Enterprise Wide Search

In this episode, co-hosts Emma McGrattan and Ole Olesen-Bagneux sit down with Mariana Hebborn, Global Head of HR AI & Data Governance at Merck, to explore what it really takes to move AI from experimentation into the enterprise.

With a background in computational linguistics and semantics, Mariana has spent her career at the intersection of data, technology, and business. Today, she is applying that experience to one of the most sensitive and consequential areas of enterprise data: HR, where, as she puts it, the data describes someone.

Together, they explore:<...

In this episode, Ole Olesen-Bagneux sits down with Lulit Tesfaye, Joseph Hilger, and Zach Wahl from Enterprise Knowledge to explore why the future of enterprise AI depends on connecting knowledge, data, and semantics.

Drawing from their new book, Bridging Knowledge, Data, and AI, they explain why organizations can no longer treat structured data, unstructured content, taxonomies, ontologies, glossaries, and knowledge graphs as separate disciplines. As AI pushes enterprises to make better use of context, meaning, and organizational knowledge, the need for a true semantic layer becomes more urgent than ever.

In this episode, co-hosts Emma McGrattan and Ole Olesen-Bagneux sit down with Xavier Gumara Rigol, author of Data as a Product Driver and Head of Data at Manychat, to explore what happens when data moves beyond reporting and becomes part of how product teams make decisions.

Drawing on more than 15 years in data, engineering, and platform leadership, Xavier explains why treating data as a product is only part of the story. The bigger challenge is helping product organizations become truly data-informed, from idea validation and experimentation to ownership, prioritization, and lifecycle management.

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In this episode, co-hosts Emma McGrattan and Ole Olesen-Bagneux sit down with Samuel Bitrus, Data Quality and Governance Manager at Lufthansa Group, to explore the evolving role of data catalogs in large, complex enterprises.

Drawing from his work across governance, metadata, and trust, Samuel explains why data catalogs are no longer just inventories of data assets. They are becoming critical context layers that help both humans and AI systems understand what data means, where it comes from, who owns it, and whether it can be trusted.

Together, they explore:<...

In this episode, Ole Olesen-Bagneux sits down with Sune Selsbæk-Reitz, Data & AI Strategist at Demant and author of Promptism, for a conversation on how generative AI is reshaping the way humans interact with knowledge, meaning, and decision-making.

Drawing from his background in data strategy, philosophy, history, and writing, Sune explores why the real challenge of AI may not be hallucinations or technical limitations, but the growing tendency to mistake fluency for understanding.

Together, they discuss:

Why prompting represents more than a technical skill, and may signal a broader cultural shift

H...

In this episode, co-hosts Emma McGrattan and Ole Olesen-Bagneux sit down with Carsten Bange, founder and CEO of BARC, one of Europe’s leading analyst firms focused on data, analytics, and AI.

With more than 25 years advising enterprises on data strategy, analytics platforms, and organizational transformation, Carsten shares an independent analyst perspective on why so many data and AI initiatives still struggle to deliver business value, despite massive investments in technology.

Together, they explore:

Why data culture has become one of the most important success factors in enterprise AI

The gap be...

In this episode, co-hosts Emma McGrattan and Ole Olesen-Bagneux sit down with Kierra Dotson, Associate Director of Data Science & AI Strategy at Further, keynote speaker, and thought leader known for helping enterprise leaders build AI strategies that actually deliver value.

Working at the intersection of data, AI, and operations, Kierra advises Fortune 500 executives on how to move beyond experimentation—designing AI initiatives that are scalable, trustworthy, and worth talking about.

Together, they discuss:

How the rise of AI is reshaping the data community, and why fundamentals still matter more than ever

Th...

In this episode, co-hosts Emma McGrattan and Ole Olesen-Bagneux sit down with Ashleigh Faith, Director of AI and Semantic Innovation at EBSCO and creator of the IsA DataThing YouTube channel, to explore why knowledge graphs and ontologies are becoming essential in the age of AI.

