Rethinking data maturity in the age of AI
What separates AI-ready data teams from the rest?
We surveyed data leaders to uncover what it takes to build data operations that scale with AI.
The findings at a glance
The new definition of data maturity is scalability
The new test of data maturity isn’t just whether your team can deliver, but in the age of increased data demand from AI, it’s whether your operating model can change and adapt without adding proportional effort, risk and delay every time.
AI adoption is outpacing operational control
92% of organizations are already using AI in data or engineering workflows, and 74% rank AI-assisted development among their top investment priorities over the next 12-24 months.
The teams best positioned to benefit will be the ones that combine AI adoption with embedded quality checks, clear governance, and the visibility to spot errors.
Automation and reuse separate scalable organizations from the rest
One factor in our research separated organizations that are confident in their ability to scale from those who aren’t – automation.
Reusable, well-governed components make data easier to trust, control and approve and makes it faster to generate code and logic.
Technical debt limits scale before it causes failure
Accumulated complexity makes every future change slower, riskier and more expensive.
Teams focused on technical debt and support report just 15% confidence in their ability to scale. In contrast, teams focused on complex problem solving report 57%.
What else you'll get from the report
Understand the common barriers holding organisations back, from manual work and technical debt to weak governance and operational control.
Discover how automation, reuse, observability and embedded controls help organisations scale data operations with greater confidence.
Use the report's maturity model and 90-day action plan to identify priorities and start moving towards scalable, AI-ready data operations.
See how AI is changing the definition of data maturity — and why scalability is becoming the new benchmark.
How are teams building AI-ready data operations that scale?
Over 200+ organisations across the US and UK told us how they're closing the gap between AI ambition and data readiness in 2026.
What else you'll find inside the report:
About CloverDX
CloverDX combines powerful data integration with AI that accelerates every stage of the work.
Data engineering and analytics teams in financial services, insurance, healthcare, government, and retail use it to manage complex, high-volume data while keeping visibility and control over how that data moves through their systems.