Enterprises face mounting pressures to extract real value from AI amidst surging data volumes, complex hybrid environments, and strict compliance requirements. Legacy systems struggle at handling modern AI workloads and advanced data management, particularly in supporting unstructured data and managing data readiness. This Viewpoint presents a strategic perspective on how enterprises can operationalize AI at scale through ideal data and AI management platforms. It introduces a detailed blueprint for an ideal platform, emphasizing multi-modal and multi-model data integration, AI-native architecture, and sovereign controls. It demonstrates how such platforms enable faster time-to-value, simplified operations, and cost savings without compromising on governance or performance . With real-world scenarios, an ideal platform-based solution blueprint, and a comprehensive value assessment, this report provides insights for enterprises to rethink their current data and AI strategy.