We want to connect AI to our operational data to help us make better decisions, but our data is a mess across multiple spreadsheets. How do we handle our data hygiene before we start building AI tools?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

If you feed dirty data into an AI tool, you will get clean-looking, highly confident lies. Before you connect any AI tools to your operational databases, you must clean up your spreadsheets and establish strict data standards. Start by identifying the exact data set you need for your primary business use case. Do not try to clean everything at once. Assign a single owner to this data hygiene project. Have them audit your active spreadsheets to eliminate duplicate entries, standardize naming conventions, and delete obsolete tabs. Establish a clear, written standard for how data must be entered and maintained moving forward. You must enforce this discipline daily. Once your operational data is clean, structured, and maintained under a strict process, you can safely connect AI. This ensures the insights you get are actually accurate and actionable for your leadership team, preventing costly mistakes. Remember that AI cannot fix broken processes; it only accelerates what already exists. Clean up the foundation first, and the technology will deliver the results you want.