A new report commissioned by KlariVis, a leading performance intelligence platform built for financial institutions, and conducted by Cornerstone Advisors, a leading provider of business and technology consulting services for banks, credit unions, and fintech firms, reveals that most community banks and credit unions are not yet equipped to leverage artificial intelligence fully. The report notes inadequate data quality and infrastructure emerging as the primary barriers.
The study, titled “Improving Your Financial Institution’s Data Execution Quality,” surveyed more than 120 financial institutions to assess how effectively they manage and use data across critical business functions. The findings show that the average institution scored 241 out of a possible 500 on Cornerstone’s Data Execution Quality (EQ) index, indicating that most banks are only about halfway toward achieving optimal data utilization.
While more than one-third of community institutions have already deployed AI tools such as chatbots and another quarter are experimenting with generative AI, the research underscores that such initiatives are unlikely to succeed without stronger data foundations.
“AI holds tremendous promise for community banks and credit unions, but the findings make it clear that data maturity must come first,” said Kim Snyder, founder and CEO of KlariVis. “Financial institutions cannot expect meaningful AI outcomes when they are still working with fragmented systems and inconsistent data practices. Strengthening data visibility and quality is the first step toward responsibly unlocking AI’s potential.”
The report highlights the close link between data EQ and AI readiness, showing that institutions with higher data EQ scores share key characteristics such as treating data as a strategic asset, fostering a culture of data-driven decision-making and conducting regular reviews of data strategy.
“There is no AI strategy without a data strategy,” said Ron Shevlin, Chief Research Officer at Cornerstone Advisors and author of the report. “Financial institutions that invest in improving data quality, governance and accessibility will be the ones best positioned to see measurable results from AI.”
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