Think AI will fix info overload? Think again
Enterprise content expert John Bates discusses how we're approaching a tipping point in how we work with information, where "Smart Content" is poised to make a big difference
Today's document business systems often function more like filing cabinets than smart content experts. But what we really need are synthetic knowledge partners—not more office furniture. True progress means embedding intelligence at every stage of the content lifecycle: from understanding documents, extracting the meaning, to automating processes, spotting errors or fraud, and enabling systems to respond with context-aware precision across the enterprise.
In other words business information should access, inform, and trigger the right processes in the right systems, seamlessly. If we could achieve this, we wouldn't need to worry about the explosion of digital data. In sharp contrast, as that mountain grows, so would our ability to unlock and leverage it for real business value.
The rise of the zettabyte
This shift couldn't be more urgent. Global data creation is projected to reach 394 zettabytes by 2028—an unimaginable volume where one zettabyte equals a trillion gigabytes. To put that in perspective, from the dawn of humanity to 2003, we generated at most 5 billion gigabytes of information, which is a mere 0.5% of a single zettabyte.
And we'll likely blow past that number even sooner. Scientists have already developed ways to store hundreds of terabytes of data on a tiny crystal, a technique that could potentially lead to ultra-high-density storage systems capable of holding petabytes of data on a single disc. That's thousands of 4K movies, all on something that fits in your hand.
The urgent question now isn't how much data we can store—but whether we're getting any better at using it. Most people hope AI will pick up the slack, but here's the catch: AI's main job today is to generate more information, not manage it. In the meantime, about 80 to 90% of enterprise data is unstructured—locked in PDFs, videos, voice recordings, and images.
The irony is that we created PDFs to make information sharing easier—Adobe still markets them as tools to "streamline workflows, enhance productivity, and maintain a professional image." Yet, we continue to pile more and more into these digital files, while also scheduling endless Zoom and Teams calls to foster collaboration and move projects forward—only to store and rarely revisit the recordings.
In doing so, we're only adding to what Gartner calls "dark data", i.e., potentially valuable business information that remains unused and forgotten. At this point, I'm starting to fear those zettabytes.
The return to centre stage of the neglected business document
The lens through which we need to view all of this isn't "data" in the abstract; it's the heart of every business process—things like invoices, sales agreements, hiring contracts, and purchase orders. It's not enough to simply automate around them—we need to make these documents themselves more responsive, so they can do more for us.
Why? Because this mindset allows us to leverage the upcoming intersection of AI, automation and collaboration, helping us avoid drowning in an ocean of bits, bytes, audio, and video. Essentially, we all need smarter business decisions while being exponentially more productive, and achieving that requires accurate extraction and strategic use of information.
To make better, faster decisions at scale, businesses need the right information at the right time. That requires more than AI alone. Even if Agentic AI becomes mainstream, we'll still need human oversight. Transparency, accountability, and sound judgment matter, and businesses have a responsibility to shareholders, employees, and customers to make decisions based on expertise, intuition, and sound judgment, not just the output of an opaque algorithm.
In other words, accountability will always matter: Who made the decision? What information was used? How did Terry arrive at that conclusion? The clearest record will always be a structured, accessible document. So yes, AI has a role, but it shouldn't be in control. We need a shift from abstract "data management" to content that's not only machine-readable but also human-friendly—and ultimately, human-empowering.
Thriving in an age of endless information accumulation
In other words: Smart Content. And if we can get there—and I believe we're very close—Smart Content won't just mean responsive documents that guide us ("Hello! I'm an Invoice from Cardoso Systems but I think I might be fraudulent based on my cross-referencing myself against historic patterns. Can you please double check?"). It will evolve into a dynamic corporate knowledge base and an intelligent business process stack. Rather than becoming black holes that drain productivity, documents will transform into active, intelligent assets—not static PDFs or forgotten Teams files. Instead of draining productivity, they'll drive it.
This new model also brings productive shortcuts, as office systems will not only recognize a document as an invoice or contract, but also extract key information for other apps, trigger processes, and link that knowledge across your business.
Think of it as a dynamic corporate knowledge base—a responsive, intelligent process layer that transforms documents into decision-driving tools. The main benefit is that with Smart Content on our side, those zettabytes no longer feel like a threat. Instead, they become what they need to be: a foundation for business growth and fuel for a faster, sharper, and more resilient workplace capable of thriving in an era of endless information accumulation.
The author is CEO of SER Group, a European leader in the global Enterprise Content Management ecosystem
