{
  "id": 18299723,
  "title": "Why AI’s biggest challenge lies beneath the model",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/05/why-ais-biggest-challenge-lies-beneath-the-model",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-11-05T11:13:24.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "YourStory",
    "slug": "yourstory",
    "url": "https://yourstory.com/2026/11/why-ai-biggest-challenge-lies-beneath-model"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "AI models are becoming increasingly popular, but turning them into reliable products continues to pose significant challenges. At TechSparks 2026, Michael Cronin, Vice President, Sales, Asia-Pacific, Japan & India at Couchbase, discussed this issue with Shivani Muthanna, Senior Director – Strategic Content & Video at YourStory. Cronin highlighted that 70-80% of AI development projects never reach production, and an MIT study found that 95% fail to become profitable. This problem stems from the fragmented data infrastructure in large enterprises. Cronin emphasized that a major barrier to AI adoption is the lack of a unified data layer, which makes it difficult for AI applications to work reliably at scale. To address this issue, Couchbase's operational data platform helps enterprises consolidate their fragmented data infrastructure. Cronin advised companies to start with critical use cases and gradually expand their efforts. The example of Tesco, a UK retailer, demonstrates this approach. Tesco consolidated its data layer, starting with a single instance and use case, which enabled the retailer to handle millions of transactions per second with sub-millisecond latency. This consolidation improved Tesco's customer experience, particularly during busy shopping periods. Cronin stressed that enterprises should prioritize consolidating their data before scaling their AI initiatives. As machine traffic has overtaken human traffic on the internet, enterprises must operate at the speed of AI. Fragmented data systems can prevent AI applications from functioning reliably, especially with the growing use of AI agents that require access to the right data and governance frameworks. Cronin cautioned against simply adding more APIs and connectors to link existing systems, as this could introduce further complexity. Instead, consolidating the data layer is the key to enabling applications and AI agents to communicate more directly and efficiently. India is increasingly becoming an innovation leader in AI, with many Couchbase's global accounts having a significant presence in the country. Indian enterprises are using technology to improve customer experiences, as demonstrated by Air India's next-generation entertainment platform, built on Couchbase's data platform.",
  "summary": "At TechSparks 2026, Michael Cronin of Couchbase explained why fragmented data infrastructure remains a major barrier to enterprise AI adoption and why companies need to fix their data systems before scaling AI applications.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}