Dubbed Amazon.com, Jeff Bezos’s business went on to disrupt not only the way people typically shop, but also the book publishing industry itself, en route to becoming the world’s largest online retailer. It now serves as a prime example of how technology can enable innovative companies to fundamentally rethink the way business is done, as opposed to merely optimising existing processes. Now the myriad forms of data emerging from our internet-enabled digital world promise a similar transformation.

Very few executives need convincing that having more data about their products, people and processes can be empowering—and profitable. But how far has the data-driven revolution gone? How many companies have followed pioneers like Amazon into transforming their strategy—and potentially their industry—through data-driven insights?

To find out, we surveyed 318 C-suite executives on their use of data in strategy, asking them where they found it most useful, how data-driven their strategic planning and decision-making is, and what barriers they face to getting the best insights from greater volumes of data. The results are published in a new report: The Data Directive: How data is driving corporate strategy—and what still lies ahead.

It may not be surprising that the survey shows companies are now collecting more information than ever before—including social media sentiment, machine-generated data via sensors, staff emails, market data, open data and so on. At least seven in ten companies collect syndicated third-party data, such as weather information (72%), or government data (70%), while many gather anything from internal staff data (66%) to some kind of location-based information (41%), among many other types. Two-thirds of business leaders say the range and types of data have expanded in the past two years, while about three-quarters expect this data stockpiling to expand yet further in the coming two years.

Certainly, it isn’t hard to find companies that have transformed themselves through data. From beer companies like Anheuser- Busch using data to understand where, how and when to place its products to optimise sales, through to businesses like Universal Music using data to better identify up-and-coming artists, many are in the middle of a data-driven strategic transformation.

However, a key finding of the paper is that this revolution is in its early days. While 68% of respondents think their strategy has improved in the past two years as a result of having more data, only 18% see a significant improvement, and few have found ways to use data to make a genuinely transformational shift in the business. Some 35% of executives agree that data has been more useful with operational choices and actions, rather than strategic ones. Just 22% disagree, while 41% are unsure. Moreover, while 72% of companies regard themselves as effective at extracting strategic insights from data, only 12% of executives polled for this study consider their companies to be “highly effective” in this regard.

This doesn’t mean they don’t recognise the potential of data, though. Indeed, our survey analysis suggests a strong relationship between earnings growth and strategic use of data. The research finds sharp differences between “high growth” firms, based on their EBITDA performance over the past three years, as compared to their “no growth” peers. For example, even though both sets of firms collect lots of data, high-growth firms make far better use of it, while no-growth firms are more likely to find themselves swamped by the data they hold. Similarly, twice as many high-growth firms consider themselves highly effective at extracting insights from data, as compared to no-growth companies. High-growth firms have also done more to reform their structures and leadership around data, suggesting greater internal maturity on this issue. In particular, they are more than twice as likely to have a well-defined data management strategy in place.

Nevertheless, for companies seeking to gain more strategic insights from their data, many hurdles await. Whether organisational silos, a lack of skills, the usual disconnects between IT and the business, or worries over data quality, few consider the challenges and gaps easy to bridge. Clarity on which data matters most, amidst the data stockpiling now under way, is what tops the list of barriers, according to 40% of respondents. Furthermore, 34% of executives worry that the quality of their decisions are actually being impaired by data overload.

This is just scratching the surface of the report, which also assesses the results by function (CMOs are getting most use out of data, compared to other C-suite roles), industry (finance, technology and professional services firms are best prepared for the data age) and a range of other characteristics. A supplementary paper looks specifically at data and the CFO. This finds that chief financial officers tend to be the most cautious of the C-suite about the power of data, but also consider themselves leaders in the push to mine increasing volumes of data for strategic insights. Finding people who can do this effectively will be crucial to coming out of the data revolution on top.

Download the full report here.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited (EIU) or any other member of The Economist Group. The Economist Group (including the EIU) cannot accept any responsibility or liability for reliance by any person on this article or any of the information, opinions or conclusions set out in the article.