(Info-Tech: Arlington, VA) – Artificial intelligence (AI) has added a new layer to information management (IM) that accelerates how organizations create, access, and use information. However, recent findings from Info-Tech Research Group show that many IM practices remain rooted in legacy approaches, limiting where AI can meaningfully improve the usability, reliability, and quality of information.

The global research and advisory firm’s newly published blueprint, “Leverage AI to Improve Information Management,” details a structured methodology to help IT leaders build an integrated IM strategy that spans information disciplines, reduces risk, and enables AI-driven value creation throughout the organization.

Info-Tech’s blueprint insights indicate that AI is eroding long-standing boundaries between structured data, unstructured content, and organizational knowledge. Yet most IM practices still operate in silos. Current retention and classification practices expose organizations to heightened compliance, security, and reputational risks when information is poorly classified, inaccessible, or unreliable. The firm advises organizations to adopt an integrated, type-agnostic approach to IM that prioritizes high-value information and governs it consistently.

Info-Tech Research Group’s Framework for AI-Powered Information Management (CNW Group/Info-Tech Research Group)

“Leaders navigating the changes AI has triggered in the information management space must let go of dichotomous and hierarchical views of information, where structured and unstructured data are treated as separate worlds,” says Nysa Zaran, research director at Info-Tech. “The debate between ‘what is knowledge,’ ‘what is an insight,’ and ‘what is information’ leads to chatter but no outcomes.”

Key information management challenges for CIOs and IT leaders

Despite rapid AI adoption, many organizations remain unprepared for how AI is reshaping the information environment. Info-Tech’s blueprint highlights several challenges across information management practices, including:
• AI’s rapid advancement, making it difficult for leaders to prioritize initiatives and identify high-value opportunities across growing volumes of information
• Disconnected principles across data, content, and knowledge, combined with inconsistent terminology, preventing a unified IM strategy and leading to misalignment and stalled AI deployment
• Difficulty quantifying and communicating the value of improved IM, limiting an organization’s ability to secure investment and sustain momentum

To help IT leaders modernize their IM approach, Info-Tech’s Leverage AI to Improve Information Management outlines the following four-phase methodology.

Phase 1: Set the stage for AI-powered information: CIOs, information management leaders, and data and knowledge leads define key business areas, establish a unified information management framework, and prioritize information assets by identifying strengths, problems, and low-value activities.

Phase 2: Improve and enhance: Information management, data, and enterprise application leaders apply AI capabilities to resolve high-impact challenges and enhance strengths, focusing on automation, search, and decision support.

Phase 3: Define high-impact initiatives: CIOs, finance leaders, and cross-functional stakeholders build a business case for AI investments by quantifying efficiency gains, cost savings, and risk reduction, and prioritize initiatives based on value and feasibility.

Phase 4: Activate AI-powered IM approach: IT leadership and business stakeholders develop a road map with clear timelines and KPIs, and secure executive alignment to ensure successful implementation and sustained effect.

Info-Tech’s blueprint includes detailed frameworks, a C-suite presentation template to earn executive buy-in, and the “Leverage AI for Information Management” tool that includes a library of IM principles, a prioritization matrix, and an ROI and business case study. By applying the practical insights outlined in the firm’s blueprint, CIOs and IM leaders can transform their information practices into a unified, AI-enabled model that improves efficiency, reduces risk, and delivers value.

For exclusive and timely commentary from Info-Tech’s experts, including Zaran, and access to the complete Leverage AI to Improve Information Management blueprint, contact pr@infotech.com.