86% of UK business leaders must make decisions “faster than ever before”

Almost nine out of 10 business leaders (86%) must now make decisions “faster than ever before.” That’s according to a new ‘Quick Thinking’ report from data streaming pioneer Confluent, which examines how UK business leaders make decisions using data.

The report, which calls on data from 200 CEOs, MDs and C-level executives, reveals 57% have less time to make important decisions, with nine out of ten (90%) saying they must now make decisions “in real time”.

Faced with this quick-fire decision making, many leaders don’t have time to analyse the data provided, instead turning to intuition and ‘gut feel’. Three in five business leaders (61%) frequently make ‘snap decisions’ without reviewing the available data, while more than half (58%) say they rely on gut feel because it’s too difficult to access insights in real time.

Confluent’s report also highlights the key areas where business leaders are being forced to ‘go with their gut’ due to a lack of real-time data:

People management (73%)*

Expanding the workforce (56%)

Market expansion (53%)

New products (52%)

Budgets and investments (45%)

New processes and technologies (42%)

Despite this high reliance on intuition, the report shows most leaders would rather inform their decisions with data. Of those surveyed, 84% want to make more decisions based on accurate data, while 85% believe they would make better decisions if real-time data was available.

To address this issue, today’s business leaders are adopting new real-time data practices and technologies. Nearly all of those surveyed (97%) are investing in, or have plans to invest in, “real-time dashboards” to provide more visibility.

77% are now investing in data streaming to aid their decision-making in 2024, while 96% feel real-time data streaming will be an “important” or “essential” part of their organisation’s decision-making strategy in the year ahead. And of those leaders who have already invested in data streaming technology, the majority say it is already improving their senior decision-making abilities.

Commenting on these findings, Richard Timperlake, SVP of EMEA, Confluent, said, “Across the UK, businesses are having to choose between fast decisions and informed decisions. That shouldn’t be the case. Today’s leaders and CEOs need to know that they can access a full, accurate picture of their organisations in real-time. The move to data streaming is an essential part of that shift.”

“Already, data streaming technology powers more than 80% of Fortune 100 companies. How data is processed and distributed is no longer just a technical or IT issue, it’s a business-wide decision that can impact everything from profitability to the customer experience. Conducting this study, it’s been fantastic to see so many c-level executives recognising the potential of this technology and pushing for its adoption. If businesses are going to move in real-time, data should too.”