The report, which surveyed 500 leaders from companies with over $1 billion in annual revenue, exposes a disconnect between high-level policy and operational execution. Although 99% of these firms maintain data masking mandates, 84% regularly grant compliance exceptions, effectively undermining their own security protocols. This creates a volatile environment where 43% of firms have already failed audits.

AI adoption is further complicating the risk profile. While 98% of respondents claim they can secure data within AI workflows, 68% simultaneously worry about potential data leaks. Ross Millenacker, Senior Product Manager for Perforce Delphix, notes that this tension stems from the difficulty of protecting data at scale, particularly as firms pivot toward agentic development. With 51% of leaders identifying data quality as their primary barrier to secure AI integration, the focus has shifted toward masking data within analytics platforms like Databricks and Snowflake to mitigate the rising stakes of innovation.