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Why Enterprise AI Fails (And How to Fix It)
Articles, webinars and a readiness diagnostic.
Articles, webinars and a readiness diagnostic.
Standard Bank has been strengthening its data management capability for years, working with us along the way to independently test and validate that progress. In 2025, the bank took the next step, asking us to conduct a full DCAM assessment to prove data capability. The results showed above industry benchmarks, surfaced clear priorities for further improvement and contributed to Standard Bank achieving Gold level in the EDM Association’s Data Excellence Program.
Standard Bank wasn’t starting from scratch.
The bank has been building its data management capability for years. It was a founding participant in the EDM Association’s Data Excellence Program, and we’ve worked with the Standard Bank team across successive engagements as that capability has developed.
As the banking industry is becoming increasingly ambitious around analytics and AI, the questions being asked have evolved too.
Leadership needs a consistent, objective view of how well data is managed across the organisation, how that compares with industry peers and where the next round of investment will make the biggest difference to remain competitive.
That matters even more as AI becomes embedded more deeply into the business. Strong models and new technology only get you so far. The data underneath them still needs to be trusted, governed and managed properly.
Standard Bank’s approach has been to test those foundations rather than assume they are ready.
Our relationship with Standard Bank was already well established. In 2024, we independently validated the bank’s internal DCAM assessment as part of its participation in the EDM Association’s Data Excellence Program. In 2025, Standard Bank asked us to go further and conduct the full assessment.
As a Diamond Partner of the EDM Association and a founding partner of the Data Excellence Program, we brought deep knowledge of the DCAM framework and the financial services industry.
We also brought something equally important: independent advice. As a partner, our role is to challenge the evidence, help teams interpret what DCAM is really asking and apply it in a way that reflects how data is actually managed across the organisation.
We used DCAM to assess data management capability consistently across 9 different core and supporting business units and functions.
The framework gave Standard Bank a common measurement for looking at data strategy, governance, quality, architecture, controls and analytics as part of business-as-usual operations. It meant the bank could move away from fragmented or function-specific views and build one clearer picture of maturity across the organisation.
Our role was to bring independent assessment and challenge to that process.
Because we have worked with the team over time, we understand the journey Standard Bank has been on. But that familiarity does not mean simply validating what everyone already believes. Our job was to test the evidence, challenge where needed and make sure the final assessment gave leadership a credible view of progress.
The results backed up the work Standard Bank had already put in.
The assessment confirmed that overall data management capability was performing above industry benchmarks. It also showed particular strengths in Analytics Management and the Data Control Environment, both of which were contributing to operational efficiency.
Just as importantly, the assessment surfaced the areas where further improvement could create the most value.
Progress across Data Quality, Governance and Architecture remained important for reducing risk and rework and for supporting more consistent ways of working. Rather than treating every area as equally urgent, the findings gave the team a clearer basis for deciding what to strengthen next.
We then worked with Standard Bank to turn those findings into prioritised uplift actions and business-aligned roadmaps for each business unit.
The point was not to produce a score and move on. It was to give the team evidence they could use.
This is where the wider story matters.
Many financial institutions are moving quickly to scale AI. Standard Bank has taken a deliberate approach, making sure the data foundations underneath that ambition are being tested and strengthened at the same time.
The assessment reinforced the importance of trusted, AI-ready data and the need for targeted investment to keep building on that foundation. It also left Standard Bank better positioned to improve data trust, support faster and more informed decision-making and apply more consistent governance across Corporate & Investment Banking.
That progress sits alongside a strong wider AI position. Standard Bank is ranked as the most AI-mature bank in South Africa and second across the Middle East and Africa in the Evident AI Index, reflecting the bank’s progress in embedding AI capabilities at scale.
That ranking is not a result of the DCAM assessment. But it underlines why the foundations matter.
As AI becomes more important, confidence in the technology increasingly depends on confidence in the data feeding it.
Standard Bank South Africa has now reached Gold level in the EDM Association Data Excellence Program.
That recognition reflects something bigger than a data capability score. It shows a team that has continued to invest in the quality, governance and control of its data, and that is willing to put its progress to an independent test.
That is one of the reasons we have valued working with the Standard Bank team over successive engagements. Each assessment builds on the last, giving the bank a clearer view of what is working, what has improved and where the next opportunity lies.
As our colleague Sean Russell put it: “It’s wonderful to see the progress Standard Bank have made. It’s clear they’re a customer-focused, forward-thinking group with a clear vision, and the drive and determination to make that vision real.”
Scaling AI responsibly starts long before a model goes live.
It starts with knowing whether the data underneath it is trusted, well governed and fit for use. Standard Bank has taken the time to test that foundation properly, prove where its capabilities are strong and identify where further improvement will have the greatest impact.
The latest DCAM assessment confirmed that the work already done is paying off. More importantly, it gives the Standard Bank team a clear basis for what comes next.
That is the real value of proving data capability maturity: trust and confidence to move forward, backed by evidence rather than assumption.
Standard Bank is a major African banking group operating across multiple markets and regulatory environments. Data, analytics and AI play an increasingly important role in how the bank serves clients, manages risk and grows its business.
Founding Partner
Managing Principal
“Working with Ortecha feels like a true partnership, building on each engagement to drive meaningful progress on our data & AI programmes.”
The Standard Bank Team
