Bluestonex Exec: Data Governance the Key to Long-Term AI Success

Bluestonex is an SAP specialty SaaS vendor that is heavily focused on enabling its customers’ AI journeys through data governance solutions. We spoke with Co-Founder and Maextro Solution Owner Feroz Khan to get his insights on where the AI adoption journey stalls and what conversations around data quality need to be held more often.

AI readiness remains the starting point for many organizations in 2025

Virtually every technology vendor has steadily increased the drumbeat of AI adoption throughout product suites for almost two years. Still, though, many businesses are stuck at the starting point. Part of that roadblock is due to a general lack of data hygiene, security, and governance practices that allow organizations to successfully leverage their data to train and utilize AI models and solutions.

“Everyone is spot on when they say in order for you to have good AI, you have to have good data,” Khan said. “But that’s not enough. You also have to have a gatekeeper in between your data and your AI that keeps it clean.”

Bluestonex is focused on imparting to its clients the importance of long-term data governance solutions and not just a one-time “get your data together and forget about it” approach that Khan sees some in the market taking.

“We need more people to ask, ‘how does my data stay clean?’ and not stop after a one-time cleansing process,” Khan continued. “Jumping to cleaning and organizing without a wider governance plan is easier, and it’s quicker for most people, but it’s not sustainable. You’ll get maybe a few months or a year out of your AI, and then the data will be outdated and you’ll stop seeing value.”

Khan says he and the team understand that many organizations are feeling the pressure to adopt AI sooner rather than later and that, as he says, many executives are not aware of the need for data governance practices. This high demand, combined with a general lack of understanding of the intricacies of data protection, lead many to move forward without protocols in place.

Utilizing AI to get ready for AI

Khan and his team also advise clients to consider an approach that might seem counterintuitive: utilizing AI to prepare their businesses for AI.

“All of our clients are in SAP environments, so it’s a closed system and their data isn’t exposed, so it’s safe,” Khan said. “So, we can help them utilize AI to identify duplicate data, organize and streamline it and do those basic tasks to set up the business for wider adoption.”

This strategy, Khan notes, is best for organizations that don’t have to worry about whether beginning AI projects will expose the wider business to immediate risk. And Khan says that, true to his focus on long-term data governance, utilizing AI in very specific instances should be used sparingly.

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How Bluestonex enables SAP clients  

Bluestonex works exclusively within the SAP ecosystem, and its broad portfolio offers various paths for its clients. The company provides a suite of products and services that address a variety of integration, design, and other needs. The Maextro platform, which Khan heads, automates data management and processing capabilities for SAP clients.

Overall, Khan says many of Bluestonex’s clients are much more willing to address how their businesses approach data than ever before, and that is opening new opportunity paths for the advisory firm.

“People are, overall, much more aware of data now than they were before. Because of this, everyone is talking about good data, even if they aren’t yet talking about the data governance part of it.”

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