Imagine burning three trillion U.S. dollars. Businesses do this virtually every year because of poor data quality (DQ). In a data-driven age, organizations cannot afford to waste this time and money. Instead, they need to focus on achieving good data quality through a comprehensive program dedicated to business needs. But how does a company implement an effective […]
Evolving Data Governance in the Age of AI: Insights from Industry Experts
The AI revolution isn’t coming: It’s here, and organizational governance structures are woefully unprepared. While 64% of businesses expect AI to increase productivity, most AI models fail. This result highlights a stark gap between potential and reality. Getting timely and usable data sets for AI training and analysis is crucial for becoming data-driven. At the heart of this multi-faceted challenge lies […]
How to Become a Data Steward
An essential role in any data-driven organization, a data steward is expected to manage and protect valuable data resources while ensuring that the integrity of the data remains intact. A steward must ensure that the data is useful to the company and meets its business objectives. Data stewards are also responsible for monitoring the data […]
Self-Service Analytics: Pros and Cons
Self-service analytics empowers the non-technical users in an organization. Traditionally, data analysis was the domain of specialized data scientists or IT professionals with skills to manipulate and interpret complex datasets. In self-service analytics, user-friendly tools enable ordinary business users to conduct data analyses without expert knowledge or support. These tools typically feature user-friendly interfaces, drag-and-drop functionalities, and pre-built templates […]
Fundamentals of Data Preparation
Data is often called the raw material of the information age, and it does share characteristics with the resources that power other industries. For example, imagine trying to make a car out of unrefined iron ore. A lot of processing happens between the mine and the factory. Data is no different. In its “raw” form, […]
AI Governance in Action: Practical Insights from a Data-Driven Enterprise
As AI adoption skyrockets, how can organizations harness its power responsibly? AI promises enhanced decision-making and customer interactions, but it comes with ethical, compliance, and infrastructure risks. Consequently, AI governance is crucial to address these risks. In response, many businesses turn to their established data governance (DG), aiming to leverage existing controls and procedures. However, AI introduces […]
Data Product vs. Data as a Product (DaaP): Understanding the Difference
Data quality (DQ), which ensures that data is fit for business and consumer needs, remains a significant challenge and is growing more complex. According to a dbt Labs 2024 report, 57% of survey respondents identified data quality as a challenging aspect to data preparation, up from 41% in 2022. To address these data quality challenges, companies increasingly […]
How to Build a Data Governance Program in 90 Days
For many people in business, the mention of a data governance program evokes excessive red tape, bureaucratic drag, and, most of all, outsiders meddling in daily operations. “What is the preconceived notion about data governance? We are the police, we tell you no, we tell you to stop, we slow you down,” said Sherry Hidalgo, director of […]
How to Govern a Business Glossary
Many people see the dictionary as a thing of unquestionable authority, with words and meanings that rarely change. Likewise, in corporate culture, business leaders often mistake the business glossary – a collection of data-related terms and definitions used within an organization – as being static, straightforward, and simple to develop and maintain. Timothy Mulholland, associate manager and […]
What Is Active Metadata and Why Does It Matter?
Metadata is like the secret sauce of the internet. You type a word or phrase in a search engine, press enter, and the information you’re looking for appears (usually). An action that once seemed “indistinguishable from magic,” to quote the third of Arthur C. Clarke’s three laws, is now as commonplace as heating up leftovers in […]