Watch Barbara in Action
About Barbara Wixom
Barbara Wixom's book, Data is Everybody's Business, argues that data monetization must be a core business activity for every organization, commercial or not. It describes the work in language anyone from a board member to a frontline worker can use, built around her flywheel frameworks, which she calls "the ABCs of data monetization." "The flywheel consists of three frameworks that allow organizations to maximize value creation and realization with their data," she explains. "These frameworks show how to monetize what you need to monetize, who's involved, and what the overall organizational implications are."
On AI, Wixom is direct about what the field gets wrong. She has been tracking fifty AI projects over time to investigate how they grow and change, and distinguishes scaling up, scaling out and sustaining at scale. "In the past, scaling up was about getting as many user adoptions as possible, but that thinking doesn't work with AI," she says. "With AI, at the end of the day you don't want more users. In many effective AI deployments, you're actually reducing adoption."
Barbara's Keynote Topics
Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the hottest buzzwords right now, both in society and in business, and many leaders are rushing to deploy AI in their organization. But many don’t have the right foundations in place for successful scaling. In this revealing presentation, Principal Research Scientist at MIT’s Center for Information Systems Research (CISR), Barbara Wixom, Ph.D., demystifies many aspects of scaling AI. She presents the thought-provoking argument that the conventional wisdom of an increased number of users as an indicator of successful utilization doesn’t apply with AI. Audiences will learn the nuance of scaling up – moving AI into deployment – and scaling out – taking an AI model and using it in different contexts and geographies – as a new model of building the optimal foundations and capabilities of successful modern AI systems.
How can leaders ensure their organization has the right capabilities to maximize value from data already in hand? According to MIT Center for Information Systems Research (CISR) Principal Research Scientist Barbara Wixom, Ph.D., first and foremost, leaders must think of their organizations as information businesses. In this timely presentation, Wixom draws from her 2023 book, “Data is Everybody’s Business,” to reveal the five core capabilities that businesses must have to create value from their data assets. Wixom shares her “flywheel” frameworks that provide a common language for concepts like data liquidity and data democracy, making them accessible to all. Audiences will gain a new understanding of the importance of investing in data and how to do so in a way that maximizes the opportunities to leverage it successfully in today’s contemporary world.
AI is no longer an IT line item: it's a strategic lever that moves the numbers executives care about most. In this session, Wixom introduces three concepts leaders can use to maximize returns on AI investment: data liquidity, data monetization and data democracy. Along the way, she shows why each requires a shift in thinking, from projects to products, from tribal knowledge to a semantic layer, and from vague ROI claims to measurable income statement impact. Drawing on her ongoing research tracking fifty AI projects over time, she demystifies the dynamics of scaling AI and explains why conventional wisdom about user adoption doesn't apply. Leaders leave with a research-grounded model for connecting AI investments to financial performance and running their organizations as information businesses.
Most AI pilots never make it to production — and most that do never reach enterprise scale. This session unpacks what separates the organizations that get scaling right from those that stall. Using current research and case studies, Barb examines the implications for IT, for domain and data science talent, and for the enterprise capabilities that determine whether AI delivers lasting value.
Books by Barbara Wixom
Barbara in the Media
Data liquidity leads to AI success
Where to Look for Generative AI Risks
Looking Ahead at AI and Work in 2026
MIT's Barb Wixom on How Companies Really Make Money From Data
Buy, Boost or Build? Choose Your Path to Generative AI
How to Manage Risks When Employees Use AI Secretly for Work
How Lab Leaders Can Maximize AI Investments: Three Research-Backed Principles
What Leaders Should Know About ‘Bring Your Own AI’
Monetizing Data With AI: MIT CISR’s Barb Wixom
3 Ways to Build a Culture of Data Monetization
Why CIOs Need a Two-Tier Approach to Gen AI
Artificial Intelligence is Now Everyone’s Business
How Barbara Works with Organizations
Each engagement is built around your goals and audience.
01 · WORKSHOPLeverage the Most Powerful Asset Your Organization Already Has: Data
Understanding data and ensuring your organization has the right capabilities to maximize value from data investments is vital in today’s digital-first world. One of the world’s leading data thought leaders, Barbara Wixom, Ph.D., leads accessible workshops that include highly interactive exercises, real-world case studies she’s developed and accessible frameworks that make concepts accessible to all, helping leaders seize the massive advantages of reframing their organization as an information business. With the option of being presented in a half-day, full-day or two-day format, participants will gain a practical understanding of the core capabilities that businesses must have to create value from their data assets, maximizing the opportunities to leverage data successfully in today’s contemporary world.
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