When leadership asks why an AI initiative is slow, the answer is often upstream. The model is waiting on definitions, access, or a pipeline that still needs an owner.
A usable data foundation does not require a complete rebuild of every system. It does require agreed definitions, a reliable path from source to consumption, and someone responsible for quality.
Business intelligence and machine learning benefit from the same discipline. If two teams cannot agree on a customer or an order, they will not agree on a prediction either.
Plan the first AI use case and the first data slice together. A narrow, trusted dataset is more useful than a warehouse program with no decision attached to it.