In addition to the governance challenges, 69 % of clients interviewed noted they are struggling to hire relevant talent; the resource and capability gaps are real and widening.
Third – and this is where many stumble – is that companies haven’ t built the adaptive foundations necessary to scale for production AI. They jump to use cases without strengthening their data quality and accessibility, infrastructure scalability and / or data management and governance frameworks – which is like building a skyscraper on unstable ground.
Likewise, many companies which are moving ahead have moved beyond disconnected experiments with AI and are now focusing on building integrated ecosystems where data, governance, infrastructure, talent and security work together.
Our data suggests that organisations with holistic AI strategies show 6.6x higher Gen AI maturity. Those with robust data strategies see 5x higher maturity.
In other words, being digital leader isn’ t just about being smarter, leaders tend to be more systematic.
204 January 2026