There is a significant disconnect between businesses' ambitions for AI and their investment in compliance and risk mitigation, according to the Ataccama Data Trust Report 2025: Turning Compliance and Risk Mitigation into a Foundation for Strategic AI, which found that that one in five businesses lack a data governance framework.

The report is based on a survey of 300 data professionals at organizations generating revenue over $500 million in the banking/finance, business services, healthcare, insurance, manufacturing, retail, software, and telecommunications industries in the US, Canada and UK.

The report found that while 42% of organizations prioritize regulatory compliance, only 26% focus on it within their data teams. This gap exposes businesses to risks such as regulatory fines and data breaches, which can erode customer trust and financial stability.

Currently, only 24% of organizations have implemented AI at scale, highlighting a significant gap in readiness.

The report suggests that organizations must view compliance as a foundation for long-term business value and trust.

Automation is identified as a critical component for sustainable risk mitigation. With 47% of organizations recognizing data quality as crucial for compliance and 39% emphasizing data accuracy for risk mitigation, the report underscores the need for automation in data validation, accuracy, and scalable risk mitigation.

To gain access to AI-ready data, innovative companies should be embedding automation into their workflows for data validation and accuracy, scalable risk mitigation, and auditing. Without automation as the foundation for scalability, businesses risk their AI investment failing.

Leadership misalignment is another significant barrier to responsible AI adoption, with 33% of organizations citing it as a major issue. The rapid evolution of AI necessitates strategic leadership alignment, which many businesses currently lack.

Ensuring complete alignment to a robust governance framework is essential for driving innovation and trust.

The report also highlights regulatory tension, with 55% of organizations feeling that current frameworks are too restrictive. Despite this, automation has the potential to improve regulatory adherence by 40% this year, suggesting a path forward for businesses to adapt to regulatory changes in real-time.

Mike McKee, CEO of Ataccama, stated, " Compliance built on high-quality, trusted data is the foundation for transparency and should be more than a tick-box exercise. Tackling this with a scalable solution embedded with AI-enabled automation will unlock a competitive advantage."