Report by Confluent
The 2026 Data Streaming Report: Bridging the Gap Between Data and AI Value
Key Findings
82% of IT leaders cite AI and machine learning technologies as a key priority
80% of IT leaders say using enterprise data to drive AI-based systems is a top business priority
72% of global IT leaders say a lack of real-time data infrastructure is stalling their efforts to scale AI
88% of IT leaders say data streaming platforms help unblock agentic AI progress by making data more trustworthy, contextualised and discoverable
66% of IT leaders cite data infrastructure and data quality issues as barriers to agentic AI adoption
65% of IT leaders report fragmented ownership of data
94% of IT leaders say data streaming increases or is expected to increase the impact of their AI investments
72% of IT leaders have encountered at least three challenges when scaling AI initiatives
66% of IT leaders report uncertainty around data lineage, timeliness, and quality
72% of IT leaders report insufficient infrastructure for real-time data processing
90% of IT leaders say data streaming helps ease the path to AI adoption
32% of IT leaders report having agentic AI in production
88% of IT leaders rank data streaming as a key priority