New drug and cancer treatments are being aided by AI, which can help determine the most effective pharmaceutical compositions or predict how a small molecule will bind to a target protein. CAT scans can be analyzed 150 times faster with AI than by human radiologists – detecting acute neurological events in just 1.2 seconds.

Nearly a decade ago, advances in digital transformation and big data put achieving a 360-degree view of the customer on the roadmap for many organizations. Along the way, many companies focused their efforts on the experience layer, hoping to keep up with industry disruptors like Amazon and Apple, which have consistently raised consumers' expectations for what makes a great experience. As companies try to catch up, many miss the critical component behind this success; excellent customer data management.

In the 2020 Tealium State of the CDP Report, we asked over 300 U.S. decision makers in marketing and data/analytics how they are leveraging CDPs today, the challenges they face with current vendors and their future plans for CDP technology. The results reveal that many organizations are still searching for the right solution: 58% of respondents with CDPs said they are planning to switch to a different provider within the next 12 months.

Something needs to change for customer data to reach its full potential. Businesses need greater clarity into what CDPs do, how to select the right CDP and how to optimize the technology — or they risk missing out on enormous CDP benefits.

To stay competitive in an increasingly digital world, businesses must become masters of data. By 2020, more than seven billion people & companies, and at least 35 million devices, will be wired to the web. Success now depends on not only keeping up with fast paced digital innovation, but also harnessing the continual data explosion it creates; and this will mean a sizeable shift in the way companies handle their insights.

With the growing importance of customer insights in organizations, the role of analytics to extract insight from customer data and embed it back into organizational processes is at the forefront of business transformation. This increased profile has elevated the customer insights role from data geeks feeding the marketing funnel to critical change agents and strategic business partners. It has also made it crucial for companies to have a coherent and consistently executed customer data strategy. In order to seize the opportunity presented by this shift in data’s role, companies must plot a deliberate strategic course — beginning with a clear-eyed assessment of their current capabilities and needs.