Data as an Asset: Turning Insight into Advantage

In September’s AFN CEO Hub Meeting, members tackled a topic shaping every industry — “Data as an Asset.” What began as a discussion about analytics quickly became a conversation about strategy, ownership, and the responsibility leaders hold in transforming information into value.

Today, data isn’t just an enabler of business; it is the business. It’s a strategic resource to be gathered, protected, leveraged, and monetized. But how leaders think about data varies dramatically. Some approach it offensively, driving growth and innovation. Others focus on defense, emphasizing compliance, security, and risk. The best leaders? They understand how to balance these two needs.

AFN members shared real-world lessons from across industries, the missteps, breakthroughs, and gray areas that don’t make it into case studies:

• First-party data is the new control. Third party data can be necessary, but relying on third parties creates blind spots and dependencies that are increasingly costly.

• Context is everything. Metrics without narrative can mislead, as one member noted, “The data looks green on the outside, but it’s red on the inside.”

• AI isn’t a substitute for human judgment. Leaders must interrogate what the data doesn’t say as much as what it does and cannot rely on AI to do the job for them..

• Ecosystem awareness is limited. Many organizations see only a fraction of their own data landscape. “Most companies only see 20% of their data ecosystem,” one member admitted.

The discussion also explored frameworks like the DIKW Value Chain (Data → Information → Knowledge → Wisdom) and the Data as a Product Model, challenging CEOs to think of data as something with ownership, governance, and measurable return.

The takeaway? Data strategy isn’t about dashboards, it’s about decisions. CEOs must cultivate both literacy across their teams and depth among their experts. Actual value comes when insight meets intuition.

And this is precisely what happens every month in the AFN CEO Hub: peers bringing candor, context, and experience to the table because you can’t Google what your peers have lived through.

Why go it alone when you can learn from those who’ve already navigated the pitfalls and unlocked the possibilities?

Each Hub meeting delivers the kind of ROI that makes two hours a month your smartest investment, a chance to accelerate decisions, sharpen strategy, and expand your network of trusted leaders who’ve been there.

If you’re ready to turn data (and every challenge ahead) into an asset, join the membership CEOs call a “can’t-miss, must-do” experience.

Email info@afn.global to learn more about membership opportunities.