AI adoption has outrun data accountability

AI adoption is moving faster than our ability to understand the data behind it and that gap is now the biggest blocker to real AI value.

Organizations are rapidly pushing AI from pilots into production. We’re seeing models and agents be embedded into core business processes, influencing decisions in customer engagement, operations, risk and compliance. But most organizations don’t actually know what data is driving those decisions.

AI depends heavily on content that was never designed to be analyzed or governed at scale. Documents, emails, chats, images, audio and meeting transcripts now directly influence how AI behaves. Yet many leaders cannot clearly explain what’s in this data, how it has changed, where it came from or whether they have basic lineage and controls to trust it.

The root of this is data accountability. Data governance sets the rules but data accountability is being able to stand behind the outcome. There’s simply too much data, moving too fast, for teams to manage it manually, and this is true for everyone - from small companies to large enterprises. And as a result, AI systems are being deployed on top of data that leaders can’t fully see, trace or verify.

This gap between confidence and control shows up quickly – and quietly. Models produce outputs that look reasonable, but can’t be backed by evidence. Agents take actions that can’t be traced to clear inputs. Users waste time dealing with errors, while teams spend more time defending results than improving them. When trust erodes, progress slows across the organization.

In 2026, this dynamic becomes impossible to ignore. AI systems are no longer isolated experiments, they are embedded in core workflows and operating decisions. At that scale, assumptions about data stop working. Organizations either know what data is shaping AI outcomes, and can stand behind it, or they are bogged down by the uncertainty.

The question leaders now face is simple: do you actually understand the data driving your AI – or are you just assuming you do?

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  Felix Van de Maele

  Felix Van de Maele

  Founder, CEO

  Collibra