What Counts? Podcast
InfoCon Update: AI and Information Governance
November 2, 2026 · 00:01:23
InfoCon Update: AI and Information Governance
What Counts checks in from the convention center at ARMA InfoCon. After a weekend of pre-conference activities and leadership sessions for chapter and regional leaders and the board of directors, the educational sessions and exhibit hall are in full swing. One theme runs through all of it: AI and information governance. The message from day two is clear: IG professionals are critical to the success of AI in business, government, and every other kind of organization. This is a short update from the floor, with the full debrief to come once we are home.
Why AI depends on the records behind it
An AI tool is only as reliable as the content it reads. When that content includes superseded drafts, duplicate copies, and files kept long past their retention period, the model surfaces outdated answers with full confidence. Over-retained data also widens exposure in litigation and discovery, because anything an organization keeps, it may have to produce.
The fix is work IG professionals already do. A records retention schedule defines what to keep and for how long. Defensible disposition removes what has met its retention period. Legal holds preserve what must not be destroyed. A clear line between records and non-records keeps convenience copies out of the retrieval set. Together, these controls give AI a smaller, cleaner, and more trustworthy body of content to work from.
That is why the governance of information belongs at the start of every AI project, not at the end. We will share more of what we learned at InfoCon in an upcoming episode.
Episode chapters
00:00 Welcome to What Counts
00:17 Day two at InfoCon
00:53 Why IG professionals matter to AI
01:10 More when we get home
What Counts is produced by TrailBlazer Consulting, LLC and hosted by Lee Karas and Maura Dunn. Learn more or reach out directly at info@trailblazer.us.com. Explore compliance-ready corporate training programs at the TrailBlazer Learning Academy. Read more from Maura at Maura’s Substack. Music by Jason Blake. Full disclaimer.