D&A Leaders: Use Scenario Planning to Seize Opportunities in a Volatile Environment

The maintainer scenario features a stable, risk-averse environment mostly immune to federal policy changes and external volatility. Organizations in this scenario often operate in highly regulated industries with traditional business intelligence tools, closed data ecosystems and conventional architectures. Their strength is in operational efficiency. As their business is not data-driven, they hesitate to invest in AI-ready data practices, which they perceive as risky. They consider D&A a cost center.

D&A leaders in these organizations should use scenario planning to stay ahead of potential exposure to unexpected increases in pass-through costs or customer attrition that comes from trade constriction. The D&A function can prevent these impacts by improving agility. The more nimble the function, the more quickly it can detect and respond to external threats.

Present executive leaders with a D&A and AI roadmap that clearly addresses the potential impacts on customer businesses from geopolitical disruption. Align D&A activities with specific use cases and business processes to ensure credibility.

Enterprises that operate in the reactor scenario have given little attention to D&A. Consequently, D&A has grown haphazardly across the business without coordination or consistency. AI expertise is siloed, so procurement decisions are ad hoc and few AI use cases are deployed. These organizations use personal reporting and dashboarding tools and business analysts’ manual data extracts. Financial reporting is often an extension of their finance applications.

D&A leaders must use scenario planning to urge executive leaders to green light a formal D&A function to ensure the survival of the business. With support from line-of-business leads, D&A leaders can hasten funding and change management.

Focus on situational analysis to hone the organization’s ability to adapt to rapid changes in business and technology. An executive team of leaders from IT, finance, operations, supply chain and procurement should address deficits in D&A situational awareness.

The optimizer scenario features a well-developed, stable D&A ecosystem that is consistent and reliable across the board. Although it provides for sustainable development and incremental innovation, it lacks an action plan to address change or disruption. Many organizations operating in this scenario are in industries that experience little disruption from political policy changes and external volatility.

D&A leaders should use scenario planning to assess the opportunities presented by U.S. federal policy that focuses on deregulating the development and use of AI. With their already agile D&A functions, they can make long-term bets using horizon scenario planning.

AI deregulation is trending globally, so raise your appetite for risk. Ditch complacency in favor of disruptive innovation and daring use cases. Reduce dependence on key vendors and diversify your technology stack with a risk mitigation scenario that identifies alternative providers.

Enterprises operating in the innovator scenario have a high tolerance for risk. They have dynamic data, analytics and AI ecosystems with fast innovation cycles. As early adopters of advanced analytics and GenAI, their D&A function is supported by a strong data management foundational architecture built on a logical data warehouse. Their reliance on single vendors for best-of-breed technologies makes them vulnerable to AI policy shifts that impact sovereignty and governance requirements.

D&A leaders should use scenario planning to measure the effects of a shift in AI policy relating to certain enterprise AI-informed decision making. Their already advanced AI capabilities will give them a head start in seeking  new market openings and opportunities created by external disruption and volatility.

Find opportunities to use AI technologies for automation, augmentation, optimization and innovation. Then rationalize your AI-enabled portfolio to make the D&A function leaner and more agile.