What we learned: Too many teams are making decisions without data, and it’s costing them.
Despite years of investment in analytics tools and infrastructure, organizations are still struggling to deliver timely, in-context insights. To understand why, Sisense partnered with independent research firm UserEvidence to survey 536 data professionals across North America. Our goal was to uncover how analytics are being used today, what’s holding teams back, and what the next two years of embedded intelligence really looks like.
The results tell the story of an industry at a crossroads. Context switching, inaccessible data, and stalled AI projects are slowing innovation, especially for developers, product managers, and engineering leaders tasked with building analytics into their products. But the good news is that there’s a clear path forward.
The hidden cost of “normal” inefficiencies
Up to 50% of the workday is lost to digital friction. Developers, product managers, and engineering teams jump between as many as ten different apps just to complete a single analytics task. Multiply that by 1,000 employees and you’re looking at 10,000 hours of lost productivity weekly.
This isn’t just inefficiency; it’s innovation slipping through the cracks.
“Looking for analytics is a particularly large drain on productivity. For 75% of organizations, the average employee spends two to ten hours each week searching for the right data.” — State of Analytics 2025
Data access doesn’t mean data use
Most organizations say they’re in control of their data, yet 76% admit to making business decisions without it. Why? Because analytics tools are often too complex, buried behind layers of training, or siloed with specialists.
When tools require deep expertise just to access basic insights, the result is predictable: Teams make gut decisions instead of data-driven ones. And advanced analytics features? They’re going unused, locked behind complexity that most teams don’t have time to conquer.
Innovation is stuck at the starting line
Product teams know what they want to build, but analytics slow them down. Nearly half of organizations say they’ve abandoned three to five product innovations because of analytics integration challenges. Many developers are so consumed with keeping existing dashboards afloat, they don’t have time to build anything new.
And AI? While interest is high, execution is lagging. Nearly half of the respondents have four to six AI use cases identified but unimplemented, due mostly to integration challenges and cost concerns.
The path forward: Embedded analytics and AnPaaS
The solution isn’t more dashboards. It’s less friction.
The future belongs to invisible analytics—AI-powered insights that show up where work happens. Low-code, white-labeled, and SDK-driven, embedded analytics eliminate the need for specialist intervention and allow developers to integrate intelligence directly into their products.
In fact, 80% of survey respondents say invisible or ambient analytics are “very important” or “critical” to their organization’s future.
More companies are turning to Analytics Platform as a Service (AnPaaS) as a way to:
- Reduce total cost of ownership by streamlining infrastructure
- Deliver AI-powered insights in context, without interrupting workflows
- Empower users with self-service analytics that don’t require a technical background
- Free up developer bandwidth for building, not just maintaining
Want to see where your organization stands?
This year’s State of Analytics report tells us that most companies are working harder, not smarter, with their analytics. The way forward is embedded, intuitive, and AI-assisted.
Download the full report to explore the data behind the trends and discover how your peers are scaling analytics and driving innovation in 2025.
Curious about AnPaaS? Start your 30-day Sisense free trial and experience how fast embedded insights can transform your product.