September 2, 2025
Harvard Business Review recently published an article co-authored by Venkat Venkatraman, Professor Emeritus in Information Systems, arguing that companies must move beyond storing unused data and instead build real-time, interconnected intelligence systems to stay competitive.
As autonomous AI takes on more business decisions, enterprises face a critical choice: transform data into a living strategic resource or risk irrelevance.
The authors outline three imperatives – strategy, investment, and operations – to turn “data debt” into advantage. Success requires shifting from siloed storage to interconnected architectures, where real-time data in motion creates the most value. They also stress building trusted ecosystems that enable seamless collaboration across partners, suppliers, and customers.
Their conclusion is that in the Age of Intelligence, winners will design data strategies for speed, trust, and strong human-AI partnerships.
