BARC x Actian Research: Scaling Data Products–Key Challenges and What’s Next
Summary
- Organizations still face challenges scaling data products, particularly around ownership, governance, and cross-team collaboration.
- These challenges are gradually decreasing as enterprises gain experience and refine their data product strategies.
- Data observability is emerging as a top priority (43%) to ensure data reliability and proactively detect issues.
- Future focus is shifting toward building trustworthy, well-governed data foundations to support AI at scale.
Insights from the 2026 BARC x Actian global research study of 300+ enterprise data leaders
Organizations across industries are investing heavily in AI. Yet many initiatives still struggle to move beyond experimentation and deliver consistent business value.
To better understand what separates AI initiatives that scale from those that stall, Actian partnered with BARC, a leading global analyst firm for data and analytics, to conduct a global research study of enterprise data leaders.
Based on insights from more than 300 respondents across industries and regions, the study examines how organizations adopt and operationalize data products and data contracts, and how these approaches influence the success of AI initiatives.
While adoption is accelerating, the research also highlights an important reality: implementing data products at scale remains a work in progress for many organizations.
BARC × Actian Global Research Report (2026)
Scaling Data Products Still Presents Challenges
Despite the growing adoption of data products, organizations report several challenges when implementing them in practice.
Challenges when implementing data products – © BARC 2026
These challenges reflect the complexity of operationalizing data products across large organizations. Implementing this approach requires new practices for data ownership, governance, and collaboration between teams responsible for producing and consuming data.
As highlighted in the research, the transition toward managing data as products is still evolving, and organizations are refining how they structure and govern these initiatives.
Signs of Progress Across the Industry
Encouragingly, the research also indicates that many of these challenges are becoming less severe than in an earlier 2024 study.
As organizations gain experience with data product approaches, they are gradually learning to address operational and governance questions that arise as they scale these initiatives.
This suggests that data products are moving from an emerging concept toward a more established practice within enterprise data strategies.
Future Priorities: Strengthening Data Foundations for AI
Looking ahead, the research also examined which areas organizations plan to prioritize over the next 12 months as they continue scaling data products.
Areas related to data products that organizations are prioritizing in the next 12 months – © BARC 2026
The research shows that the primary driver of data product adoption is data quality—trustworthy inputs for AI systems and decision-making.
It is therefore no surprise that data observability is emerging as the next focus area (43%), as organizations seek greater visibility into the health and reliability of their data pipelines and the ability to detect and resolve issues before they affect production systems.
Alongside observability tools, practices such as data contracts are increasingly used to ensure that expectations around schema, ownership, and quality are clearly defined.
Overall, these new priorities highlight a broader shift: enterprises are increasingly focusing not only on building data platforms but also on ensuring that the data powering analytics and AI is trustworthy and well-governed.
Download the Full Research Report
This article introduces several key insights from the BARC x Actian global research study.
The full report, Data Products and Data Contracts in 2026: The Foundation for AI Success, explores how organizations across industries and regions are adopting and operationalizing data products and data contracts—and how these practices influence AI maturity, governance, and real-world outcomes.
Get the full report to explore the findings and learn how leading organizations are scaling AI with data products.
Download Full Report
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