Via Trust Insights

“Dark data is data that you have that you don’t know you have or that you don’t know what to do with. [… It’s] not data in motion, data in use. This is where generative AI comes into play. […]

The key lesson here is if you want to use AI in ways that other people can’t, start looking at your dark data. What do you have lying around in all of the places you store data that you could transform and bring back to life in new, different, and exciting ways? When everyone else is doing the exact same thing with AI, you can differentiate yourself with the data you already have that no one else has or doesn’t know how to work with.”

— INBOX INSIGHTS: Growth, Dark Data and AI, at 5:08

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Katie Robbert (Trust Insights CEO) says: “Dark data is data that you have that you don’t know you have or that you don’t know what to do with. It just sits there taking up space.”

Most organizations have vast repositories of:

• Old documents and archives
• Historical records
• Legacy databases
• Unused media files
• Forgotten research and reports

This data isn’t in motion or in use. It represents dormant potential that could become a competitive differentiator when activated with the right tools and approach. Unlike the data everyone else has access to, your dark data is uniquely yours.

When everyone uses AI the same way—feeding it the same public information, using the same prompts, generating similar outputs—differentiation becomes possible through your dark data.

Start asking yourself:

• What do you have lying around in all the places you store data?
• What could you transform and bring back to life in new, different, and exciting ways?
• What archives, records, or content has your organization forgotten about?
• What formats or media types could AI help you convert or repurpose?

You can differentiate yourself with the data you already have that’s uniquely yours. What can we unlock if we activate the data we’ve been sitting on for years?