Maximus Podcast Episode 1: Data Readiness for Mission Resilience

Data is no longer just an asset; it’s the operational backbone of mission execution. Federal leaders have long recognized the importance of data, but the acceleration of AI adoption has changed what it means to have data “ready” in practice. Today, the ability to deliver trusted data at mission speed directly shapes how effectively agencies can act, adapt, and deliver outcomes. In this environment, compliance is the baseline – not the endpoint.  Agency leaders need modern data strategies that are intentionally designed for resilience, availability and trust from the outset.

In the first episode of Maximus’ new video podcast series, From mission ready to mission resilient, Susan Davenport, Department of the Air Force (DAF) chief data and artificial intelligence officer, discussed how federal leaders can build a trustworthy data foundation to support AI-ready operations.

Data expectations in the AI era

The AI evolution is fundamentally changing the data landscape, from the value of the data itself to the roles of the people who handle data and the systems that produce it. While agencies have historically measured data maturity through compliance – inventory, lineage, and retention – those baselines are no longer sufficient. In the AI era, success is defined by delivering trusted, mission-relevant data at operational speed to enable faster decisions, scalable AI adoption, and secure, outcome-driven execution.

“How fast can I make my data available to folks at every level who need to make critical decisions in the department?” Davenport said. “That's really pushing us to focus on usability and ensuring that data is available immediately … as a mission capability and not a back-office function or an IT function.”

AI-ready data does not have to be perfect data, but rather data that is usable and understood well enough to make trustworthy decisions supported by AI. In other words, not perfect but fit for purpose, with trust built into workflows and pipelines.

Speed without trust is risk. Achieving true decision advantage requires full data lineage, understanding where data originates, how it’s shaped, and how it’s used – so agencies can act quickly with confidence.

Hurdles to AI readiness

AI readiness is often constrained not by ambition, but data realities. Legacy systems, siloed data stores, and uneven approaches to governance, security and compliance introduce friction at every stage of AI adoption. Before agencies can fully operationalize AI, they should address a more foundational shift – moving toward a culture that treats data as a strategic, shared asset.

“The shift we're making is really about treating data as a mission asset, engineered from the beginning, funded from the beginning, secured and prioritized like any other weapons system we have in the department,” Davenport said, “because [our data assets] are that critical.”

When data is elevated to the appropriate level of importance, agencies can begin to address the challenges preventing them from maximizing the value of that data.

Organizations seeing the most success are shifting towards operating models that treat data management as a unified, enterprise-wide effort – ensuring data is delivered seamlessly to mission operators while maintaining the visibility and controls required at the enterprise level.

How automation supports readiness

Like many agency functions, data management and governance are often slowed by manual processes. Automation can reduce this burden by handling tasks such as metadata tagging and policy checks. Beyond freeing staff from repetitive work, automation makes these activities a built-in, continuous processes.

“It lets you scale governance without scaling the bureaucracy,” Davenport said. “For a long time … we were having weekly and monthly meetings where we would talk about these types of things, the governance piece, and now automation allows you to move at the scale you need without that bureaucracy.”

The challenge isn’t a lack of data, it’s better access. Delivering usable data to the right people and systems at the right time is what drives impact, and automation is key to making that happen at scale.

Department of the Air Force data strategy

The conversation coincided with the public release of the DAF Data and AI Strategies, intended to “provide a strategic roadmap for the department to become an AI-first force, operationalizing data and AI as decisive force multipliers and strategic assets,” according to the DAF press release.

The guiding documents expand upon Davenport’s characterization of data as a product and mission asset in itself, not just a byproduct of systems and operations.

“We’ve created data standards and a data policy that we’re very proud of — a north star for data, if you will,” Davenport said. “One of the most significant things that we're doing right now is we're elevating data readiness to leadership accountability.”

As she further underscored in the press release: Data and artificial intelligence are no longer support functions — they are the foundation of strategic overmatch.

Actionable steps for data readiness

Closing out the conversation, Davenport outlined the following list of actionable steps for government leaders:

1. Assign clear responsibility for data domains.
2. Establish strong policies, standards and vision.
3. Prioritize quality lineage for data sets that matter the most — the truly mission critical data.
4. Design and plan for degraded operations. If data doesn’t get to where you need it, when you need it, or if trust is questionable, how will you be able to execute the mission?
5. Automate governance so speed doesn’t depend on manual processes.

Finally, and most importantly, treat data production as a mission asset.

“That means designing for high availability, designing for disaster recovery and continuous operations, or continuous O&M,” Davenport said. “If the mission depends on the data, it's got to be available, and this allows you to move from mission readiness to mission resilience.”

Visit our From mission ready to mission resilient series hub for future episodes and additional resources about Maximus. Next up: learn how to achieve operational readiness at scale