(IDC) Preparing Data for Safe AI Enablement

Before your AI can be trusted, your data has to be.

IDC Perspective on the secure data foundation every AI initiative depends on, but most organizations don't have yet.

AI is no longer a side initiative. According to IDC's Future Enterprise Resiliency and Spending Survey, 76.3% of organizations expect to have at least 10 AI agents deployed by the end of 2026, and 35.8% expect to deploy at least 50 agents. The pressure to move fast is real. But we believe speed without a secure data foundation doesn't accelerate AI outcomes. It amplifies risk.

It's a prerequisite for AI autonomy. Autonomous agents operating on unverified, ungoverned, or poorly protected data amplify risk exponentially. And the gap between what organizations think they know about their data and what's actually happening inside their environments is exactly where AI initiatives break down.

The IDC Perspective recommends organizations to: “Implement robust data governance frameworks that encompass data discovery, classification, and data security posture management (DSPM) to ensure visibility and control over sensitive and confidential data across hybrid environments, supporting effective AI life-cycle management.” Read the IDC Perspective to see their full recommendations for building a trusted data foundation and what we believe it means to treat data security as the on-ramp to AI, not an afterthought. As Jennifer Glenn, Research Director for Information and Data Security at IDC, puts it: "AI is only as trustworthy as the data it consumes. Without secure, curated data, every AI-driven decision becomes a potential risk."

Get the IDC Perspective

IDC Perspective, "Preparing Data for Safe AI Enablement," Doc. #US54310426, May 2026.