Unlocking Business Growth: Setting Great Expectations
For today’s C-suite, the promise of data and AI is clear: transform operations, delight customers, and outpace competitors. Yet, despite massive investments in data, many organisations still fail to achieve measurable success. Why? Because the data itself often doesn’t meet the expectations required to drive real business outcomes.
Gartner’s research once revealed that 40% of the anticipated value from business initiatives is lost due to data issues, a figure that has likely grown in the years since. The knee-jerk reaction is to “fix data quality,” but this is not a one-off project. It’s an ongoing discipline that requires clarity on what your business expects from its data, and robust controls to ensure those expectations are met-today and tomorrow.
Setting Data Expectations: The Foundation for Success
Imagine a simple example: the weight of a product. If the data on product weight is missing, in the wrong format, or inaccurate, it can cripple e-commerce, logistics, analytics, and more.
This is why data expectations should outline the required levels of:
- Accuracy
- Completeness
- Consistency
- Timeliness
- Validity
- Uniqueness
The criteria for each expectation should be objective, measurable & enforceable. When these expectations aren’t met, the ripple effects can be costly and far-reaching.
Data Governance: The Secret Sauce (Just Don’t Call It Data Governance)
Data Governance is the discipline that ensures your data meets business expectations. But here’s the catch: data governance isn’t made successful by talking to the business about policies and committees, it is achieved by talking about outcomes. When introducing or reinvigorating data governance, start by focusing on the business processes that suffer when data falls short. Make it real. Make it urgent.
“The greatest impact comes from leadership. Continuous, visible executive sponsorship of Data Governance initiatives accelerates business benefits.”
Executive Action: Your Role in Data-Driven Success
As a business leader, your engagement is non-negotiable. Business leaders should be the ones to decide what “good data” means for their company, making sure these standards match the business results they want to achieve, not leaving this to IT. By doing this, leaders can check regularly if the data meets these standards, using simple reports, or automated tools to spot any problems, and make sure teams take responsibility for fixing them. When leaders talk about data quality at executive meetings and show they care about it, they send a clear message across the company that data is a top priority and essential for business success.
A Practical Approach: Start Small, Prioritise Business Pain
Instead of trying to solve every data problem at once, start by looking for the issues that are causing the most pain or risk to your business, such as lost sales or damage to your reputation. Focus on fixing these high-impact problems first, as quick wins can show the value of your efforts and build momentum. Once you have a solution that works and some success stories to share, you can use what you’ve learned to tackle other data challenges across the company. This step-by-step approach makes it easier to see progress and keeps your team motivated.
Collaboration is Key: Who Does What?
Working together is very important when it comes to managing data well and getting real business results. When everyone knows what they are supposed to do, it helps avoid confusion, speeds up progress, and makes sure people take responsibility for their part. Clear roles also help teams work better together, so the business can quickly handle problems or take advantage of new opportunities.
| Role | Responsibility |
| Business Leaders | Set data expectations aligned to business goals |
| Governance Professionals | Guide expectation-setting and controls |
| Data & Technology Teams | Implement controls and monitor compliance |
The Bottom Line: Data Fitness Drives Business Value
Data that is fit for purpose is the difference between successful and unsuccessful technology investments. To unlock the full potential of data and AI:
- Set clear, business-driven data expectations
- Implement controls and accountability
- Lead from the top, making data fitness a cultural priority
So where do you start? Start today by asking, “Does our data meet our expectations?”. Make this a regular conversation at the highest levels. The results will follow.