From her early days as a taxonomist to her role as a leading voice in semantic technologies, Ashleigh explains why structuring meaning—not just data—is what makes AI outputs trustworthy and usable.

Together, they discuss:

Why knowledge graphs are critical to making AI outputs more reliable and veri...

In this episode, co-hosts Emma McGrattan and Ole Olesen-Bagneux sit down with Juha Korpela, independent consultant and co-founder of Helsinki Data Week, to explore why semantics is rapidly becoming a core pillar of modern data work.

Drawing on his experience in data modeling, metadata management, and enterprise architecture, Juha shares how topics once considered “soft”—like meaning, context, and conceptual models—are now becoming critical infrastructure in the age of AI.

Together, they discuss:

Why semantics is shifting from a human concern to a machine requirement

How AI is accelerating the need for...

In this episode, co-hosts Emma McGrattan and Ole Olesen-Bagneux sit down with Bjørn Broum, Director of Business Development for Technology, Architecture, and Data at the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA), to explore how data strategy works inside one of Norway’s largest public infrastructure organizations.

With more than 30 years of experience in the data space—and after helping launch the organization's data-driven transformation as CDO—Bjørn now works at the intersection of technology, architecture, and strategy to help modernize how data is used across the public authority, which operates with a powerful mission...

In this episode, co-hosts Emma McGrattan and Ole Olesen-Bagneux sit down with Amra Dorjbayar, former co-founder and CEO of Wobby (recently acquired by Actian), to unpack what Agentic BI really means and why the next wave of analytics won’t look like dashboards, reports, or even chatbots.

Amra shares the moment in late 2022 when he realized LLMs could change how people work with data, why he left data journalism to build Wobby, and what it takes for AI agents to generate insights you can actually trust.

Together, they explore:

In this episode, co-hosts Emma McGrattan and Ole Olesen-Bagneux sit down with Malcolm Hawker, Chief Data Officer at Profisee and author of The Data Hero Playbook, for a conversation about why so many data programs stall, even when teams follow the “right” playbook.

Drawing on years of conversations with data leaders (including his time as an industry analyst), Malcolm argues that what sets successful CDOs apart is rarely technology. It’s a mindset. Along the way, he shares his contrarian take on data mesh, why the term is fading, and what still matters from the mo...

In this episode, co-hosts Emma McGrattan and Ole Olesen-Bagneux sit down with Ruud Kuil, longtime data quality expert and now co-founder of MAD-Quality, to discuss what really breaks in organizations when data is wrong and why fixing it requires rethinking both tooling and incentives.

After 15+ years advising enterprises on data quality, Ruud took the plunge into startup life to build a platform that shows the real cost of bad data. In conversation, he explains why the “AI will fix data” myth persists and what it takes to make data quality everyone’s responsibility.

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In this episode, co-hosts Emma McGrattan and Ole Olesen-Bagneux sit down with Frédéric Verhelst — a leading voice in semantic technologies and agentic AI, and longtime semantic web advocate — for a practical dive into ontologies, knowledge graphs, and why they matter more than ever in an AI-first world.

From his early work with TotalEnergies to today’s experiments in integrating AI into digital service platforms, Frédéric brings clarity and historical depth to a topic many still find intimidating.

Together, they explore:

What an ontology actually i...

In this episode, co-hosts Emma McGrattan and Ole Olesen-Bagneux sit down with Mario Meir-Huber — author of Designing Data Products and longtime data leader — to talk about what happens when you stop treating data like a one-time project and start managing it as a product that evolves.

Mario shares the (literal) honeymoon moment that sparked the book, and explains why great data products require more than architecture. They need governance, people, and a design mindset built for continuous change.

Together, they explore:

Why the GAP (Governance, Architecture, People) is o...

In this episode, co-hosts Emma McGrattan and Ole Olesen-Bagneux sit down with Jovita Tam, a business-focused data and AI advisor and attorney, about the hard truths of AI, governance, and organizational change.

Known for connecting legal, technical, and cultural perspectives, Jovita shares what it really takes to align strategy with execution — and why AI success has more to do with mindset than with models.

