How To Drive An AI Advantage With A Common Data Platform

InnovationHow To Drive An AI Advantage With A Common Data PlatformByRajesh Ganesan,Forbes Councils Member.for Forbes Technology CouncilCOUNCIL POSTExpertise from Forbes Councils members, operated under license. Opinions expressed are those of the author. | Membership (fee-based)May 13, 2026, 07:15am EDTBy Rajesh Ganesan, CEO of ManageEngine. getty​Many AI conversations build on a common misconception: “If we choose the right model, everything else will fall into place.”It’s an understandable assumption. The headlines focus on models. The breakthroughs focus on models. The demos focus on models. But in enterprise environments, the model is rarely the bottleneck.The real determinant of AI success is something far less glamorous: data strategy.To extract durable advantages from AI, organizations must extend their data strategy beyond enterprise architecture, governance, security and other traditional considerations. Now, their data strategy must also unify the multiple systems of records that feed their generative and agentic AI.One of the best ways to do that is through a common data platform. This is a tightly integrated, permission-aware platform that allows intelligence to operate reliably at scale.A common data platform isn't simply a data lake or a reporting engine. It’s a unified data plane that consolidates operational, security, identity and workflow data into a shared architecture. It maintains consistent schemas and metadata, enforces identity-aware permissions, preserves auditability and governance controls and enables real-time interoperability across systems.In practical terms, a common data platform ensures that the truth about your enterprise is accessible, consistent and controlled. This platform becomes the foundation on which workflows, intelligence and outcomes are built.​Integration As A Core Feature Of Enterprise AIIn the early stages of digital transformation, features mattered. Organizations evaluated tools based on functionality. Today, in...