Video produced by Steve Nathans-Kelly
In this clip from Data Summit 2026, Fleur Levitz, principal consultant, FDL consulting NYC LLC, explores the shifting roles of information professionals and the need to reposition info pros to support and serve AI governance with an eye to fostering more responsible AI leadership.
“Information professionals have always been managing data quality, governance, classification, access, and ethics. They have done this for decades,” Levitz said. “It’s not just the profession; it’s the application of the profession that is changing.”
Cataloging becomes data curation, reference now becomes AI validation, and literacy becomes AI literacy, she explains.
“This is not disruption but evolution of these skills to meet the needs of the time,” Levitz said. “The question isn’t whether we have the information professionals, it’s whether or not we’ve positioned them to govern that intelligence or those systems.”
Data models and compliance are separate; AI failures happen between these silos. The opportunity here is to unify accountability, she concluded.
“Information leaders are governing end-to-end and this is a unified opportunity for accountability,” Levitz said.
The annual Data Summit conference returned to Boston, May 6-7, 2026, with pre-conference workshops on May 5.
Videos and clips of presentations from Data Summit 2026 are now available for on-demand viewing on the DBTA YouTube channel.
Save the date: Data Summit 2027 is returning to Boston on May 12 -13, with pre-conference workshops on May 11. More information about Data Summit 2027 is coming soon.