The Great Data Awakening: Why Unstructured Data is Your Company's Hidden Goldmine

The rise of sophisticated AI, particularly machine learning and natural language processing, has dramatically increased the valuation of all data—especially unstructured data.  

Unlocking the Untapped Potential 

According to an MIT study, 80 to 90% of the world's data is still unstructured. Think about the amount of dark data that we have out there—emails, documents, audio, video, and social media content. These were traditionally difficult to analyze, especially at scale. We have vast repositories of information that have been sitting dormant, waiting for the right technology to unlock their secrets. 

But with the introduction of generative AI, now we are provided with tools that extract meaningful insights, help identify patterns, and unlock latent value within this vast data ocean. Generative AI has helped us structure unstructured data. 

Three Key Areas Where AI Transforms Data Value 

1. Creating New Revenue Streams. AI can transform unstructured data into actionable intelligence, going from data to insights to actions. When we leverage unstructured data, we can improve understanding of customer needs and sentiment and use that insight to create new revenue-generating opportunities.  

1. Operational Efficiency AI-powered tools can automate the processing and analysis of unstructured data, reducing the manual effort and time required for tasks like document review, compliance reporting, and things of that nature. This can lead to significant cost savings and improved operational efficiency. 

1. Competitive Advantage If positioned right, AI can help organizations transform unstructured data into a competitive advantage. Extracting value from unstructured data can provide a significant advantage through unique insights, enabling data-driven decisions in an accurate, precise, and timely manner. 

The Bottom Line 

We're at an inflection point where the data that companies have been collecting for years—often without a clear strategy for monetization—can now be transformed into valuable business assets. The question isn't whether your unstructured data has value; it's how quickly you can start extracting that value. 

This blog post is based on an original AIIM OnAir podcast. When recording podcasts, AIIM uses AI-enabled transcription in Zoom. We then use that transcription as part of a prompt with Claude Pro, Anthropic’s AI assistant. AIIM staff and podcast guests (aka humans) then edit the output from Claude for accuracy, completeness, and tone. In this way, we use AI to increase the accessibility of our podcast and extend the value of great content.