AI Agents Access Only 45% of Enterprise Data, Legacy Systems Crimp ROI
Updated
Updated · MIT Technology Review · Aug 12
AI Agents Access Only 45% of Enterprise Data, Legacy Systems Crimp ROI
3 articles · Updated · MIT Technology Review · Aug 12
Summary
A survey of 300 data and technology executives found AI agents can access only 45% of enterprise data on average, leaving many organizations short of the foundation needed to deliver returns.
That gap is far worse for “data laggards,” where access falls to 30% or less, while “data leaders” give agents access to more than 70% and report stronger results.
Legacy systems are a key brake on scale and speed: 66% of laggards said old data platforms limit agent scaling and 68% said they slow decision-making, versus just 8% among leaders.
Trust tracks data readiness as well—only about half of surveyed organizations trust their agents’ decisions, compared with 100% of data leaders.
Pressure to fix data estates is rising because all respondents expect to use agentic AI within two years, with 69% planning broad deployment and Gartner projecting agents could shape 50% of business decisions by 2027.