure data, analytics, and AI’s impact on business outcomes. Gartner also reports that only 22 percent of organizations surveyed have defined, tracked, and communicated business impact metrics for the bulk of their data and analytics (D&A) use cases.
“There is a massive value vibe around data, where many organizations talk about the value of data, desire to be data-driven, etc., but there are few who can substantiate it,” said Michael Gabbard, senior director analyst at Gartner.
“We found that while creating an actionable D&A strategy is a primary responsibility for these CDAOs, more than one-third of them do not identify establishing and evolving the operating model as a primary responsibility,” added Gabbard. “There is a perennial gap between planning and execution for D&A leaders.”
Threat of ‘shadow AI’
The need to evaluate the value of the data companies hold about themselves and their clients is made even more urgent by the ever-increasing threat from ‘shadow AI’. Shadow AI refers to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) applications without the approval of their IT department. has created a security nightmare for many organizations worldwide, as reported by Cyber Intelligence last July.
Despite being acutely aware of the cyber risks involved, almost three-quarters of security professionals also admit to using off-the-shelf software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications in the last year. Almost three-quarters admitted to using SaaS applications. This is largely the result of the growing ubiquity of SaaS tools such as Zoom and Google Workspace in the workplace.
The dangers of allowing staff members who have been taken in by the Silicon Valley hype surrounding AI to download and deploy AI applications such as Microsoft-backed ChatGPT are now also becoming increasingly apparent. Allowing AI to gather all kinds of potentially sensitive data and release it into the wild has provided a great boon to cybercriminals, as this information can either be auctioned off on the Darknet or used as entry points for cyber-attacks of all kinds.
