Mobile collection, sovereignty, frugal AI, skills: what will matter for organisations over the next twelve months.
1. Collection becomes a board-level topic
Long left to field teams, data collection is rising up leaders' agendas. The reason is simple: the quality of a dashboard or an AI model depends directly on the quality of data captured at the source. Organisations that invest in rigorous collection protocols save time at every later step.
2. Offline mobile becomes the norm
Where connectivity remains patchy, mobile forms that work offline and synchronise later have become standard. They reduce transcription errors and enable almost immediate quality control.
3. Data quality gets measured
The most advanced organisations no longer just clean data now and then. They track quality indicators (completeness, uniqueness, consistency) the way they track revenue.
4. Data sovereignty moves from talk to action
National data protection laws, regional data centres, partner requirements: where data is hosted and how it circulates are becoming criteria for choosing providers.
5. Generative AI enters business functions
After the curiosity phase, generative AI is settling into specific uses: summarising documents, writing assistance, searching internal knowledge. Value comes from connecting it to company data, not from the tool alone.
6. AI agents arrive in processes
Agents able to chain several tasks (extract, check, draft, follow up) are starting to automate whole processes. They require safeguards and clear human supervision.
7. Frugal AI becomes an advantage
Smaller, specialised models that are cheaper to run: with tight budgets and limited infrastructure, frugality isn't a sacrifice, it's a strategy.
8. Skills remain the real bottleneck
Data analysts, data engineers, people who can talk to the business: demand outstrips supply. Training in-house is becoming as strategic as hiring.
