AI Boosts Analytics to Empower Enterprises, ISG Says

Analytics software is being transformed into an AI-powered asset that is essential to business strategies in all industries, enhancing organizations’ ability to prepare and use data for competitive advantage, according to new research from global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG).

Data now drives all aspects of business, and companies must use analytics to understand and plan operations across both the business and IT domains. Advanced analytics based on AI and machine learning is becoming foundational.

The ISG Buyers Guide for Analytics, produced by ISG Software Research, provide the rankings and ratings of 21 software providers and their products for all aspects of analytics. The research finds that business intelligence requirements continue to expand and now include sourcing of data, collaboration across teams, predictive insights and the use of analytics for planning, forecasting and performance guidance. The Buyers Guide for Analytics Emerging Providers, published in conjunction with the Analytics guide, evaluates 12 next-generation companies on the leading edge of these technologies.

ISG has also published guides covering the same providers, focused on AI-based analytics. The Buyers Guide for AI Analytics examines established providers’ AI capabilities, while the AI Analytics Emerging Providers guide looks at the AI-powered offerings of innovative specialized players.

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In addition, ISG has published three Buyers Guides that cover providers of analytics software for specific industries. The ISG Buyers Guide for Healthcare Analytics rates and ranks 20 providers of analytics software for healthcare enterprises. The Buyers Guide for Manufacturing Analytics evaluates 15 providers of analytics software for manufacturing companies. The Buyers Guide for Retail Analytics assesses 14 providers of analytics software for the retail industry.

“Data now drives all aspects of business, and companies must use analytics to understand and plan operations across both the business and IT domains,” said David Menninger, executive director of AI and IT research, ISG Research. “Advanced analytics based on AI and machine learning is becoming foundational, with almost two-thirds of enterprises using ML now and three-quarters planning to use it more in the future.”

AI and ML go beyond traditional analytics by classifying, predicting and recommending behaviors to improve operations, the research finds. Generative AI suggests steps in data preparation, the most time-consuming aspect of analytics, that can reduce the involvement of IT so business users can confidently conduct data analysis themselves. By 2027, almost all business intelligence (BI) software providers will include augmented intelligence based on GenAI to make analytics easier to perform, ISG finds. ML is delivering competitive advantage by helping companies analyze data on product usage, improve customer experience and quickly seize new opportunities.

Industries that rely heavily on analytics for operations and planning, including healthcare, manufacturing and retail, require specialized software for specific requirements around data sources, use cases and strategic decision-making. Broad platform providers and specialists are meeting these needs with targeted tools that increasingly incorporate AI features.

For its 2025 Buyers Guides for Analytics, ISG evaluated software providers across four platform categories — Analytics, Collaborative Analytics, Developer Analytics and Mobile Analytics. A total of 21 providers were assessed: Alibaba Cloud, AWS, Cloud Software Group, Databricks, Domo, Epicor, Google, IBM, Infor, insightsoftware, Microsoft, OpenText, Oracle, Qlik, Salesforce, SAP, SAS, Sisense, Strategy, ThoughtSpot and Zoho.

ISG Software Research rates software providers in five evaluation categories: Overall, Product Experience (incorporating Capability and Platform) and Customer Experience. Providers ranked in the top three for each evaluation category are named as Leaders. Within each platform category, those with the most Leader rankings are named as Overall Leaders.