A report on the current state of data and analytics trends was released by “Salesforce,” the global company specialized in developing customer relationship management solutions. The opinions of over 10,000 leaders in analytics, IT, and business were gathered from 18 countries, including the UAE.
The report highlighted trends impacting data leaders, such as strategies for managing rapid developments in artificial intelligence, challenges faced by organizations in maximizing their data capabilities, and analysis of methods used by IT leaders to handle vast and complex data.
The report on the current state of data and analytics for this year included the following key ideas:
- The demand for reliable and secure data is increasing due to AI advancements: The rapid advancements in AI are driving companies to utilize new experiences like generative AI. 87% of business leaders in the UAE are concerned about missing out on these benefits, leading to pressure on data management teams to provide high-quality data to algorithms. 94% of analytics and IT leaders in the UAE see AI developments making data management a top priority.
- Challenges in ensuring data accuracy and quality: The path to fully benefit from data comes with some difficulties, as only 44% of business leaders in the UAE are fully confident in their data accuracy. A lack of data training is the main obstacle for business leaders in the UAE, while analytics and IT leaders noted that ensuring data accuracy and quality is their biggest challenge when it comes to data.
- Organizational leaders use data culture and governance to achieve goals: To maximize data value and trust, analytics and IT leaders rely on data governance; 87% use data governance to ensure the quality and reliance of core data, while 81% plan to increase data training investments in the upcoming year to support a data culture within the company.
Wendy Batchelder, Chief Data Officer at “Salesforce,” said: “The AI revolution is, in fact, a data revolution too. The strength of an AI strategy relies on the strength of a company’s data strategy. Data management is the most critical step companies must take to successfully deploy generative AI. Organizational leaders must strategically use data governance and invest in building a strong data culture more than ever.”
According to Terry Nichols, Regional Vice President and General Manager at “Salesforce” in the Middle East: Business leaders in the UAE show great interest in maximizing smart technology to aid in digitization. However, they have legitimate concerns about their organizations’ ability to collect and use data accurately. These concerns should be viewed positively as they highlight the need for using high-quality data to support their AI systems and acknowledge the opportunity for improvements as well. Salesforce aims to collaborate with its clients and assist them in gathering the correct data from all departments of their organizations.
