Apr 24, 2026
Your Data Team Is Shipping Faster Than It Can Be Trusted. That’s a Problem.
dbt Labs’ 2026 State of Analytics Engineering Report found trust in data has surged to 83% as the top organisational priority — the steepest single-year rise ever recorded — driven by 71% of data professionals concerned about incorrect AI outputs reaching stakeholders. With only 7% of enterprises saying their data is completely AI-ready and Gartner finding organisations that see returns invest four times more in data foundations, this article examines the acceleration-to-governance gap and what agent-ready data infrastructure actually requires.