Data-driven culture: how to get your team to make decisions based on data (2026)

56% of adults in Chile score at or below level 1 in numeracy, compared with an OECD average of 25%, according to the OECD Survey of Adult Skills 2023. That is the starting point for any company that wants to be data-driven: tools are of little use if the team can't read a percentage, compare two figures or spot a number that doesn't add up.

In this guide we explain what a data-driven culture is, what skills a team needs to decide with data and how to build that culture step by step, with or without specialists.

56%

Adults in Chile with low numeracy

level 1 or below; OECD: 25%

2%

Adults in Chile with high numeracy

levels 4 or 5; OECD: 14%

60.4%

Europeans with basic digital skills

or above, 2025

22.29%

EU companies that provide ICT training

10 or more employees, 2024

Source: OECD, PIAAC 2023; Eurostat, 2024 and 2025

View the data as a table

Adults in Chile with low numeracy	56% | level 1 or below; OECD: 25%
Adults in Chile with high numeracy	2% | levels 4 or 5; OECD: 14%
Europeans with basic digital skills	60.4% | or above, 2025
EU companies that provide ICT training	22.29% | 10 or more employees, 2024

What a data-driven culture is

A data-driven culture is a way of working in which people, not just analysts, use data to propose, discuss and evaluate decisions. In a company with a data culture, the question "what do the numbers say?" comes up before approving a campaign, changing a price or hiring someone.

It doesn't depend on having a large data science team. It depends on three things: accessible data, people who know how to interpret it and leaders who ask for evidence and use it. If the concept is still unclear, first read what data-driven means and how to apply it in your company.

The starting point in Chile: numeracy skills

The OECD's PIAAC assessment measures the skills of people aged 16 to 65. In the 2023 edition, Chile was far from the average in numeracy, the skill closest to working with data.

• Chile
• OECD average

Level 1 or below56%25%

Levels 4 or 52%14%

Source: OECD, Survey of Adult Skills 2023, Chile country note

View the data as a table

	Chile	OECD average
Level 1 or below	56%	25%
Levels 4 or 5	2%	14%

For a Chilean company, this means it is unwise to assume the whole team reads a chart or a conversion rate correctly. A data-driven culture starts by training people in the basics.

Data literacy: the foundation of a data-driven culture

Data literacy is the ability to search, filter, evaluate and manage data and information. Eurostat measures it as part of the digital skills of the European population. Most people master the basics in each area, but only 60.4% reach a basic or above-basic level in all five at once.

Communication and collaboration92.07%

Information and data86.47%

Problem solving86.07%

Digital safety74.63%

Content creation70.51%

All five areas at once60.4%

Source: Eurostat, isoc_sk_dskl_i21

View the data as a table

Communication and collaboration	92.07%
Information and data	86.47%
Problem solving	86.07%
Digital safety	74.63%
Content creation	70.51%
All five areas at once	60.4%

Train or hire: what companies do

To move toward a data-driven culture, companies have two paths: train their team or hire specialists. Eurostat data shows that training is more common, and that hiring is hard.

Trained their staff in ICT22.29%

Trained non-specialist staff19.36%

Tried to hire ICT specialists9.55%

Source: Eurostat, isoc_ske_ittn2 and isoc_ske_itrcrn2

View the data as a table

Trained their staff in ICT	22.29%
Trained non-specialist staff	19.36%
Tried to hire ICT specialists	9.55%

Of the companies that sought ICT specialists in 2024, 57.5% had hard-to-fill vacancies. The most cited reasons were a lack of applicants (43.24%), salary expectations (41.86%) and a lack of relevant training (41.73%).

Research also points to people. In the US Census Bureau study, Brynjolfsson and McElheran found that the benefit of data-driven decision making is greater in plants that already have skilled workers. And at Google, Project Oxygen used more than 10,000 data points to identify the behaviors of good managers, according to its re:Work site: leadership can also be measured and improved.

How to build a data-driven culture in your team: 6 steps

1. Leaders set the example. If management asks for data before approving something and uses it, the rest of the team follows.
2. Train in the basics before the tools. Percentages, averages, rates and how to read a chart. This is the gap the OECD shows in Chile.
3. Define a few shared indicators. A dashboard with five KPIs everyone understands beats fifty nobody checks. See our marketing KPI guide.
4. Make data easy to find. A single source of truth, with access for whoever needs it and clear rules on who maintains it.
5. Turn meetings into evidence reviews. Every proposal comes with its data point, its source and the metric that will be used to evaluate it.
6. Celebrate learning, not just wins. A test that fails and is measured well is also useful information.

To apply it in a specific area, see data-driven marketing. To see how many companies already analyze data, read our 2026 data-driven study. If your company is small, the guide to artificial intelligence for small businesses in Chile may also help.