MODERNIZATION BENEFITS
Prepare Legacy Data for AI-Assisted Reporting
Give fragmented records clear meaning and access boundaries. Choose the first reporting question and a way to verify the answer.
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SHORT ANSWER
Your order, stock or sales data can be the starting point for a new reporting workflow. First define the business question, the permitted data and how a correct answer will be checked.
Why it matters
In Gartner's July 2024 survey of 1,203 data-management leaders, 63% of organizations lack or are unsure they have suitable data-management practices for AI. Forecast (2025) — Gartner predicts that through 2026, 60% of AI projects unsupported by AI-ready data will be abandoned.
Source: Lack of AI-Ready Data Puts AI Projects at Risk · Gartner · Published: · Accessed: The numeric field is the survey result. The separate 60% is a Gartner forecast, not verified as an observed outcome.
In GFT’s 2026 study of 945 CIOs/CTOs, 95% report legacy-system delays in deploying and scaling AI, and 84% report canceling at least one AI pilot or project because of those constraints.
Source: The Future of AI, unfiltered · GFT Technologies / Wakefield Research · Published: · Accessed: GFT-commissioned self-report survey, August 11–31, 2026, covering companies with at least $500 million annual revenue in 19 countries. Results from Exhibits 3 and 4 cannot be generalized to all businesses. The numeric field represents cancellation.
Ensono’s research announcement dated 15 September 2026 says 54% of IT decision-makers consider AI an accelerator of modernization, compared with the publisher’s 39% figure for 2025.
Source: Ensono Research Finds 78% of IT Leaders See Growing Value in Legacy Systems as AI Reshapes Modernization · Ensono · Published: · Accessed: Ensono’s own press release about US and UK respondents. Full-report sample size, fieldwork date and comparison method were not verified, so the 500-person and June claims were removed. This does not imply the same respondents were followed across years.
Does a simple business question mean gathering files?
The answer to “Which orders are late?” may be scattered across files and applications. AI-assisted reporting starts by establishing what those records mean and which can be used together.
Which reporting tasks can AI support?
- Natural-language reporting: Turn defined business questions into an answer workflow based on permitted data.
- Tracing an answer: Inspect the records and calculations behind a response.
- Access by role: Keep each user’s questions within the records their role permits.
How should the first reporting question be chosen?
Choose a question your team asks regularly whose correct answer you can check today. Start the integration and AI work with its records, access boundaries and expected output.
Start with a standard report when questions and calculations are fixed. AI is an additional option when questions vary and the resulting answers can be checked.
Measurement approach
We evaluate correct, incorrect and unanswered results for a fixed question set, alongside duration and cost. The comparison with manual reporting uses the same question and data scope. Explore the evaluation principles.
Explore your own situation
Frequently asked questions
Does adding AI require rewriting the entire system?
An AI goal alone does not determine that decision. The data, access path, existing business rules and evaluation task need to be defined first; those findings determine the scope.
How will accuracy be calculated?
The planned method fixes the questions and human-verified expected results before evaluation. Accuracy is derived from all question records; incorrect answers and unanswered questions remain in the result set.
Will my data be sent to an external AI service?
This site's simulation sends no data to an external model. A real application would need an explicit definition of the service, fields sent, masking and access permissions; these should not be left unspecified.
Will generated queries be executed directly?
The planned lab evaluation uses read-only access, row limits and human-reviewed results. This draft does not imply permission to execute queries or modify data in a real system.
Can we start with my own business questions?
Yes. We select a few recurring questions for the first trial, such as delayed orders, low stock or sales by period. Together we define the available data sources and expected answers, then evaluate accuracy, response time and query cost.