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Key Takeaways Why the biggest barriers to using data aren’t technical.
The mindset that separates companies that thrive from those that fall behind.
Most companies don’t have a data problem. They have a trust problem.
At AWS re:Invent last December, one thing was impossible to ignore: the technical excuses for not using data are gone. The infrastructure is there. Security, compliance and governance tools now allow organizations to share information safely without freezing decision-making. The challenge isn’t technology anymore — it’s culture.
AI was everywhere, but I wasn’t focused on product launches. I was looking at how companies think about data itself: how it’s shared, governed and ultimately turned into decisions. And across conversations with executives and sessions on security and compliance, a pattern emerged: the technical limitations that once justified locking data down have largely been solved. What remains difficult is human. Alignment, trust and confidence inside organizations are now the true barriers.
Why everything counts as data now
For decades, data was narrowly defined: transactional records, CRM entries, ERP metrics and the digital signals of clicks, purchases or usage. Everything else — emails, Slack messages, survey feedback, customer reviews, social signals, operational workflows — was considered noise or outside the data conversation. Sharing across teams was slow and risky. Locking information away became the default.
That mindset is no longer sufficient. AI now makes it possible to extract value from almost any signal. Internal communications, operational metrics and customer sentiment can all inform decisions. The scope of what counts as data has expanded dramatically. The posture a company takes toward sharing and using this information now determines its competitive edge.
The human problem is bigger than the technical one
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