Stop Telling People to "Get Their Data in Order".

"You need to get your data in order before you do AI."

This advice is everywhere. It's also vague to the point of being meaningless. Which data? In what order? For what purpose?

There are legitimate data considerations: Do you know what systems you have and whether the data is accurate? Can information flow between systems? Is terminology consistent across departments? Is data accessible and legally compliant? Are your processes standardised? Do you have enough historical data for training?

But here's the thing: not all of these factors need addressing simultaneously. Which ones matter depends entirely on your specific use case.

I've seen clients abandon AI projects unnecessarily, believing their data was too disorganised. Once we clarified which specific elements mattered for their goals, they discovered they were closer to readiness than they thought.

Next time someone tells you to "get your data in order," ask them to specify which aspects matter. If they can't answer clearly, they're probably just repeating what they've heard.