At Qlik Connect 2025, Qlik CEO Mike Capone emphasized that pouring money into AI strategies is futile without concrete implementation and tangible execution plans. The annual summit gathered industry leaders to discuss the current state of AI implementation across enterprises, highlighting the concerning reality that most organizations struggle to move from strategy to execution despite massive investments.
Capone noted a significant gap in AI deployment, stating that while 86% of companies have an AI strategy, only 26% have deployed it at scale, calling it a "massive gap" and "tragic". This implementation gap is a critical challenge for companies rushing to embrace AI, particularly the emerging field of Agentic AI, which focuses on autonomous, goal-directed systems. Capone pointed out that 80% of companies are investing in agentic AI, but only 12% feel their data is ready for it, emphasizing the need to do the groundwork before jumping in.
Ritu Jyoti, Group Vice President and General Manager of AI at IDC, identified fragmented, disjointed, and disparate data systems as a primary reason impeding AI adoption. She added that other barriers include AI strategies operating in isolation from corporate strategy, a lack of an AI-ready workforce, and cultural resistance due to job security concerns.
Qlik is prioritizing a data-first strategy, addressing the fact that 81% of AI professionals admit their company has significant data quality issues. Research indicates that only 29% have fully deployed their generative AI solutions for analytics. Qlik aims to be data-centric, allowing businesses to query both structured and unstructured data pools using Qlik Answers, its generative AI knowledge base. David Zember, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Channels and Alliances at Qlik, stated that Qlik's AI is operational, integrated, and delivers results, embedding AI across its data and analytics stack.
Qlik Connect 2025 featured over 100 breakout sessions covering AI-driven analytics, high-volume data integration, data quality, and automation at scale. Attendees gained practical insights and strategies to transform data into business impact. A highlight was the launch of the Qlik AI Specialist Certification, developed to meet the demand for practical, business-focused AI skills. Chris Powell, chief marketing officer at Qlik, stated that the certification ensures attendees gain the practical skills needed to turn AI into tangible results.
Qlik introduced its new agentic experience at Qlik Connect 2025, designed to empower users across roles. The agentic experience provides a single, conversational interface, allowing users to interact naturally with data, uncover insights, drive faster decisions, and boost productivity using specialized AI agents. The agentic experience builds on the Qlik engine, expanding the ability of users and agents to intuitively access relationships, surface insights, and take action across diverse data. A discovery agent will proactively identify critical risks and opportunities across applications and datasets, presenting insights and recommended actions through a personalized feed.
Several organizations are partnering with Qlik to advance AI execution. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a Diamond Sponsor at Qlik Connect 2025, reinforcing their commitment to driving AI governance, interoperability, and adoption. Accenture is also a Diamond Sponsor, showcasing real-world AI success stories and helping enterprises unlock the potential of AI.
Mike Capone will be joined by EVPs Brendan Grady and Drew Clarke at Qlik Connect Live to discuss how top companies are turning data into action. Guests from Truist, AWS, and IDC will show how Qlik's latest tools are driving faster decisions and broader impact.
