As artificial intelligence is dominating the competitive business landscape, a new survey from Salesforce reveals a troubling disconnect between business priorities and data strategies, one that could stall innovation and derail leadership careers.

According to the 2025 Salesforce survey of over 550 senior business leaders across U.S. companies with more than 500 employees, fewer than half say their current data strategies related to how data is collected, managed, stored, and accessed are fully aligned with their business objectives. That figure marks a 14% decline from 2023.

Data’s Growing Role and Falling Trust

Despite a rising consensus on the importance of data, confidence in it is slipping. Business leaders are under pressure to make faster, smarter decisions amid economic, technological, and geopolitical uncertainties. Yet many lack the trust and tools needed to extract meaningful insights.

“Business leaders do not feel equipped to find, analyze, and interpret the data they need in an increasingly competitive business environment,” the research states.

A majority of leaders, about 66%, report increased pressure to be data-driven. Still, 54% admit they are not confident in their ability to find, analyze, and interpret data on their own. This lack of confidence is most acute among right-brained leaders, those who lean toward creativity and relationship building, who represent 47% of respondents, particularly in marketing (59%), human resources (58%), and sales (56%).

Career Stakes Rise with Data Literacy

The survey findings draw a direct line between career advancement and data skills. A striking 72% of leaders believe their careers depend on being data-driven, and an even higher 86% say their success hinges on being data-literate, that is, having the ability to extract actionable insights from data.

“This is not just about trapped data or trapped value to customers. This is about trapped opportunities for career growth,” the research emphasizes.

In fact, business leaders are now competing internally based on how effectively they use data. Nearly 6 out of 10 leaders say data is a differentiator among colleagues, yet many still struggle to translate data into daily action or informed decision-making.

AI Triggers the Need for Trusted Data

As enterprises rush to adopt AI solutions, particularly agentic AI that supports hybrid workforces, confidence in data becomes a foundational aspect. The challenge is steep, as just 29% of enterprise applications are integrated, despite organizations using an average of 897 apps—nearly half use over 1,000, fragmenting the data landscape and obstructing access.

CIOs are responding by prioritizing infrastructure over algorithms. In 2025, IT leaders expect to allocate 20% of their budgets to data infrastructure, four times the 5% planned for AI investments. Meanwhile, 93% intend to deploy AI agents within the next two years.

“Higher adoption of AI will require stronger data literacy and access to trustworthy data,” the report concludes.

Putting Data to Work in the Flow of Work

For AI to scale positive business outcomes, data must be embedded within the tools and workflows employees already use. According to the survey, 90% of business leaders believe direct access to data within their core applications would boost performance. Additionally, 86% would use data more often if it were more easily accessible.

Leaders also crave intuitive interfaces. “85% of business leaders think they’d be better at their jobs if they could ask their data questions with natural language as they use with colleagues,” the report states.

This demand for conversational interfaces aligns with the promise of multimodal AI agents—tools that reason and interact through text, voice, images, and video to deliver real-time, actionable insights.

Building a Data-Driven Culture

As AI adoption accelerates, the call to action is for companies to close the data literacy gap. That means investing not only in infrastructure but in employee training, fostering a culture where data fluency is expected and enabled. The future belongs to leaders who can not only access data but confidently act on it.