Why clean data beats smart AI every time
Why strong data foundations give businesses a competitive advantage.
Data matters even more, not less, in the age of AI. Nothing beats access to clean data that organisations can actually trust.
This insight crystallised during a media briefing organised by Qlik this afternoon, where industry leaders spoke on the importance of data quality and harnessing the power of AI.
The Qlik evolution
It must have been 10 years since I fired up Qlik Desktop to plot analytics for a social media project I did for a large client. Things have changed dramatically since then.
Charlie Farah, field CTO of Analytics and AI at Qlik, explained how the platform has evolved beyond its original analytics focus. Today's Qlik centres on four key pillars: establishing trust, quality, and governance in data; compelling action to drive business outcomes; building on an agentic AI foundation; and functioning as an agnostic data platform.
Here are three insights that stuck with me from the briefing.
Technology is only one part of the puzzle
Some of the key problems around harnessing the power of data are related to cultures and organisational norms, not technology. During the panel discussion, Maurizio Garavello, SVP APAC at Qlik, observed how stakeholders tend to err towards confidentiality. Convincing them often requires explaining the benefits and establishing trust through proper data controls.
Prof Khor-Ping Quek shared an interesting insight about initial resistance by engineers to use AI. Why? They had existing methods to manage data and it took time to change their minds.
In short, the challenge isn't always technical capability but changing established workflows and mindsets.
Clean data matters
Hardly a month goes by without updates from leading AI firms. Sometimes, major releases are announced days apart. But it's not a specific LLM that gives you an advantage, argues Maurizio. It's the data.
Clean data that the organisation can trust matters more than ever. Speaking on AI efforts, Prof Quek revealed that cleaning up data represents "70-80%" of the effort in any AI project. Tools like Qlik can help improve data quality, but data provenance remains vital for transparency.
This explains why data leaders nowadays hold SVP roles that report directly to either the CIO or CEO. The strategic importance of data quality has elevated these positions to the C-suite level.
Build your data foundation first
How can businesses stay ahead of the curve? By building the right data foundation, says Kelly Forbes, a Qlik AI Advisory Council Member, during the panel discussion. According to her, we've moved beyond questioning AI's potential to acknowledging its capabilities and asking how we can use it safely and responsibly.
To win, you need to follow the technology rather than be led by your competitors. The companies that succeed will be those that invest in robust data infrastructure before chasing the latest AI trends.
How are you managing your data?
