04-07-2026IMPACT COUNCIL

Data, not infrastructure, must drive your AI strategy 

How to make the most of your data for successful AI implementation.

[Photo: Getty Images]

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of top leaders and experts who pay dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership, and more.

Whether intentionally or not, companies build walls. Different business units use metrics that may not align with those of others. And, if it’s an international organization, data-sharing regulations can add extra borders between teams, preventing efficient collaboration.

Early in the days of generative AI, I asked a chief information officer (CIO) how many data scientists they had. Most are lucky to have one or two, but he answered 800. He didn’t know exactly what they did though, because they spanned multiple business units that didn’t work together.

We helped them establish an AI Center of Excellence (CoE), where groups share knowledge. The result? Several data scientists discovered they could solve a problem that had stumped them before.

Siloed communication stood in the way of progress. It spoke to an underlying data problem, though. Each data scientist had a treasure trove of information. We helped make that data accessible to everyone else, which made much more........

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