Who Owns the Data?

Everyone demands data‑driven answers, yet no one wants to own the input. Here’s how to break the stalemate.

Who Owns the Data?

The people responsible for turning data into action often point to the business and say, “We could do more if they invested in data quality.”

Meanwhile, business leaders look at the output and ask, “Why can’t we measure sales by postal code?”

Everyone has their reasons why the outcome they want isn’t possible because of “the data,” but the root of the problem is this:

Nobody owns the data.

Ownership is Foggy, Incentives are Foggier

Data ownership is often ambiguous. The tech team may flag issues, propose fixes, even try to patch things up in the code. But unless the business, especially leadership, sees the value in ownership, none of that sticks.

They don’t care about data quality, they care about clear outcomes.

The modern data leader’s challenge is to bridge that gap — to connect the dots between data and results. You have to sell the story: Without the right data, in the right format, at the right frequency, we don’t get the outcomes we want.

Nobody owns the data. But you can own the narrative.

No One Buys “Better IT”

No one gets promoted outside of IT for modernizing systems or improving latency by 10%. Everyone else just wants to know: “Does this get me to the outcome I want as efficiently as possible?”

You’re not selling specs. You’re selling what the specs enable.

A lawnmower that’s 25% more efficient doesn’t sell. What sells? Cosplaying as a heavy equipment operator. You’re not selling pipelines. You’re selling growth.

Sell the Story of Data

If you want the resources to do the boring work of getting the data right, you first have to sell the outcomes. You have to sell the truth that data equals outcomes.

No one buys into data governance because it’s fun. They buy in because of what it unlocks.

As a data leader, your job is to sell that vision:

• Sell leadership on outcomes
• Sell frontline teams on ease
• Translate boring into valuable
• Connect the invisible to the essential

You’re not selling pipelines. You’re selling growth.

The Boring Work Is Your Job

Nobody cares about the data. They care about what the data makes possible.

And that’s exactly how it should be.

It’s your job to care, and to turn raw material into insight, confusion into clarity, and potential into performance.

You may not own the data, but you can own the story it tells.

Shaun Davis, your personal data therapist, understands your unique challenges and helps you navigate through the data maze. With keen insight, he discerns the signal from the noise, tenaciously finding the right solutions to guide you through the ever-growing data landscape. Shaun has partnered for 10 years with top data teams to turn their data into profitable and efficiency hunting action. Learn more about Shaun.