Data Products and Data Contracts: The Foundation for AI Success
Exclusive 2026 research from BARC and Actian reveals how data products, supported by data contracts, improve data quality and enable reliable AI at scale. Based on insights from 300+ enterprise data leaders worldwide, the report shows why adopting data products across the enterprise leads to significantly stronger AI outcomes—and how leading teams operationalize them in practice.
AI success depends on data foundations
85% of organizations with enterprise data products have multiple AI projects in production.
Organizations are investing heavily in AI, yet many initiatives still struggle to move beyond pilots and deliver consistent business value.
New research from BARC shows that data product adoption is strongly correlated with AI maturity and success. Companies that establish data products enterprise-wide are far more likely to run multiple AI systems in production.
This research examines:
- How organizations adopt and scale data products.
- The role of data contracts in building trusted data pipelines.
- Why data quality, governance, and ownership drive adoption.
- The patterns that distinguish leaders from laggards in scaling AI.
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What You’ll Learn
- Why organizations with mature data products achieve stronger AI outcomes.
- How data product maturity accelerates the adoption of agentic AI.
- Why regulated industries are leading data product adoption.
- The role of data contracts in scalable data ecosystems.
- The organizational and cultural challenges companies face when scaling data products.
- Where enterprises are investing next, including data observability and expanded access to data products.
Who Should Read This Report?
- Chief Data Officers
- Data & analytics leaders
- Data platform architects
- AI & ML leaders
- Data governance teams
About the Research
This study is based on a global quantitative survey conducted in November 2025. The objective of the survey was to gain a detailed understanding of the current relevance and strategic importance of data products and data contracts within organizations.
A total of 308 qualified individuals were included in the final analysis after data cleansing. The participants represented various industries and company sizes and were globally distributed. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data, designed to capture deeper insights into participants’ expertise and experiences. The respondents were selected at random to ensure a broad and representative database.
About BARC
BARC is the leading analyst firm for data & analytics, AI, corporate performance management (CPM), and ESG with a reputation for unbiased and trusted advice. Their expert analysts deliver a wide range of research, events, and consulting services for the data & analytics community. BARC’s innovative research evaluates software, vendors, and service providers rigorously and highlights market trends, delivering insights that enable their customers to innovate with data, analytics, and AI. BARC’s 25 years of experience with data strategy & culture, data architecture, organization, and software selection helps clients transform into truly data-driven organizations.
