How do you validate?

Trust sits at the core of every decision we make, whether it’s choosing a brand at the grocery store or relying on data to guide business strategy.

Take cheese, for example. No one follows the process from cow to cheddar, verifying that the animals grazed on pesticide-free grass and that the milk was handled properly before becoming a perfectly aged block of cheese. Instead, we trust the brand to stand behind those steps.

This is much like our relationship with information today, especially in the age of AI. These tools often provide supporting links but tracing them (and the links behind those links) is time-consuming and complicated. The bigger question is: who—or what—will we trust to validate information? Will trusted “brands” of data emerge, or will each company need its own framework for validation?

The Challenge of Validation

Validation isn’t simple. Even internal systems, like accounting software, aren’t foolproof, data entry errors happen. Source documents like contracts or invoices may not always be the final version or might contain mistakes themselves.

Validation, then, exists on a spectrum, from Questionable to Absolute. Companies need ways to define where information falls on that scale.

Building Rules for Trust

Organizations can establish rules and processes to strengthen validation:

• Workflow approvals: Documents used as support for decisions reviewed and approved by multiple people can be given an Absolute rating.

• Digital signatures: Fully executed documents from e-signature platforms also earn an Absolute rating.

• Web downloads: Documents from unknown or unverified sources should be marked Questionable.

Critically, this should not be left to individual users. Information rating and acceptance must be defined at the company level, through clear policies and procedures. That could mean specifying which sources (“brands”) are acceptable or requiring a minimum validation level before data extracted from the documents can be used in core systems like an ERP.

A Shifting Landscape of Trust

Traditional media outlets once held that trust, but confidence in them has eroded. Big tech companies are now gateways to information, but skepticism there is also high. This leaves an opening for new, creative methods of validation to emerge.

One thing is certain: the stronger the validation, the stronger the decisions. Companies that establish a clear validation plan, backed by process, technology, and policy, will be better positioned to make decisions they can trust.

Now is the time to get your validation plan in place.

Contact imkore Millennia for more information, at info@mgdocs.com.