In today's data-driven economy, the gap between organizations effectively managing their information assets and those struggling with data integrity continues to widen dramatically. New research from information management giant Iron Mountain reveals Australian companies are both benefiting from good data practices and paying a steep price for poor ones.

The comprehensive study of 500 large organizations worldwide found that Australian companies are particularly focused on extracting better insights from their data, with 50% identifying this as their top strategic priority - significantly outpacing global counterparts including the United Kingdom (44%) and United States (39%).

This intensified focus appears justified, as data integrity flaws cost organizations an average of $A493,000 over the past year, contributing to a staggering $A22 billion global loss. For Australian firms, the consequences are especially severe, with 48% reporting lost competitive advantage from poor data - the highest percentage among all markets surveyed and substantially above the 29% global average.

Despite these challenges, Australian organizations are seeing remarkable returns when they get data management right. An impressive 84% of Australian respondents reported revenue and profitability growth directly attributable to their information management practices, contributing to what researchers call a "good data dividend" worth $A115 trillion globally.

"With the rise of open-source and specialized AI models, data integrity, transparency and trust are more critical than ever," said Narasimha Goli, Chief Technology Officer at Iron Mountain.

“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 metadata 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 research identified a clear blueprint from leading organizations that are successfully navigating the AI frontier. These top performers universally implement processes for eliminating redundant, obsolete or trivial (ROT) and automating data extraction, while 96% use AI dashboards to explain outcomes and data lineage to non-technical stakeholders.

However, significant hurdles remain. Workforce AI literacy emerged as a major concern for 42% of Australian organizations - substantially higher than the global average of 28%. This skills gap threatens to undermine otherwise promising AI initiatives.

Half (50%) of Australian organisations surveyed say improving data insight extraction will be key to achieving their strategic ambitions over the next 12 months – making it the most cited focus area in the country. This is 37% higher than the global average, and surpasses countries such as the United Kingdom (U.K.) (44%) and the United States (U.S.) (39%).

Over a third of respondents (36%) identified AI-ready data as the information management focus area that will have the greatest impact on achieving their organisation’s strategic ambitions over the next 12 months. 

As Mithu Bhargava, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Digital Solutions at Iron Mountain, emphasized: “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.” 

Download the Executive Summary report

The research was conducted by FT Longitude for Iron Mountain between December 2024 and January 2025.  The survey was conducted with C-Suite and C-1 executives from 500 large organisations (more than 1,000 employees) in 17 geographies worldwide including the Americas (US, Canada, Brazil), Europe (UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Nordics, Benelux) and APAC (Australia, China, Japan, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea).