Business leaders are having a crisis of confidence over data literacy

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Business leaders are under immense pressure to back up their decisions with data, but data skills and literacy issues are creating a crisis of confidence.

Research from Salesforce, released as part of a new product launch, found that more than three-quarters of business leaders think the growth in AI increases their need to be data-driven.

Unfortunately, though, many are struggling. More than seven-in-ten said they were under pressure to use data to demonstrate business value. Indeed, they said their career depended on their ability to use facts, metrics, and data to drive decisions.

86% went a step further, saying their careers are reliant on how data literate they are in terms of using methods and tools to extract actionable insights from data. This drive for data literacy was felt by nine-in-ten leaders in sales and marketing.

Confidence in data quality is dipping

Meanwhile, business leaders don't trust the data itself. Confidence in data’s relevance to business objectives is down by 18% since 2023 while confidence in its accuracy down 27%.

Fewer than half said their data strategies fully align with their business priorities - another big drop since 2023. The answer, said Salesforce, is agentic analytics.

"Agentic analytics offers a solution by unifying data and empowering AI agents to proactively deliver trusted, real-time insights to everyone, enabling data-driven decisions for everyone – even those who don’t consider themselves ‘data people," said Jones.

These claims come amidst the launch of new features for its Tableau Next product, including three AI agents. Data Pro helps convert raw data into business language, automating extract, transform, load (ETL) processes.

Concierge is a natural language interface allowing users to ask questions in everyday terms and receive visualizations and recommendations - "What are my best sales opportunities?", for example.

Similarly, the firm said its Inspector tool continuously monitors data for key changes, identifies patterns and trends, and surfaces insights that humans might never think to look for.

"We’re shifting from basic reports to a world where AI is a collaborative decision-making partner," said said Ryan Aytay, CEO of Tableau.

"By combining AI agents with trusted data and easy-to-use tools, we’re making data accessible to everyone and transforming the data-to-action process into an automated, proactive, and insight-driven cycle. This empowers users to improve decision-making, boost efficiency, and manage risk more effectively."

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Emma Woollacott is a freelance journalist writing for publications including the BBC, Private Eye, Forbes, Raconteur and specialist technology titles.