Gartner: Context as Critical Infrastructure for Enterprise AI

After connecting with leaders and analysts at the recent Gartner Data & Analytics Summit in Orlando, one thing is clear: foundational governance is still a major hurdle, and traditional catalogs are still struggling to keep up. We’ve synthesized our top 5 takeaways on why the industry is seeing high churn and how to pivot toward a more "active" metadata strategy that actually drives business adoption and trusts your AI agents. Key themes we explore: 🔸 Why every vendor now has a "catalog" (and how to tell the difference). 🔸 The missing link between metadata context and AI agent impact. 🔸 Closing the gap on unstructured data governance. 🔸 Moving from IT enablement to true business buy-in. ➡️ Read our full analysis: https://lnkd.in/gixMQQiB We'll see you next at #GartnerDA Summit in London!

A lot of organizations are doing “data work” but not seeing much change in the business.  That’s often the point where they look outside – not just for more capacity, but for help turning projects into outcomes everyone can recognize. When data strategy and engineering services are in place, the lift is real: on average, organizations see 24% improvement in innovation, 23% in agility, 23% in operational efficiency, 21% in revenue growth, and 19% in cost savings.  Many buyers are also simplifying how they get there: instead of stitching together multiple providers, they’re standardizing on a unified stack and a single primary services partner for their enterprise intelligence strategy. The pattern is pretty consistent: internal teams know the business, external experts bring patterns and accelerators, and the combination is what moves the needle. 👉 If you’re interested in how services and AI-ready data work together in practice, the IDC webcast on this research is worth your time. https://lnkd.in/gJRu94nx

Gartner D&A attendees voted our context layer demo the top innovation for data and analytics in 2026. The opening keynote set the frame: context is the new critical infrastructure for AI. Enterprise leaders walked directly from that session to the booth asking "Is that what you do?" Bailey Brewer and Austin Kronz were on the floor all week. Three days of conversations with data and AI leaders confirmed it: → The context layer is now main stage. CDOs and CDAOs are asking vendors specifically about it. → Architecture clarity is rare. When PPG and Cargill shared their data foundation slides in customer sessions, phones came out. Organizations are trying to picture what this actually looks like to build. → The urgency shifted. These aren't exploratory conversations anymore. Mandates exist. Budgets exist. "In the BI era, missing context meant lost trust in data. In the AI era, AI is confidently wrong." Hear the full recap from Bailey and Austin in the video below.

At Gartner D&A Summit 2026, one message came through clearly: AI moves fast, but without trusted, governed data, it stalls just as quickly. As Rocket Software’s President of Data Modernization, Michael Curry, shared, scaling from pilot to production requires solving for data access, trust, and control, with governance built in, not bolted on. Because in an AI-driven world, your outcomes are only as reliable as your data. Learn how to turn insight into action: https://brnw.ch/21x1nJv

In increasingly dynamic and information-rich environments, the ability to interpret, analyse, and leverage data has become a defining factor in strategic effectiveness. Structured data ecosystems enable more accurate forecasting, sharper insights, and more agile responses to evolving challenges. By reducing uncertainty and strengthening evidence-based decision-making, data-driven frameworks support operational resilience, innovation, and sustainable growth. As industries continue to evolve, organisations that harness data intelligently position themselves for stronger competitiveness and long-term success. #DataDriven #OS #Innovation #DigitalSystems #DecisionMaking

𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗮 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲. 𝗜𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝘀. Yet organizations are increasingly investing in broader data pipelines, more feeds, larger dashboards — and walking away with less clarity than before. At MRC, we believe the industry is facing a critical misdiagnosis. 🔍 Enterprises drowning in data aren't **data-poor**. They're **synthesis-poor**. The competitive advantage doesn't live in what you collect. It lives in how signals are connected, contextualized, and converted into decisions that move the business forward. 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝘆𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗲. Our advisory teams are seeing this pattern across industries — leadership teams paralyzed not by the absence of data, but by the absence of interpreted meaning. MRC's **Nexus Intelligence** platform is built around this exact principle: transforming raw market signals into strategic clarity. Learn more about how synthesis-first intelligence works: https://lnkd.in/dxrgV6_8 Ready to stop collecting and start deciding? 💡 Book a demo session https://lnkd.in/dp6qPHSm What's holding your organization back — too little data, or too little synthesis? #MarketIntelligence #StrategicAdvisory #DecisionIntelligence #MRC #BusinessStrategy

GenAI promises transformation, but success depends on prioritizing business value and responsible practices: https://gtnr.it/4ahvqwK Data & analytics leaders must foster collaboration and continuous learning. Gartner for IT | #GartnerIT #GenAI #DataAnalytics #AIEthics

GenAI promises transformation, but success depends on prioritizing business value and responsible practices: https://gtnr.it/4ahvqwK Data & analytics leaders must foster collaboration and continuous learning. Gartner for IT | #GartnerIT #GenAI #DataAnalytics #AIEthics

GenAI promises transformation, but success depends on prioritizing business value and responsible practices: https://gtnr.it/4ahvqwK Data & analytics leaders must foster collaboration and continuous learning. Gartner for IT | #GartnerIT #GenAI #DataAnalytics #AIEthics

GenAI promises transformation, but success depends on prioritizing business value and responsible practices: https://gtnr.it/4ahvqwK Data & analytics leaders must foster collaboration and continuous learning. Gartner for IT | #GartnerIT #GenAI #DataAnalytics #AIEthics