Tech Disruptors Qlik CEO on Building AI-Ready Data Foundations
Mar 23, 2026
Mike Capone, CEO of Qlik and veteran leader in data and analytics, discusses why enterprises must build strong data foundations for AI. Short takes cover Qlik’s multi‑year AI strategy, the shift from LLM hype to data quality and governance, hybrid SaaS rewiring, deterministic layers under probabilistic models, and the race to flexible, sovereign AI architectures.
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The AI Reckoning Is About Data And Cost
- Customers are facing a reckoning as plug-and-play AI fails to deliver expected ROI.
- Capone cites analyst data that ~86% of companies aren't realizing expected AI value due to data, governance and cost constraints.
Design Systems To Be Data Agnostic
- Emphasize independence and data-agnosticism when building AI solutions.
- Capone advises vendors must avoid data lock-in and allow any source and any target so customers can swap models and platforms rapidly.
LLMs Aren't Ready For Mission Critical Certainty
- Probabilistic LLMs won't reach near-perfect certainty soon for mission-critical systems.
- Capone gives the example of a bank choosing Qlik for AML and KYC where certainty is non-negotiable versus trusting an AI model alone.
