Strong data management could unlock AUD $115 trillion globally

New research indicates that global organisations could realise a total of AUD $115 trillion in additional revenue from effective data management but are facing significant losses from poor data integrity.

Iron Mountain, working with FT Longitude, conducted a study with 500 large organisations worldwide, exploring how they are pursuing AI readiness and the direct financial impact of their information management practices.

The findings show that 90% of organisations globally reported an increase in revenue and profitability over the last 12 months as a result of investing in information management systems and strategies. This equated to an average revenue growth of AUD $3.4 billion per organisation, contributing to a global gain of AUD $115 trillion.

Within Australia, 84% of respondents noted direct revenue and profitability growth due to improvements in data collection, storage, and analytics capabilities. The research highlights a phenomenon described as the 'good data dividend'.

Despite these gains, the report also points to costly setbacks from data integrity issues. On average, Australian organisations lost approximately AUD $493,000 in the past 12 months as a result of data integrity flaws. This equates to a global loss of around AUD $22 billion for all companies surveyed.

Half of Australian organisations identified the need for improved data insight extraction as the most important factor for achieving strategic goals in the next year. This figure is 37% higher than the global average, outpacing countries such as the United Kingdom (44%) and the United States (39%).

Additionally, 36% of respondents identified AI-ready data as the information management area that would have the greatest impact on delivering organisational ambitions in the coming 12 months.

Australian organisations are also more likely than their global counterparts to identify loss of competitive advantage as the primary consequence of unreliable data. 48% of Australian respondents selected this outcome, compared to a global average of 29%, the highest among all nations surveyed.

AI literacy presents a notable challenge, with 42% of Australian businesses reporting it as the top obstacle to AI readiness, well above the global average of 28%.

Most Australian organisations (92%) report that their AI readiness strategies have already benefited their operations—14 percentage points above the overall global average. Yet, only 34% consider their AI readiness activities to be a crucial source of competitive advantage. Meanwhile, 58% acknowledged that their AI initiatives provide only intermittent rather than consistent value.

Commenting on these results, Narasimha Goli, Chief Technology Officer at Iron Mountain, said: "With the rise of open-source and specialised AI models, data integrity, transparency and trust are more critical than ever. At Iron Mountain, we are investing in solutions such as our Iron Mountain InSight Digital Experience Platform (DXP) to help our customers get their information ready for use in generative AI and other AI-powered applications. This enables organisations to illuminate dark, unstructured data by automating the processes for extracting and organising meta data at speed and scale, and with a high degree of accuracy.

"By leveraging technology like this to ensure their data is being sourced responsibly, organisations can harness the full potential of their information to drive intelligent decision-making and unlock new growth opportunities."

The study also identifies distinct practices among a leading group of organisations that have seen the largest revenue and profitability increases from information management enhancements. All of these leading organisations have established processes for removing redundant, obsolete, or trivial data and for automating the extraction of relevant information. 96% utilise AI dashboards to clarify outcomes and explain data provenance to non-technical stakeholders. These leaders are also 16% more likely to use AI nutrition labels to verify data quality, and 55% are employing AI technologies to refine unstructured data to make it more suitable for AI applications.

Mithu Bhargava, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Digital Solutions at Iron Mountain, said: "Smart information management is key to capitalising on the growing AI opportunity, and Iron Mountain's research shows that a commitment to responsibly sourcing the data for AI models is a hallmark of leading organisations. With AI fast becoming a necessity, this data quality-first mindset is now essential for every organisation."

The research encompassed large organisations from multiple sectors including financial services, healthcare, legal services, retail, and technology in 17 territories across the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.

The results highlight the increasing importance of both AI literacy and data integrity in unlocking financial growth and competitive advantage, while also showcasing the operational and financial risks of neglecting comprehensive data management strategies.