Catalog & Cocktails: The Honest, No-BS Data Podcast Season 11 Premiere: What happened in 2025 and where are we going in 2026
5 snips
Jan 8, 2026 In this lively discussion, Juan and Tim reflect on the dramatic shifts in the data landscape throughout 2025, focusing on AI's evolution from hype to practical application. They dive into the importance of semantics and ontologies for enterprise AI, while also addressing the notable trend of tool consolidation among vendors. Tim emphasizes the need for data teams to become proactive partners in driving value, and they enthusiastically predict that ontology adoption will grow in 2026. Expect insights into balancing governance with practical action and a touch of humor along the way!
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Trust Returned As A Core Constraint
- Trust and governance resurfaced as blockers to more transformative AI because foundations were underinvested.
- Juan Sequeda warns governance is the 'brakes' needed to create reliable AI systems.
Data Teams Must Evolve Beyond Ticketing
- The traditional data-team-as-ticket-service model is breaking and won't scale for future demands.
- Tim Gasper says data teams must shift toward data products and measurable ROI.
Manage Data Models As Knowledge
- Start treating enterprise data models, vocabularies, and schemas as managed knowledge assets with clear ownership.
- Do assign accountable owners and governance for glossaries and ontologies so agents can resolve domain ambiguity.