Inside Actian’s Research: Why Data Governance Threatens AI Success

What 600 enterprise data leaders revealed about maturity gaps, AI readiness, and what to do next

This article highlights key insights from Actian’s global data governance study and introduces the Actian Confidata Index, a free assessment for benchmarking your organization’s data and AI maturity.

In today’s AI-driven economy, data maturity is no longer optional. It’s foundational. Yet, according to the Actian State of Data Governance Maturity 2025 research, most enterprise organizations significantly overestimate the maturity of their governance practices. And that overconfidence is putting AI investments at risk.

To better understand where enterprises truly stand, Actian surveyed over 600 senior data, IT, and business leaders from organizations earning more than $1 billion in annual revenue, spanning:

• 7 countries (U.S., U.K., Germany, France, India, Sweden, and Australia).
• 12 industries (including financial services, manufacturing, technology, healthcare, retail, and energy/utilities).
• 4 seniority levels (C-suite, VPs, directors, and managers).
• 3 business functions (Data/Analytics, IT/Technology, and Line-of-Business).

What we uncovered is both revealing and urgent: while most enterprises believe their data governance maturity is high, the reality paints a more fragmented, fragile picture, especially as pressure mounts to scale AI.

A Confidence Gap With Consequences

At a glance, the results seem promising. Respondents gave themselves a high maturity rating, averaging 4.13 out of 5. But dig deeper, and a troubling disconnect emerges:

• 83% of organizations admit to facing governance and compliance challenges.
• C-suite leaders rate maturity 12% higher than frontline managers, who experience the issues daily.
• Data governance ranks as the least mature of eight foundational data dimensions.

This gap has consequences. When governance is overestimated, organizations may launch AI initiatives based on incomplete, untrusted, or non-compliant data, increasing the risk of failure, legal exposure, and reputational harm.

Why Data Governance is the Differentiator for AI

The research highlights the truth that governance isn’t just about compliance: it’s the critical link between enterprise data and AI success. 

Respondents said strengthening governance would directly lead to:

Top 5 expected outcomes of better data governance – Actian Global Research 2025

The message is clear: AI adoption is a key catalyst for governance improvements, but organizations understand that AI success is impossible without a strong data foundation. Respondents ranked data quality and trust as equally critical to AI enablement, underscoring that governance maturity is the differentiator between AI-driven growth and AI failure.

Additionally, governance improvements are seen as a pathway to faster market execution and better business insights, proving that governance is not just a compliance necessity—it’s a competitive advantage.

Beyond Tech: Strategy, Skills, and Culture Remain the Real Barriers

The research also reveals that data management challenges go beyond technical barriers. The top five challenges holding organizations back are deeply organizational and cultural in nature:

Top 5 data management obstacles – Actian Global Research 2025

The fact that AI and data strategy rank as top challenges reveals that organizations lack clear roadmaps to integrate governance with innovation. Meanwhile, the shortage of skilled staff and weak data literacy hinder adoption and impact. 

Without a holistic, integrated approach that combines people, processes, and technology, governance efforts risk fragmentation and inability to support AI-driven transformation.

Who’s Governing the Data?

While highly centralized governance remains dominant, over half of organizations are exploring center-led and decentralized models to strike a balance between consistency and agility. 

Enterprise approaches to data governance – Actian Global Research 2025

However, successful governance isn’t just about structure, but also about execution. Organizations transitioning to more federated models must invest in training, standardized processes, and stronger cross-functional collaboration to ensure scalable and impactful governance.

Introducing the Actian Confidata Index

To help organizations bridge the gap between perception (overconfidence) and reality, we launched the Actian Confidata Index—a free, research-backed self-assessment tool.

The five data & AI maturity categories – Actian Confidata Index

Built on the same eight-dimensional framework used in our global research, the Actian Confidata Index enables enterprises to:

• Benchmark Data & AI Maturity against 600+ industry professionals.
• Identify strengths and gaps across eight core dimensions.
• Receive a personalized report with recommendations to accelerate AI adoption and business value.

Those eight dimensions include:

• Data Strategy – Alignment with business and AI goals.
• Data Governance – Accountability, compliance, and risk frameworks.
• Data Culture & Organizational Readiness – Literacy and adoption.
• Data Management – Structuring, securing, and governing assets.
• Data Architecture & Integration – Interoperability and scalability.
• Data Quality & AI Governance – Ensuring AI-ready data.
• Data Operations – Lifecycle efficiency and agility.
• Value Realization – Turning data into measurable business outcomes.

Benchmark against data leaders on the eight dimensions – Actian Confidata Index

Whether your team is just getting started or already operating at scale, the Actian Confidata Index gives you a clear view of where you stand—and what to do next.

“Our global survey reveals a compelling paradox: AI acts as both a critical driver and a primary challenge for data governance. The Actian Confidata Index helps organizations find a starting point with an assessment and clear next steps to build strong data foundations and governance frameworks that enable AI success.” 

Emma McGrattan, CTO of Actian

Take the Free Confidata Index Assessment

The bottom line? You can’t succeed at AI without strong governance, and you can’t improve governance without first understanding where you are today.

Benchmark your data and AI maturity. Get personalized recommendations.

Take the free Actian Confidata Index assessment

About Actian Corporation

Actian empowers enterprises to confidently manage and govern data at scale, streamlining complex data environments and accelerating the delivery of AI-ready data. The Actian data intelligence approach combines data discovery, metadata management, and federated governance to enable smarter data usage and enhance compliance. With intuitive self-service capabilities, business and technical users can find, understand, and trust data assets across cloud, hybrid, and on-premises environments. Actian delivers flexible data management solutions to 42 million users at Fortune 100 companies and other enterprises worldwide, while maintaining a 95% customer satisfaction score.