Artificial intelligence has become one of the most talked-about topics in boardrooms and budget planning sessions. But according to feedback from the consultants who attended the Rimes Consultant Day in London who are working closely with large financial institutions, many firms are still wrestling with one fundamental challenge: how to move from concept to implementation.
The feedback is consistent—AI is not lacking interest, but execution. Senior leaders see its potential to transform everything from workforce planning to operational cost efficiency. Yet the question that always arises first is simple and sobering: Is my data ready?
Data Readiness: The Foundational Hurdle
The consultants shared that most firms aren’t struggling with identifying use cases. In fact, use cases are abundant—client-facing tools, automation of manual processes, enhanced compliance, smarter forecasting. What’s missing is a foundation of high-quality, integrated data to support these initiatives.
AI doesn’t operate in a vacuum. Its effectiveness depends entirely on the consistency, governance, and accessibility of data. The firms that are making the most progress are those that have invested in strengthening their data architecture—organizing data across teams, standardizing it across systems, and making it available in real time.
Integration Over Innovation Alone
Another common theme from the consultants’ feedback: the real value of AI isn’t in adopting flashy new tools, but in integrating AI capabilities into existing business models and technology stacks. Clients are asking hard questions about operating models, governance, and how AI fits into their current environment—not how they can build something entirely new.
This is where enabling infrastructure plays a quiet but critical role. Firms don’t need to reinvent their ecosystems to deploy AI; they need solutions that make their existing architecture AI-ready—systems that allow clean, well-governed data to move efficiently across platforms and use cases.
How Rimes Supports AI Enablement
At Rimes, we see data as the bridge between AI aspirations and business impact. Our clients are increasingly turning to us not just for data delivery, but for the operational and technical structure that supports AI integration: consistent data models, strong lineage, auditability, and cross-platform compatibility.
While AI may still feel conceptualized for some organizations, the foundations being built today—particularly around data readiness—are what will determine tomorrow’s success. As the consultants emphasized, AI enablement isn’t a future trend. It’s happening now within firms ready to put the right structure in place.
To learn more about Rimes solutions or to see a demo, click here.
