AI Data Readiness Survey 2026

Question 1

Which best describes your role?

Question 2

Which industry best describes your organization?

Technology & software Financial services Healthcare & life sciences Professional services & consulting Manufacturing & industrial Retail & consumer Government & nonprofit Other

Question 3

How large is your organization?

Question 4

Honestly, how ready is your data for the AI you want to run on it?

Ready, clean, connected, and usable today Ready in pockets, some domains yes, most no Mostly not ready We have never really assessed it

Question 5

Which best describes your data foundations today?

A governed single source of truth most teams trust Consolidated in one place, but quality is uneven Fragmented across systems that don't agree with each other We only recently started consolidating at all Don't know

Question 6

In the past year, has an AI project stalled or underdelivered mainly because of data problems?

Question 7

Where does your data actually bite?

Select all that apply.

Quality and accuracy problems Silos, data trapped in separate systems Inconsistent IDs and definitions across systems Access and permissions, people can't get to what they need Unclear what is sensitive versus safe to use Missing history or coverage gaps None of these bite much

Question 8

Who clearly owns getting your data ready for AI?

A dedicated data team with that mandate IT, along with everything else Each business unit for its own data An AI council or steering committee Nobody clearly owns it Don't know

Question 9

Does your leadership understand the data work required before AI pays off?

1 is not at all, 5 is completely.

Question 10

Are you being pushed to deploy AI faster than your data foundations allow?

Yes, strongly, and it is creating real risk Somewhat, we cut corners now and then No, the pace feels about right No, if anything we move slower than we could

Question 11

How is your investment in data foundations changing over the next 12 months?

Warehouses, pipelines, quality tooling, governance, data teams.

Question 12

What is the one data problem that, if fixed, would most change what AI can do for your organization?

Optional. Your words may be quoted anonymously in the published findings.

Your responses are anonymous and will be aggregated for research. ZAI Institute will never attribute individual answers without separate written permission.

The AI Data Readiness Survey

Thank you for your perspective.