THE STATE OF DATA 2026/27
The Year of Proof
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Data and AI activity is increasing.
But activity is no longer the real test. The State of Data 2026/27 explores how organisations are progressing with data and AI, where maturity is still being held back, and why value, ownership, trust, skills and accountability are becoming the defining issues for 2027.
Based on responses from data, analytics, AI, engineering, governance and leadership professionals, this year’s report shows a market moving from adoption to accountability.
THE HEADLINE FINDINGS
74.89%
said their organisation’s use of data had improved over the last 12 months.
97.06%
reported clear AI ROI or productivity gains.
65.29%
are at live use case, embedded workflow or business-critical AI stage.
10.06%
reported clear AI ROI or productivity gains.
78.95%
reported ongoing data and AI skills gaps or concerns around attracting the right talent.
AI adoption is no longer the differentiator
AI is now present in some form across almost every organisation represented in the research, but adoption and maturity are not the same thing. Whilst 65.29% are already using AI in live, embedded or business-critical environments, only 10.06% reported clear ROI or productivity gains.
A further 40.83% said they were seeing some value, but were not measuring it consistently. That gap sits at the heart of this year’s report. The next phase of AI maturity is not simply about doing more. It is about being able to prove what changed.
AI ambition is exposing data reality
The biggest barriers to scaling AI, analytics and automation are not new AI problems. They are familiar data problems.
Respondents identified the below as blockers to scaling AI, analytics and automation: AI is making these weaknesses harder to ignore.
The organisations most likely to progress are those that strengthen the foundations underneath AI as well as investing in the technology itself.
15.52%
Data Quality
14.37%
Unstructured Data
13.79%
Legacy Systems
9.77%
Data Integration
8.05%
Metadata Management
8.05%
Lack of Data Ownership
Ownership and Governance are becoming critical
AI governance is still fragmented. Technology and IT teams were the most commonly identified owners of AI governance, but 16.17% of respondents said there was no clear owner at all.
Confidence is also limited.
Only 19.05% were very or extremely confident that AI outputs were accurate, explainable and appropriately governed.
As AI becomes more embedded in business processes, governance needs to move beyond policy.
Organisations need clearer ownership, decision rights, monitoring and accountability.
THE TALENT CHALLENGE IS BROADER THAN AI
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78.95%
of respondents reported ongoing skills gaps or concerns around attracting the right data and AI talent.
AI and machine learning were the biggest individual areas of concern, but the gaps extend well beyond model-building.
DEMAND
Respondents also highlighted demand across:
- Data Strategy
- Data Architecture
- Data Governance
- MLOps / LLMOps
- Data Engineering
- Data Quality
- Commercial and communication capability
QUESTION
What capability are we missing? Not just how many AI people do we need?
Data leadership is changing
The qualities respondents valued most highly in data leaders were:
- Adaptability — 20%
- Long-term vision — 19.41%
- Listening and questioning — 16.47%
Technical capability remains important, but the role of the data leader is increasingly about connecting technology with business priorities, governance, people, investment and measurable outcomes.
The strongest leaders are becoming translators between technical possibility and business reality.
What you’ll find in the report
The State of Data 2026/27 explores:
- How data usage is changing
- Where organisations are creating value from data
- The biggest barriers to AI, analytics and automation
- Data quality and ownership
- Data as a Product
- AI adoption and AI ROI
- AI governance and regulation
- Skills gaps and talent challenges
- Cloud, platform and AI cost pressures
- Data leadership
- UK salary benchmarks across data, analytics and AI
Who is the report for?
The State of Data is designed for:
- Chief Data Officers
- Chief AI Officers
- Heads of Data
- Data and AI leaders
- Data Engineering leaders
- Data Governance and Data Management professionals
- Analytics and Insight leaders
- Data Science and AI teams
- Talent and HR leaders hiring into data and AI
- Business leaders responsible for data and AI investment
The Year of Proof
The story running through this year’s findings is clear.
Organisations are doing more with data and AI.
The differentiator now is whether they can turn that activity into measurable, trusted and sustainable business value.
2026/27 is the year organisations move from asking:
“Are we using AI?”
to:
“Can we prove it is making the business better?”
Download The State of Data 2026/2027
KDR Talent Solutions in partnership with DAMA UK
