Design a data architecture built for AI scale

Modern enterprises are rethinking their data platforms to meet the speed, scale, and complexity of AI. According to Forrester Research, data architects must be prepared to:

• Support hybrid and multicloud environments for agility and resilience
• Embrace AI innovation while keeping data at the core
• Rearchitect legacy systems to meet the demands of real-time, intelligent workloads

“As data environments become increasingly complex and distributed — and the pressure to deploy AI across more use cases continues to mount — the need for connected, trusted, and scalable platforms to orchestrate these efforts has never been greater.”

— Forrester Research

To address these challenges, Forrester’s Data, AI, and Analytics Architecture Model (2025) introduces a six-stage framework that helps organizations design scalable, insight-driven systems and future-proof their data strategy

The Forrester six-stage model

1. Ingest / Stream

Capture data from diverse, fast-moving sources with low latency and high reliability to enable real-time insights.

2. Prepare / Transform

Cleanse, enrich, and structure data using AI-driven pipelines and knowledge graphs for consistency and context.

3. Define / Model

Apply semantics, ontologies, and metadata management to standardize meaning, ensure traceability, and support scalable AI models.

4. Store / Persist

Use cloud-native, hybrid, and multicloud storage to maintain high availability, governance, and compliance across environments.

5. Integrate / Orchestrate

Connect data, models, and applications through automated workflows that enable real-time decisioning and intelligent automation.

6. Deliver / Share

Distribute insights securely and at scale through APIs, dashboards, and collaboration tools that bring AI outcomes into daily business use.

A modern architecture does more than support AI — it unifies data, technology, and people to deliver continuous value at enterprise scale.

Access Forrester’s Data, AI, and Analytics Architecture Model (2025), courtesy of Strategy, to learn how to build a platform designed for scalability and trust.