Bad Data, Broken Decisions: Why Leaders Keep Trusting the Wrong Numbers (Episode 3)

You know, there’s this thing I see happen in nearly every company that calls itself data-driven. Executives walk into meetings, someone throws a dashboard up on the big screen, and right there, glowing in blue and green, are the numbers that supposedly tell the truth about the business. People nod, they start talking strategy, they make calls worth millions of dollars — all assuming those numbers are right.

But here’s the uncomfortable part: for more than half of those companies, the data behind those decisions is wrong. A recent global study from SoftServe found that 58% of business leaders say their companies make key decisions using inaccurate or inconsistent data — most of the time, if not always.

The Leadership Disconnect SoftServe and Wakefield Research surveyed 750 business leaders. 65% admitted that no one in their organization fully understands all the data they’re collecting or how to access it. There’s a clear gap between executives, VPs, and directors on how badly poor data understanding is hurting investment priorities.

The cycle of frustration is real. Analysts are overworked trying to make shaky pipelines deliver. Leaders are frustrated but overconfident. Bad data sneaks into forecasts, production plans, procurement orders, and marketing budgets.

A finance team forecasts revenue from mismatched CRM and ERP definitions. Operations builds plans on top of it. A few weeks later the whole chain is misaligned.

73% of leaders know their data strategy needs a major update. 98% agree an updated strategy is required for generative AI. Yet 73% have diverted funding away from foundational data work into broad AI initiatives with weaker returns.

The Human Reality Behind the Dashboards The data wranglers — the engineers, analysts, and scientists — are the ones patching jobs, reconciling sources, and tracking lineage through systems never built to connect. They see the gap between what leadership expects and what the infrastructure can actually support.

The good news? Companies that invest in strong data foundations are already seeing results: 44% have unlocked new revenue streams, 38% are monetizing data directly, 54% report major productivity gains, and nearly half have dramatically better forecasting and decision-making.

Data done right pays for itself many times over. But it only happens when leaders stop assuming the data is fine and start asking hard questions about ownership, location, movement, and trust.

From Chaos to Clarity by Michael — Fortune 50 data science leader turning operational chaos into strategic advantage.

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