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The opportunity around AI is real, but without visibility, governance, and executive alignment, results stay out of reach.

AI Ambition Is Everywhere. Trusted Data Is Not.

That is the clearest takeaway from The Data & AI Trust Gap, Veeam’s new global research report, which is based on a survey of 600 senior leaders across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. The findings point to a hard truth: Most organizations do not have an AI adoption problem. Rather, they have trust issues around their data, which ends up slowing AI progress.

And the pressure to move faster with AI is intense. Some 83% of CEOs report feeling the need to accelerate their AI and data capabilities. But 97% say data challenges have slowed advancements in the past year. That gap between ambition and execution is where this report begins. If organizations want AI to deliver real business value, they need more than access to models and infrastructure. They need data they can trust, governance they can prove, and leadership alignment strong enough to turn strategy into action.

Download the full report to see the complete findings and what they mean for your organization.

The Real AI Challenge Is Trust

AI is no longer an experiment for most organizations. According to the report, 88% are already using or piloting AI agents. But governance is not keeping pace. That mismatch creates risk fast. When leaders cannot clearly see what data exists, where it lives, how AI is using it, or who owns the risk, trust breaks down. And when trust breaks down, so do outcomes.

Our report explores the gap between AI ambition and results, and shows that the organizations making the most progress are not necessarily the ones moving fastest. Instead, those organizations seeing the biggest results are the ones first building the right foundations.

What the Data Tells Us

Here are some of the clearest takeaways from our survey of 600 senior leaders from across the globe.

1. CEOs see the opportunity, but the foundation is still missing

The upside is clear to leadership. Nearly half of all CEOs believe trusted, compliant data could boost revenue or efficiency by more than 25%. Plus, across all respondents, 38% say the same.

Of course, belief is not the same as readiness. Most leaders say their organization’s data still needs to be more:

• Up to date (79%)
• Accurate (74%)
• Accessible (71%)

This data serves as a wake-up call, that while organizations understand the value of trusted data, many still lack the visibility, controls, and accountability needed to act on it.

2. There is a major leadership disconnect around AI visibility

One of the most striking findings in the report is the gap between what CEOs believe and what technical leaders see. For example, some 65% of CEOs say their organization has a complete and reliable AI inventory, while only 44% of CISOs and 52% of CIOs agree.

That matters because AI strategy, compliance posture, and risk tolerance are often set at the top. And if the view from the top is incomplete, the decisions built on it can be too.

3. Ownership of AI risk is fragmented

When asked who holds primary responsibility for what AI agents do, respondents did not point to one clear owner.

In other words, responsibility is spread across the organization, but not always in a structured way. That type of strategy can make it harder to enforce controls, respond to issues quickly, and prove accountability when regulators or boards ask tough questions. What the report shows clearly: When ownership is defined well, outcomes improve. When responsibility is diffused, confidence drops.

4. Shadow AI is already a real business problem

The report also highlights how quickly AI use is spreading beyond approved channels. Some 95% of organizations know employees are using unapproved AI tools, and 93% of senior leaders recognize shadow AI as a problem. Yet only 25% of organizations provide all employees with access to approved AI tools.

That gap is notable. If people need AI to do their jobs and the business does not give them governed options, they will find their own. Policy alone will not solve that. Organizations need practical guardrails, approved alternatives, and consistent enforcement.

5. Most organizations are still not AI-ready

One of the strongest themes in the report is that AI readiness is not about hype. It is about fundamentals.

The research identifies three building blocks of AI readiness:

• Ambition
• Visibility
• Governance

Only 7% of organizations have all three in place today. But here is the upside. Among that small group of 7%, around 97% report significant, formally quantified business outcomes from their data initiatives over the past year.

That is the real story this research report uncovered. The gap is not between organizations that care about AI and those that do not. Rather, it is between organizations that have built the foundation for trusted execution and those still trying to scale without it.

What It Takes to Make AI Work at Scale

This report is not a warning against AI. It is a reminder that trust is what makes AI useful at scale.

Organizations need:

• Clear visibility into where data lives and how it flows
• Enforced controls, not policy alone
• Recovery that is tested and validated
• Executive alignment around ownership and accountability

The four conditions above all have key roles to play in making safe, scalable AI possible. And the organizations seeing results are doing the work upfront. They are auditing their data, closing visibility gaps, assigning ownership, and building governance that can stand up to operational and regulatory pressure.

The Data & AI Trust Gap lays out the full research, key statistics, and the leadership gaps organizations need to close to move from AI ambition to results.

Download the report to explore:

• Where C-suite perception diverges from technical reality
• Why data trust is becoming a revenue and efficiency issue
• What shadow AI is revealing about governance gaps
• How AI-ready organizations are separating themselves from the pack

If your organization is pushing AI forward, this report will help you understand what may be holding results back, and what to do next.

The post Announcing the Data & AI Trust Gap Report: Why AI Ambition Is Outpacing Trust appeared first on Veeam Software Official Blog.

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