Real-Time Data Fueling Artificial Intelligence ‘Factories’

Data is data, but when it’s real-time data, that’s when it starts multiplying in value. A new study reveals this companies leveraging real-time data are seeing the most revenues and growth. Plus, companies ahead of the curve with artificial intelligence and machine learning are those that employ real-time data the most.

That’s the word from a recent survey of 556 companies by Datastax, which correlates the use of real-time data with higher revenue growth and increased developer productivity. Those employing real-time data in profound ways “excel at leveraging data to create new products and new revenue streams,” the study’s authors state. Fifty-two percent of market leaders say they have a strategic focus that’s built around using real-time data to create value across the organization. “There’s a good reason for this: they are also most likely to say that real-time data has a transformative effect on revenue.”

In addition, 71% of executives in the Datastax survey agree that they can tie their revenue growth directly to real-time data, and 78% agree that real-time data is a “must-have,” not a “nice to have.” As an added bonus, 66% of real-time data focused organizations agree that developer productivity has improved.

In a further analysis of the findings in CIO, Datastax Vice President Bryan Kirschner alludes to real-time data as enabling what he calls AI “factories.” These are companies well ahead of the curve with AI and machine learning, and “have assembled technology infrastructures that enable instantaneous changes and decisions based on real-time feedback.” Day-old data and batch processing no longer cuts in in organizations that operate from minute to minute.

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These top enterprises “develop tailored customer experiences, mitigate the risk of customer churn, anticipate equipment failure, and enable all kinds of process decisions in real time,” Kirshner adds. Datastax’s survey findings document that the substantial use of real-time data correlates with AI maturity: 81% of companies that have broadly deployed AI/ML say real-time data is a core strategy. Only 32% in the early stages of AI/ML employ real-time data strategies. Ninety-six percent of the AI/ML leaders expect all or most of their apps to be real time within three years.