Single word for "is nothing until it becomes"

The sentence is not too wordy, but it would benefit from rewording. It also seems like you want to stress the importance of "context". There are a variety of words you could use instead of "is nothing" which sounds "unimportant". You might consider other descriptive words like "meaningless", "lies dormant", or "insignificant" to mention a few.

Data is meaningless without it's (proper) context, but it becomes information when the context is applied.

Data lies dormant until it becomes information once the (proper) context is applied.

Data is insignificant until it becomes information. It requires it's (proper) context for meaning.

https://www.thefreedictionary.com/dormant

You could turn your sentence around to emphasize the role of context:

Context turns data into information.

Here's a variant:

Context turns raw data into information.

Or to stay closer to your original structure:

Data alone means nothing. With context, it becomes information.