Nearly 80% of Enterprises Say AI Is Held Back by Data Access Challenges, New Cloudera Report Finds

Cloudera’s Data Readiness Index reveals a growing “AI readiness illusion,” where widespread adoption outpaces the data foundations required to deliver real business impact.

SAN JOSE, Calif., April 14, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cloudera, the only company bringing AI to data anywhere, today released its latest global survey, The Data Readiness Index: Understanding the Foundations for Successful AI, examining how prepared enterprises are to support AI at scale. Surveying nearly 1,300 global IT leaders, the report finds that while AI adoption is growing, most organizations still lack the data foundation needed for success. The findings highlight a striking paradox: while 96% of organizations report integrating AI into core business processes and 85% say they have a clear data strategy, nearly 4 out of 5 (~80%) admit their AI and data initiatives are still constrained by limited data access across environments.

This gap highlights an emerging “AI readiness illusion”: the belief that organizations are prepared to scale AI even as critical data challenges remain unresolved.

“Enterprises aren’t struggling to adopt AI, they’re struggling to operationalize it beyond experiments,” said Sergio Gago, Chief Technology Officer at Cloudera. “AI is only as effective as the data that fuels it. Without seamless access to all their data, organizations limit the accuracy, trust, and business value that AI can deliver. You can’t do AI without data.”

AI Adoption is High, but ROI Remains Elusive

AI is now embedded across the enterprise, but achieving consistent returns on investment remains difficult. When asked why AI initiatives fall short, respondents cited several key challenges: data quality (22%), cost overruns (16%), and poor integration into existing workflows (15%). These barriers highlight the ongoing complexity of translating AI investments into measurable business outcomes.

Infrastructure limitations further compound the issue. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of respondents report that performance constraints have hindered operational initiatives, reflecting the difficulty of scaling AI across fragmented environments.

The Data Gap: Access, Governance, and Visibility

At the core of these challenges is a lack of complete data access and control.

84% of respondents felt confident in the accuracy, completeness, and alignment of their organization’s data. However, this optimism often masks deeper issues, including persistent silos, inconsistent data quality, and limited accessibility. Data that appears reliable in isolation frequently breaks down when used across teams, systems, or AI applications, exposing gaps in governance and consistency across the organization.

Less than one in five (18%) respondents said their data was fully governed, highlighting the gap between perceived confidence and reality. While 71% say most of their data is governed, true data-backed initiatives depend on a consistent, organization-wide source of truth.

Without comprehensive governance to unify data and enforce clear standards, organizations risk missed opportunities, poor decision-making, and outputs that fall short of their full potential.

How Industries Compare on Data Readiness

The landscape of data readiness looks very different across industries. For example, 54% of telecommunications respondents said it is “extremely true” that they have full visibility into where their data resides. In comparison, only 30% of financial services respondents and 31% of public sector respondents reported the same. Regarding access, 51% of telecommunications respondents said they can access all their data at any time, compared to just 24% in financial services and 16% in the public sector.

Despite this strong data readiness, the advantage has not fully translated into operational success. Three out of five (60%) telecommunications respondents said infrastructure performance consistently hinders operational initiatives, the highest among all industries surveyed.

These challenges extend to AI initiatives as well. Barriers to AI ROI differ by industry. While survey respondents most often cited data quality, cost overruns were most prominent in energy and utilities (25%). By contrast, poor integration into workflows was highlighted by respondents in healthcare, manufacturing, and financial services (20%).

Data Readiness Will Define the Next Phase of Enterprise AI

As enterprise AI shifts from experimentation to execution, data readiness is emerging as the defining factor separating leaders from laggards.

Organizations able to fully access and govern all their data, wherever it resides, are far better equipped to deliver trusted, scalable AI. Notably, every respondent in the report indicated their organization is at least somewhat willing to adapt existing frameworks to support true data readiness.

As enterprises confront the limits of the AI readiness illusion, the path forward is clear: unlocking AI’s full value will require more than ambition; it will demand genuine data readiness. Those that close this gap will be best positioned to drive lasting impact and lead the next era of intelligent business.

To read more about the barriers to enterprise AI and how to address the data readiness gap, read the full report here.

Methodology
The survey, commissioned by Cloudera and fielded by Researchscape, examines the views of 1,270 IT leaders based across the AMER, EMEA, and APAC regions who work at companies with more than 1,000 employees. The survey was fielded from January 22, 2026, to March 3, 2026. The results of this survey have been weighted to be representative of the overall GDP of surveyed countries.

About Cloudera
Cloudera is the only hybrid data and AI platform company that large organizations trust to bring AI to their data anywhere it lives. Unlike other providers, Cloudera delivers a consistent cloud experience that converges public clouds, on-prem data centers, and the edge, leveraging a proven open-source foundation. As the pioneer in big data, Cloudera empowers businesses to apply AI and assert control over 100% of their data, in all forms, improving security, governance, and real-time and predictive insights. The world’s largest brands across all industries rely on Cloudera to transform decision-making and ultimately boost bottom lines, safeguard against threats, and save lives.

To learn more, visit Cloudera.com and follow us on LinkedIn and X. ©2026 Cloudera and associated marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cloudera, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Contact
Jess Hohn-Cabana
cloudera@v2comms.com

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