We know the pressure of being told to “break down silos” while new ones seem to appear every time a new channel or tool is added to the stack. It is a persistent reality in this role that technology often moves faster than our ability to connect it.
At the MarTech conference in March 2026, the session “Escape the Data Prison with a Strategy to End Silos” addressed this issue head-on. Moderated by Cyndi Greenglass, president of Livingston Strategies, the panel featured Dan Dipiazzo, head of marketing experience at the Georgia Aquarium; Zack Wenthe, director of product marketing and customer data evangelist at Tealium; and AnnMarie Willis, CEO of Leverage Lab.
Because the “perfect” solution is a myth
It is a common obstacle to look for a universal tool to solve fragmentation. However, Wenthe pointed out an inconvenient truth: silos are indeed permanent. When we add specialized tools for CRM, ticketing or e-commerce, the data naturally fragments.
The path forward is not to completely eliminate silos; it’s about building a structure to manage them. As Willis noted, the goal should be to discover where unified data has the greatest business impact – such as retention or revenue growth – rather than chasing a theoretical ideal.
Lessons from the Front: The Georgia Aquarium
Dipiazzo shared a concrete perspective from the Georgia Aquarium, where systems for ticketing, donor management and retail were all built to solve specific operational needs, but not necessarily to talk to each other.
His team’s journey to a functional customer data platform (CDP) has been a two-year evolution. The lesson here? Expect the process to take longer than you hope. It’s better to do it right than to do it fast. Starting with simple tactics like retargeting, they demonstrated the value of unified data before scaling up.
Culture: the ultimate data custodian
We see the friction that occurs when technical debt meets organizational silos. Willis described how the most significant change for an enterprise client was not the data ecosystem itself, but the creation of cross-functional “SWAT teams.”
When you align teams around shared customer insights rather than siled channels, you begin to close the gap between departments. Strong executive leadership is the fuel for this change. Often, starting a project is the first time stakeholders from different departments have met, demonstrating that the “plumbing” of a company is as much about people as it is about APIs.
AI as your new teammate
Let’s address the role of artificial intelligence. Wenthe described AI as a “force multiplier” that can speed up the “painstaking” work of data preparation: labeling, cleaning and classifying datasets that previously took months.
- Filling the gaps: Willis highlighted how AI can infer missing values to create a more complete customer profile.
- Expanding the team: For smaller organizations like the Georgia Aquarium, AI capabilities help summarize feedback and identify trends without needing an army of analysts.
Present the case to the C-suite
To secure the budget you need, frame the conversation around outcomes, not infrastructure. Dipiazzo moved the needle by showing how data capabilities could shift spending from expensive customer acquisition to highly efficient remarketing. When you show executives how unified data answers their most pressing business questions, the doors to the “data prison” begin to open.
The takeaway
Breaking out of data prison is not a one-off project; it is an ongoing strategy. Start small, focus on a measurable use case like paid media, and build momentum. You don’t have to solve everything today to start seeing a path forward.
