If you ask a founder what their business runs on, you’ll hear a familiar set of answers. Some will say people. Others will say processes. Many will say product, capital, or customers. These answers aren’t wrong, but they’re incomplete. In 2026, the real engine behind every modern business — the thing that determines whether a company grows, stalls, or quietly declines — is data. And the system that makes that data usable, trustworthy, and actionable is Business Intelligence.