The data strategy reset C-suite leaders need for 2026

Reviewing data infrastructure to maximise company value

In a recent Data Visionaries roundtable hosted by Confluent and HotTopics, leaders shared how crises, CDO churn, and misaligned strategies have reshaped their approach to data. The result? A new blueprint for 2026.

Maximising an organisation’s value is the true proposition for every CEO. And for the last three years, at least, AI has been top of mind for them to achieve this, with its billing as a silver bullet for the silicon era’s productivity. The verifiability of that market sentiment aside, AI investment has forced many a CEO and their Board to spotlight their data. Specifically, many are being reminded that without a solid data foundation, their AI ambitions are expensive white elephants. Suddenly Chief Data Officers and similar were being feted by their bosses—with budget increases to match. This brings added pressure to an already complex role. As such, insights on what a solid data strategy resembles today are more important than ever.

As part of the Data Visionaries community and event series, Confluent and HotTopics brought together data, digital and technology leaders to compare and contrast their data ambitions. What is working; what isn’t working? How far is data aligned to the business, and what steps are you taking to improve this sentiment?

Over a two hour conversation moderated by HotTopics' Editor Peter Stojanovic the following five themes emerged as critical to consider:

Crises are a terrible thing to waste

Early on in the roundtable, leaders were reminded of an anachronistic axiom at the heart of business transformation: positive change arises from disaster as often as direction. 

Under Chatham House rule one leader shared how their now mature data strategy was borne from a cyber attack. It forced the financial services firm to confront years of disjointed data, siloed systems and reactive thinking. “We don’t want to advocate for getting hacked,” the CIO said with a grin, “but it was a wake-up call.” 

The breach became an unexpected accelerant: bureaucracy loosened, priorities sharpened, and funding flowed.

Others shared similar stories. The table heard how Hackney Council used their own incident during COVID to hit reset—rebuilding governance and eliminating redundant systems. “It gave us licence to act,” another leader noted. “A crisis does what strategy decks often cannot: it clears the fog.”

The takeaway? Sometimes the fastest path to data clarity starts with uncomfortable truths.

The CDO revolving door

The Chief Data Officer (CDO) was meant to unlock transformation. Across the industry, however, the role is in crisis: short-lived, poorly defined, and politically fraught.

“We [have] had three CDOs in 18 months,” one executive admitted. “One launched vanity projects. Another tried to control everything labelled ‘data’. Neither lasted.”

Too often, CDOs walk into unclear remits, sit under the wrong reporting lines, or clash with IT. Some focus on governance frameworks; others on building data platforms—but given the complexities of building a coherent and cohesive data strategy that aligns to a business strategy, organisation value is missing.

“They often walk into a trust deficit,” said another. “No power, no allies, and everyone waiting for them to fail.”

The major hurdle discussed was the need for control that these leaders demand. When it comes to data the table believes that you cannot centralise everything. Federation is a reality in global, acquisitive businesses. And when that is understood, leaders look not to control, but to enable. In fact, high-performing CDOs don’t chase ownership. They connect strategy to execution, translate between teams, and measure success in business outcomes, not data metrics.

One leader summed it up well:

“Our new CDO halved our project list. No vanity work. Just focus, foundations, and value.”

Until organisations fix the structure around the role—and CDOs focus less on ‘owning’ data and more on unlocking it—most will remain stuck in first gear.

Value, not vanity: Aligning data to strategy

Of particular importance is the relationship between data and the organisation. One question posed: To what extent should data strategy influence or lead business strategy? Cue knowing laughs around the room.

Data should enable the objectives of the organisation and highlight further opportunities for future review, but due to a combination of poor data literacy, impatience or short-termism, and buy-now-think-later technology investments, data becomes tactical. Unfortunately, tactical data initiatives end with frustration. The table heard anecdotes on dazzling dashboards, overengineered platforms and pet projects promising transformation but rarely delivering.

That mindset is changing. Across industries, leading organisations are finally shifting from vanity to value.

Leaders now work backwards from business outcomes. They start with clear goals (faster sales, lower churn, shorter product cycles) and only then define the data needed to deliver them. As one executive shared, “We asked our sales leads to show their pipeline in data. The gaps were immediate.”

Another team tied poor data quality to a 30 percent delay in product launches, a stat that grabbed executive attention instantly. The key is not lineage or taxonomy…it’s commercial impact.

“Bad data is costing us millions,” said one leader. “That’s how you win the room.”

Upon reflection, the real question isn’t how mature your data stack is, it’s how much better is your business because of it? If leaders can tell that story, momentum for future investment improves.

 AI readiness begins at the foundation 

A sobering part of the debate considered the compounding nature of AI. For these leaders, AI doesn’t solve bad data but it may multiply its consequences. So when it comes to preparing an integrated data-business strategy, AI should be carefully reviewed. Given the record amounts of money being spent on generative, and now agentic, services, that does not yet seem to be considered in Board rooms.

“You can’t feed AI with chaos and expect clarity,” said one executive. “It’s not a shortcut. It’s a multiplier.”

To be specific, some leaders are still navigating fragmented billing systems, missing master data, and undocumented processes. “We’ve got five systems all ending up in SAP,” one attendee said. “No governance. No consistency. But we’re talking about AI? That’s a fantasy.”

The most forward-thinking organisations are starting small: defining critical processes, mapping foundational data flows, cleaning key datasets. Only then do they layer in AI.

 Horizontal isn’t enough. Build diagonally.

One guest shared insights that departments are getting better at managing their own data so now the challenge is managing the flow between those teams. Like the structure of the element graphite, businesses which fail to hold strong bonds between the layers as they do within them, become soft. This part of a sound data strategy was spoken about as cross-functional flow.

As they explained: “Finance has good data. Sales has good data. But the bridge between them? Wobbly at best.”

Connecting departments on the uses and merits of data builds trust, and supports a more data literate culture—which could be its own roundtable topic. What we learned here is that true transformation comes when every team understands not just their data, but their dependencies, both upstream and downstream. Of course, that means shared definitions, shared KPIs, and shared accountability.

What data visionaries should do now

Based on this Food for Thought roundtable with Confluent, the key actions to understand include:

• Start with outcomes. Map your top KPIs. Then work backwards to the data you need.
  
  
• Audit your data portfolio. Kill vanity projects. Fund value-driven ones.
  
  
• Support your CDO. Make collaboration, not control, the mandate.
  
  
• Invest in literacy. Build internal understanding from the boardroom down.
  
  
• Fix foundations first. Don’t layer AI on top of chaos.
  
  
• Build sideways. Align across departments, not just within them.

Data Visionaries community

HotTopics, in partnership with Confluent, is proud to announce an exclusive community for data and analytics leaders driving transformation by tackling complexity at the source and building AI-ready foundations.