Keep it simple, smart – and structured!

Posted on December 14, 2025 by Editor

The data landscape is being transformed by AI - but "the need for transparency and the need to be able to drill down into the data is not going to change," says senior investment data expert Ben Macdonald, opening yesterday's Data Amplified Virtual in conversation with XBRL International CEO John Turner. For information providers the AI value-add has two critical components: language processing at the front end to enable easier and more effective querying, and structure at the back end making data more AI-ready.

We were fascinated by Ben's thoughts on the power of agentic AI, and his prediction that we'll be seeing lots more creativity and innovation in the development of tools that leverage AIs, but that are enabled by traceable, high quality data, backed with strong data models behind them.

Sebastiaan Bal of arcrole and PwC's Willem Geijtenbeek followed with insights from the Netherlands' timely expansion of the Standard Business Reporting digital mandate to all private companies. One of the most interesting lessons from the Dutch process is their public-private partnership approach. By bringing together stakeholders from across the reporting chain they are able to identify challenges, minimise burden, and maximise buy-in. The possibilities are exciting: complete coverage of economic activity in the Netherlands will make it possible to leverage the data in all kinds of new ways. As Willem said, "it's all based on the bottom of the pizza!".

We finished with an in-depth briefing on the upcoming OIM Taxonomy specification from XBRL US CEO Campbell Pryde and XBRL International Technical Director Paul Warren. This will make taxonomies simpler and more consistent, and ensure the rich information they contain is more accessible to users - including AIs. It will also become significantly easier to build, test and maintain taxonomies, reducing barriers to entry for regulators and others that need high quality data models for reporting. We'll keep supporting the existing standard - and provide migration pathways to make it easy to take advantage of the new possibilities. Interested? Review and comment on the public consultations as they become available, and do consider joining the Open Information Model Working Group to be closely involved in the discussion.

The common thread? Simple, streamlined and high-quality structured data is an essential foundation for innovation - and tomorrow's reporting will allow more people to do more things with business data. Watch this space!

Thank you to all those who joined us, and a special thanks to our speakers. There was so much more than we can cover here, so if you missed it, look out for the highlights reels in coming weeks. Meanwhile, we'd love to hear your thoughts.