As 2024 comes to a close, a big part of MineOS’ and my own journey this year was conferences. There is nothing better than getting in a room full of thousands of privacy professionals and having meaningful, face-to-face conversations, and we were lucky enough to attend and sponsor over a dozen events this year, from London and Brussels to Washington DC, Los Angeles, and Miami. 

Several themes and recurring topics kept coming up again and again across all the events we went to and people we spoke to, and I truly believe that at the heart of these insights is the future of data privacy. 

AI is Driving a Surge of Importance to Privacy

AI governance is a focal point for organizations as they try to position themselves for the coming challenges as well as regulatory compliance with laws like the EU’s AI Act. The field is moving incredibly fast, and companies are excited to harness the technology for business growth and product development, but they are also hesitant. 

AI carries immense risk, carrying a host of implicit data privacy and security concerns. But those concerns and risks are not in a vacuum, and a mature, modern AI governance program will allow organizations to use AI and reap the rewards without opening itself up to vulnerabilities. 

But for that to happen, organizations need to invest in AI governance, and in this early stage of AI, privacy professionals have proven to be a tremendous fit for getting those programs up and running. The overlap between those concerns and privacy’s power to know and touch every element of an organization makes it a power avenue for explaining what is happening within the org, exactly the type of visibility needed for AI governance.

Beyond coming AI regulations, managing to use AI safely is about maintaining competitive advantage in an unprecedented pace of technological innovation. The pace of AI development is forcing us to elevate privacy considerations into a primary, strategic imperative, a welcome sight for both growth and consumer safety. 

Privacy is No Longer a One-Person Job

So many people we talk to are so passionate about privacy and helping their organizations approach data in the right ways, but many lack the resources they need to thrive. Privacy teams have historically been small, with many in-house units containing just a single person and many more not even employing a full-time Data Protection Officer.

But with the rise of AI and the ever-complex state of data privacy compliance itself, the role of privacy is expanding. Companies are seeing the light that there are legitimate competitive advantages to investing in privacy and protecting consumer data and a shift is underway.

Many organizations are bringing on more employees for their privacy and compliance teams, with the most forward-thinking even restructuring to help the privacy team be proactive with what’s going on within other departments. 

This has helped scale cross-functional collaboration, involving everyone from data scientists and product managers to business strategists and CEOs. With consumer trust as important as ever and the fate of AI adoption riding on strong governance programs, this is one of the most welcome developments in 2024.

Data Mapping Isn't Just for Privacy

The discussions about data mapping across conferences was particularly eye-opening. It is no secret that many departments operate with some sort of data map, but the more complete, top-down view of data enabled by data privacy has proven invaluable for getting everyone on the same page.

Departments have struggled with similar challenges around data consistency, which is why in 2024 companies must operate around a single source of data truth. There is simply no clearer way to scale operational efficiency, govern AI, and make strategic decisions than having everyone refer to a single collaborative data map, one that is comprehensive and continuous in a way that only privacy can deliver with its broad overview of the organization's data ecosystem. 

And there’s immense value in this, as when other departments have seen the data mapping technology that companies like MineOS have, they are quick to embrace that idea of a single source of data truth.

Customizable Tech is Key for Compliance

Data privacy regulations are complex, which is why organizations value privacy platforms that can deliver on compliance out-of-the-box. But a full approach to data privacy and governance encompasses so much more, with each organization’s data environment functioning as its own unique environment.

From talking to so many within the privacy community, an insight anyone will quickly learn is that the most successful privacy programs manage to adapt technology to their own data ecosystem. But things don’t need to be that way, and technology can and should play a bigger role in making that customization easier and faster for companies. The ability to customize and adapt your privacy tech stack has become crucial for maintaining effective compliance and legacy solutions that fail to leverage that reality are doing customers a disservice.

That’s why so many of the developments we’ve made to MineOS in 2024 have revolved around customization, from creating unique RoPA reports and risk assessments connected directly to your continuous data map to a new-and-improved approach to managing consumer privacy requests. Handling privacy requests has always been a numbers game, with how many system integrations your platform can support, but we have gone beyond that to bring customers our Infinite Integration Builder, allowing for any data system to be integrated to our DSR Management module without the inflexibility of generic out-of-the-box integrations.

From showing these elements of our product to thousands of people this year, that ability to customize always stands out as one of the elements of MineOS that most impresses privacy professionals. 

The Community and Public are Hungry for Innovation

The narrative some executives believe about privacy being a progress blocker could not be more outdated. What I witnessed firsthand was a deeply educated privacy community hungry for innovation, but unwilling to accept that without equal responsibility and focus toward data practices. This mirrors the unwavering devotion towards data rights and privacy that the public is championing as more brands rise and fall on how they treat consumer data.

Driving responsible product development and data usage goes hand-in-hand with business growth in 2024 and beyond. The privacy community has long voiced those beliefs, but with the presence of AI governance and increased business challenges echoing throughout organizations today, privacy professionals have been unlocked to champion those causes with more collaboration and visibility than ever. With more business buy-in and better technology to make that happen, we are seeing an ascent of privacy and an electricity that you can feel at conferences.

The public wants data privacy platforms that develop and push growth alongside these initiatives, and after a year of conferences around the globe, I am more convinced than ever of privacy’s role as a progress booster. 

These conferences have transformed my perspective on what it means to be a business leader in an AI and data-driven world. The future belongs to organizations that can successfully navigate the intersection of innovation and privacy, and if you’d like to be a part of that journey alongside me, I’d love to show you what MineOS can do.