Artificial intelligence promises to revolutionize how organizations operate, communicate and engage their stakeholders. But as companies dive into AI projects with bold expectations, they often encounter a familiar problem: poor data quality. For AI tools to deliver on their potential, they need a rich, reliable foundation from which to learn. Most companies are missing a critical ingredient.
On “The History Factory Podcast,”Jason Dressel and Chris Juhasz explain why the solution is better data—and one of the most overlooked sources of that is your organization’s archives.
When digitized and curated with purpose, archival content becomes a strategic asset that can train AI systems to think and communicate in ways that are consistent with your brand, your values and your voice.
Listen to the full episode: “The AI Data Gap: What It Means for Brands.”
The Real AI Challenge: Garbage In, Garbage Out
AI is only as good as the data it receives. When it is fed shallow, inconsistent or impersonal inputs, the results feel hollow. Teams spend more time fixing or rejecting AI outputs than using them productively.
This isn’t a technical issue—the problem is historical. Most organizations have vast amounts of institutional knowledge stored across analog formats and siloed platforms or in the minds of long-tenured employees. This information holds the stories, decisions and nuances that make a company distinct. But if it is not digitized and accessible, AI cannot use it.
We call this the “AI data gap.” It is the difference between what your AI knows and what your company has actually learned and lived. Closing that gap begins with digitization.
Digitization Unlocks Institutional Memory
Digitizing your archival information is about transforming dormant material into dynamic, searchable, structured content that can be integrated into AI systems.
When archival content is tagged, contextualized and organized intentionally, it becomes a bridge between the analog past and the digital present. Your historical content—speeches, annual reports, campaign briefs, employee newsletters and more—carries the language and logic that can help AI better reflect your organization’s identity.
This is essential. AI that lacks institutional memory will struggle to produce insights or messages that are on-brand, strategic or trustworthy.
How Leading Companies Are Closing the Gap
Organizations that are leading in AI adoption are beginning to treat their archives as strategic infrastructure.
One client highlighted in our podcast digitized decades of internal communications and leadership messaging. That digitized content was used to train generative AI models designed to support executive communication and customer engagement. The outcome was more consistent, confident messaging that sounded like the company because it was built from the company’s real voice.
This approach doesn’t just pay dividends in AI. A digitized archives also supports onboarding, innovation, risk management and cultural alignment. It creates clarity about what an organization has stood for and how it has evolved.
Where To Start: Make Your Archives AI-Ready
If your organization is investing in AI or planning to do so, here are four ways to prepare by focusing on archival digitization:
- Assess what matters: Identify the types of content that define your brand’s voice, values and strategic evolution.
- Digitize with context: Go beyond scanning. Use metadata, taxonomy and structure to ensure that content is searchable and meaningful to humans and machines.
- Prioritize quality over quantity: AI does not need everything. It needs the right things. Curate selectively and intentionally.
- Integrate with purpose: Build pathways for your digitized archives to support content generation, brand training and decision support tools.
The Brands That Know Themselves Will Lead
Organizations cannot afford to let their pasts sit on the shelf. In the age of AI, heritage is a data advantage.
Digitizing your archival content is the smartest way to close the “AI data gap.” It ensures that your systems are built on the most authoritative, authentic understanding of who you are and what you stand for.
The future of AI will not be defined by speed alone. It will also be shaped by the strength and clarity of the information we choose to preserve and prioritize.
Ready to future-proof your brand? Let’s talk.