Journey
Any multi-year effort, spiritualized. Companies are on cloud journeys, data journeys, culture journeys. The word converts a late project into a pilgrimage — delays become 'part of the journey.'
Heard in the wild
“We're eighteen months into our data journey, destination unconfirmed.”
Tone check: Cliché
'Journey' has no deadline semantics — that's its job. Reintroduce dates into the conversation.