IDC's AI Maturity Assessment is a tool that helps organizations evaluate their readiness to fully capitalize on the potential of artificial intelligence. To do this, it asks five key questions about an organization's current state and identifies areas for improvement. A solid AI strategy starts with clean, usable, and actionable data, which requires real-time processing and knowledge retrieval capabilities. Organizations need a cloud-based solution that supports experimentation, deployment, management, and scaling of AI models, as well as features like vector search and semantic caching to contextualize data and drive more accurate results. Real-time data processing is crucial for turning analysis into action, and organizations should invest in scalable AI infrastructure that supports automation and integration of insights across workflows. A cloud data platform with open standards, seamless integration, and tools for a full data-to-AI workflow is essential for building agility and supporting the evolving AI landscape.