The inversion problem
Organizations routinely fund the AI initiative and starve the data platform it depends on. The result is predictable: every AI project builds its own fragile pipeline, definitions drift, and the third project takes longer than the first. Fund the platform once; let every initiative inherit it.
Three properties worth paying for
A foundation earns its cost through three properties: trusted definitions (one meaning per business term, owned by someone), reliable freshness (data arrives when the business expects it, with alerts when it does not), and governed access (the right people reach the right data without a ticket queue).
Start with the decisions, not the sources
Inventorying every source system is a way to spend a year without shipping. Instead, list the ten decisions the business makes most often, trace the data each one needs, and build the platform outward from those paths. Coverage follows usage, not the other way around.