Are Data Teams Building Platforms at the Expense of Strategy?

Preamble

It's been a long time since I wrote an article on LinkedIn. My goal is at least once a week I will attempt to write a longer article than one can write in a traditional LinkedIn post. My articles will always typically be about two areas of concern: Strategy and Operating Models. The latter in my opinion is the most overlooked, underdeveloped area. Now for my article.

Introduction

In the world of data, there’s an unsettling trend that’s hard to ignore: data teams are increasingly fixated on building data platforms, data meshes, data fabrics etc., often at the expense of a real, value-driven data strategy. While it's true that having a solid data infrastructure is essential, it’s only a means to an end, not the end itself. And this platform-first mentality is not only problematic, but it also poses a serious threat to the long-term viability of data teams themselves. Harsh as it may sound.

The Rise of the Platform Builders

Contrary to what I might have just said, it's often hard to argue against the need for strong data platforms. These platforms enable organisations to collect, store, and manage their data, providing the foundation for analytics, AI, and insights. But here's the problem, many data teams seem to be equating "building a platform" with having a "data strategy." They’re spending huge amounts of time, money, and talent on the tech stack, but often without a clear link to business outcomes or a vision for how the platform will drive value.

This "build-first, think-later" mindset comes with significant risks. When data teams become preoccupied with technical infrastructure, they can easily lose sight of the bigger picture: delivering tangible business value. Eddie Short quite rightly said that maybe we should think about outsourcing the plumbing to the CIO/CTO so that the data teams or the CDO office can focus on value adding activities.

A well-built data platform is useless without actionable insights or a clear understanding of how it can support the value adding use cases. Yet, many teams believe that if the platform is there, the strategy will follow. It rarely does.

The Dangers of Losing Focus

Data teams that focus solely on building data platforms risk positioning themselves as technology service providers rather than strategic partners. This raises a critical question: if their primary function is technical, why should they report to a CDO rather than a CIO? It’s a conversation happening in many organisations right now, especially as more CDOs find their roles being absorbed into CIO or CTO leadership. When the focus is purely on infrastructure or tools, data teams face the danger of becoming obsolete or sidelined altogether.

Here's my take on this and as per usual I will keep it at 3 points:

1. Misalignment with Business Objectives: Building a data platform is not the same as solving business problems. Without a strategy, these platforms become expensive black boxes that do little more than store data, often with no clear roadmap for how to translate that data into business value. This misalignment creates frustration in leadership and undermines the credibility of the data team.
2. The Commoditisation of Data Skills: If a data team’s primary focus is on infrastructure, it risks becoming just another tech function, thus falling under the remit of the CIO. But the truth is, much of what’s involved in platform-building, whether it’s data engineering or pipeline management, can be outsourced or automated. When data teams don’t position themselves as critical to business strategy, they’re in danger of being replaced by external vendors or software solutions.
3. Loss of Influence: In some organisations, we’re already seeing the role of the Chief Data Officer (CDO) being diminished or absorbed back into IT. Why? Because data teams that aren't focused on business strategy often fail to demonstrate their impact on revenue, customer experience, or innovation. As a result, leadership begins to view them as an extension of IT, which traditionally has a lower strategic influence compared to business units.

Strategy First, Platform Second

A strong data strategy is focused on business outcomes first, with technology and platforms coming later. The value of data doesn't come from how beautifully the stack is built, it comes from how effectively the organisation leverages data to make better decisions, improve operations, and create new products or services.

The true value of data teams lies in their ability to integrate with the business, understand its challenges, and deliver solutions that drive growth, efficiency, and innovation. Data platforms should be an enabler of this mission, not the mission itself.

What does a strategy-first approach look like? It starts with asking the right questions:

• What are the key business outcomes we need to achieve?
• What use cases will have the highest impact and what data can support those outcomes?
• What are the specific insights and actions we need from our data to move the needle?
• How will we measure success in terms of business value, not just data quality or platform uptime?

Once those questions are answered, then the technology comes into play, driven by the needs of the strategy—not the other way around.

The Path Forward for Data Teams

Data teams need to move beyond platform-building and embrace their role as strategic enablers. That means leading conversations around business goals, proactively identifying opportunities where data can make a difference, and ensuring that any technology they build is directly tied to value creation.

Those that don’t shift their focus from tech to strategy risk being marginalised. In a world where platforms can be commoditised and outsourced, the real power of a data team lies in its ability to turn data into insight into action.

To survive and thrive, data teams must stop thinking like engineers and start thinking like strategists.