Over a quarter of organisations (26%) are still operating without a formal data strategy in place, while even more (39%) report having little or no governance frameworks, according to the latest research from Carruthers and Jackson.

The data consultancy’s latest annual Data Maturity Index shows that despite marginal improvements, there are still persistent gaps in some companies’ basic data management practices.

This year’s survey, taken among almost 200 data leaders around the world, suggests perhaps the biggest challenge is the rapid adoption of AI across industries, with only 7% of firms now reporting they have no AI usage, down sharply from 26% in 2023.

While 53% of organisations report increased use of AI, only 44% have followed that with more discussion around the ethics of using the technology, while just 13% have formalised any ethical frameworks surrounding it.

Many firms are also having major problems with the data literacy of their staff, which could be impacting AI adoption. Well over half (57%) of organisations said that, outside of their data team, most employees were not data literate, a slight increase on 2023’s study which found 55% reporting the same.

Almost three-quarters of this year’s respondents (73%) said that AI is being used only by a small number of employees, with just 10% reporting the technology is utilised by workers at every level.

According to the study, as AI becomes an operational necessity, it is vital firms work to close the knowledge and data literacy gap to ensure employees can use these tools effectively and unlock their potential to drive innovation.

“In many ways, the increase in AI usage is great, it shows organisations are keen to embrace new technologies, in particular where they think they can improve productivity,” said Ashley Cairns, delivery director at Carruthers and Jackson.

“Alongside AI adoption, it is essential that organisations consider whether their employees have the skills to use the tools and understand their limitations. This ensures they are getting the best use out of them without opening up areas of risk.”

As AI technology begins to spread, firms are shifting away from one-size-fits-all data frameworks and toward more tailored approaches, with 37% reporting that they now employ multiple data frameworks that best suit their needs, and allow for department-specific governance.

According to the report, that has seen a slight increase in overall data maturity among organisations, with poor data governance falling from 41% in 2023 to 39% last year.

More firms are also reporting that their data strategies are well embedded with adequate levels of data maturity (25%), with the study suggesting that this indicates more businesses are successfully implementing their data strategies beyond the conceptual stage.

Despite that, a third of firms (33%) still say that their data frameworks are clunky and difficult to understand, compared to just 10% reporting these are streamlined and clear to use, suggesting that the increasing intricacies of data frameworks might be making it harder for organisations to clearly define and communicate their data policies.

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That might be one reason why 40% of firms said that their data is not flowing efficiently, compared to only 3% reporting their data always flows very well, a figure which underscores the foundational impact that increasingly complex data is having across businesses.

“There is still frustration in the ‘business’ that they can’t get hold of the data they need when they want it,” said Peter Jackson, global head of data officer at Schroders.

“This has been exacerbated by the fact that more data is needed more quickly to feed AI, so those data flows need to be in place. This increased realisation has put even more pressure on the tools, the data flows and the engineering than previously. 

“This is only going to get greater over the next twelve months.”