The Data Quality Imperative

Executive Summary

Gartner predicts that 30% of Generative AI projects will be abandoned after proof-of-concept by the end of 2025. The primary culprit? Poor data quality.

This whitepaper provides a practical framework for assessing your organisation’s data readiness before committing to AI investment—helping you avoid becoming part of that 30% statistic.

The Hidden Cost of Poor Data Quality

According to Gartner’s research on data quality, the average organisation loses $12.9 million annually to poor data quality. But the impact extends beyond direct financial loss:

Direct Costs

• Rework and error correction
• Regulatory fines and compliance failures
• Customer compensation and goodwill gestures

Indirect Costs

• Lost productivity as teams work around data issues
• Delayed decision-making due to lack of trusted data
• Failed AI/ML initiatives that consume budget without delivering value

Strategic Costs

• Missed market opportunities
• Competitive disadvantage
• Erosion of data-driven culture

Why Data Quality Matters More for AI

Traditional analytics can often work around data quality issues through human interpretation and contextual understanding. AI models cannot.

Machine learning algorithms learn patterns from historical data. If that data contains:

• Inconsistent formats: The model learns inconsistency
• Duplicate records: The model over-weights those patterns
• Missing values: The model either fails or makes assumptions
• Outdated information: The model learns yesterday’s reality

The result? Models that perform well in testing but fail catastrophically in production—the classic “garbage in, garbage out” problem, amplified by AI’s scale and speed.

The Five Dimensions of AI-Ready Data

Based on our experience and industry research, we assess data quality across five critical dimensions. Explore each dimension below to understand what separates AI-ready data from data that will undermine your investment.

The five dimensions of AI-ready data

Explore each dimension to understand what separates AI-ready data from data that will undermine your investment. Look for the warning signs and ask the right questions.

Completeness

Does your data contain all required fields for AI use cases?

Consistency

Is your data uniform across systems and time periods?

Accuracy

Does your data reflect real-world truth?

Timeliness

Is your data current enough for AI decision-making?

Uniqueness

Are duplicate records properly identified and managed?

Not sure where your organisation stands? Our Data Health Check provides a structured assessment across all five dimensions.

Learn about our Data Health Check

The Data Health Check Framework

Before any AI investment, we recommend a structured Data Health Check:

Phase 1: Scope Definition (Week 1)

• Identify the specific AI use cases under consideration
• Map data requirements for each use case
• Prioritise data assets for assessment

Phase 2: Quality Assessment (Weeks 2-3)

• Score each data asset across the five dimensions
• Document specific quality issues discovered
• Quantify the remediation effort required

Phase 3: Readiness Scoring (Week 4)

• Calculate overall AI-readiness score
• Identify blocking issues vs. manageable risks
• Recommend proceed/pause/remediate for each use case

Phase 4: Remediation Roadmap

• Prioritise data quality improvements by impact
• Estimate effort and timeline for remediation
• Define quality gates for AI development

Scenario: The Cost of Skipping Assessment

The following illustrates a typical scenario based on industry patterns:

Consider a financial services organisation preparing to invest in a customer propensity AI model. A Data Health Check might reveal:

• Customer 360 data completeness: 67% (below 85% threshold)
• Cross-system consistency: Multiple customer IDs per individual
• Address accuracy: 23% of addresses undeliverable

Proceeding without addressing these issues would mean training the model on incomplete, inconsistent data—virtually guaranteeing poor performance.

A Data Health Check typically costs £10,000-£20,000. The avoided wasted development in scenarios like this? Often £150,000-£250,000+.

Practical Recommendations

For Organisations Planning AI Investment

1. Don’t skip the data assessment. The pressure to “move fast” with AI often leads to skipping foundational work. This is a false economy.

2. Be honest about data quality. Optimistic assumptions about data quality are the root cause of most AI project failures.

3. Budget for remediation. Data quality improvement should be a line item in any AI business case, not an afterthought.

4. Establish ongoing governance. Data quality isn’t a one-time fix—it requires continuous monitoring and improvement.

For Organisations Already Struggling

1. Pause and assess. If your AI project is underperforming, data quality is the most likely culprit.

2. Measure before fixing. Understand the specific quality issues before attempting remediation.

3. Prioritise ruthlessly. You can’t fix everything. Focus on the data quality issues that directly impact your AI use cases.

Conclusion

The 30% project abandonment rate Gartner predicts is not inevitable. Organisations that invest in understanding their data quality position before committing to AI development dramatically improve their odds of success.

The Data Health Check framework outlined in this whitepaper provides a practical, structured approach to data quality assessment. Whether you conduct this assessment internally or engage external support, the investment is trivial compared to the cost of failed AI initiatives.

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About Orion Data Analytics

Orion is a boutique Microsoft consultancy specialising in Data & AI transformation. Our AI Value Blueprint includes comprehensive Data Health Check services designed to ensure your AI investments are built on solid foundations.

Learn more about our approach →

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Sources: Gartner Newsroom (August 2024), Gartner Data Quality Research. Statistics represent industry research findings; individual results may vary.