Data has quickly become the lifeblood of any modern organization. Noting this, the ability to see the big picture is a vital skill for every legal department (and every business) to possess. But despite surveys by Experian noting that 99% of organizations admit that being data-driven helps convey competitive advantage, and as popular a professional tool as data visualization (presenting complex information in eye-catching graphical format) has become for today's market leaders, shockingly, roughly nine in ten businesses still admit that managing this data remains a challenge. Moreover, a third also still struggle to access trustworthy and meaningful information when making decisions – pointing to the need for more forward-thinking solutions.

In effect, the speed at which data visualization tools are proliferating has quickly outpaced many organizations' rate of data literacy – and, by proxy, their ability to effectively govern information. Noting this, as business leaders, we are essentially asking more people in any given organization (and at every level of experience) to work with data than ever before, and giving them the tools to manipulate it, but not providing them with the working knowledge they need to effectively utilize this info. As a result, going forward, equipping legal teams and corporate leaders with education and training in the use and analysis of data (through which to extract key insights and actionable business intelligence) will only become more important – as will providing them with a sense of perspective that can help them learn to ask better business questions.