Why No One Trusts Your Data (And How to Restore It)
Most data projects fail due to trust, not tech. Learn why execs doubt dashboards—and how to fix adoption in weeks.
Ali Z.
𝄪
CEO @ aztela
Table of Contents
The Real Reason Data Projects Fail
Most companies don’t have a tech problem. They have a trust problem.
We’ve seen this over and over with mid-sized and enterprise teams:
A full discovery is run.
KPI definitions are agreed.
Data sources are mapped.
Dashboards are scoped.
Tickets are completed.
And a few months later… no one is using it.
Or worse—leadership starts questioning the numbers.
Why No One Trusts Your Data
The biggest mistake? Data teams talk to middlemen, not actual users.
Here’s how it happens:
A senior stakeholder kicks off a request.
You get assigned a “point of contact.”
On paper, everything looks perfect.
And still—
The Sales Director doesn’t trust the revenue number.
The CFO says margin doesn’t look right.
The CS team keeps exporting to Excel anyway.
Everyone was technically right. And completely wrong.
What Actually Builds Trust
The only way to know if a data product is successful:
It impacts a KPI the user actually cares about.
It saves time or removes friction.
The person using it says: “Finally. This helps.”
Middle managers can’t answer for that. Only end users can.
If you never spoke to them? You missed the mark.
This Applies to AI Projects Too
We’ve seen the same failure pattern in GenAI pilots:
Copilots built that no one uses.
LLMs trained to answer questions nobody’s asking.
Feedback logged—but never actually reviewed with users.
If the end user isn’t involved in feedback, it fails. Simple.
For more on getting AI right, see our AI readiness checklist.
Bonus: How to Fix It
If you’ve already shipped something no one trusts:
Re-interview actual users (Sales, Ops, Finance).
Ask: “What decisions are you not able to make today?”
Measure adoption, impact, and trust.
Iterate—not redesign.
Trust is built in small loops, not big re-platforms.
Most companies don’t need more tools—they need more trust. If your CFO and end users still export to Excel, your data isn’t working.
If you want to cut through noise and rebuild trust fast, Book a Data Strategy Assessment.