Together, they explore:

Why “data culture” is just culture — and why it’s so difficult to get right.

The myth of top-down t...

In this episode, Ole Olesen-Bagneux is joined by Gaëlle Seret, product leader, writer, and enabler of data transformations at scale. Known for her clear-eyed writing on Substack, Gaëlle brings a mix of operational pragmatism and strategic depth to the question of what it really takes to build data-driven organizations.

Drawing from hands-on experience across finance, energy, and retail, Gaëlle reflects on the invisible labor behind good data work — and why transformation always starts with the people who love what they do.

Together, they explore:

Her j...

In this episode, co-hosts Emma McGrattan and Ole Olesen-Bagneux sit down with Frédéric Robert, Innovation and Data Advisory Director at Apgar, to unpack one of the most intriguing questions circulating in the data community: what happens to the data marketplace now that MCP (Model Context Protocol) is here?

Drawing on nearly two decades across master data, governance, and AI programs, Frédéric shares a practitioner’s view on how organizations actually access, curate, and operationalize data — and why the rise of AI products is reshaping the entire value chain.

In this episode, co-hosts Emma McGrattan and Ole Olesen-Bagneux sit down with Julia Diez, Localization Software Engineer at McAfee and the author behind one of the most quietly brilliant Substacks in tech today.

Trained as a linguist and now working at the intersection of metadata, multilingual ontologies, and LLMs, Julia brings a rare perspective to the world of data and AI—one shaped by bookstores, translation memories, and a deep appreciation for cultural nuance.

Together, they explore:

Why translating “Welcome, User” might not be as simple as it sou...

In this episode, co-hosts Emma McGrattan and Ole Olesen-Bagneux sit down with Lukas Plaehn, Head of Data Office at Bank of Valletta, to explore what makes data so hard to manage in financial institutions—and why that challenge goes deeper than technology.

From Malta’s sun-soaked shores to the global stage of regulatory compliance, Lukas brings a thoughtful voice to some of the industry's most complex issues.

Together, they explore:

Why trust—not technology—is the core tension in financial data management.

The layered legacy of banks...

In this episode, co-hosts Emma McGrattan and Ole Olesen-Bagneux sit down with Jean-Georges Perrin—better known as JGP—to discuss the future of data products, the limitations of BI, and the importance of federated thinking in an era of real-time everything.

From his early days self-publishing a 300-page C++ guide with a classmate (armed with nothing but Word and a photocopier) to writing Implementing Data Mesh with O’Reilly, JGP reflects on why storytelling, open standards, and metadata will shape the next era of enterprise data.

Together, they explore:

W...

In this episode, co-hosts Emma McGrattan and Ole Olesen-Bagneux sit down with Rachael Greaves, CEO of Castlepoint Systems and pioneer of regulation-as-code AI, to unpack why records and information management are more relevant—and more technical—than ever.

Together, they explore:

The sometimes overlooked discipline of records management and why it matters in the age of AI.

Why data lifecycle decisions are so hard, and why deletion is sometimes the safest option.

What ethical AI actually means and how to make it explainable and contestable by design.

Ho...

In this episode, co-hosts Emma McGrattan and Ole Olesen-Bagneux sit down with Thais Cooke, Senior Healthcare Data Analyst and LinkedIn Learning instructor, to discuss what happens when curiosity meets chaos—and how a career shift from frontline healthcare to data analytics has unlocked new ways of thinking about impact, problem-solving, and AI.

Together, they explore:

Thais’ transition from burned-out dental professional to SQL-obsessed analyst.

How learning to “follow the pain” helped her solve real-world problems with data.

Her approach to using AI without outsourcing critical thinking.

Why doma...

In this episode, co-hosts Emma McGrattan and Ole Olesen-Bagneux sit down with Jérémy Ravenel, researcher, advisor, and founder of the open-source NaasAI platform. Known for bridging the gap between theory and execution, Jérémy shares his journey from Excel-heavy finance roles to leading cutting-edge research in AI interoperability and enterprise knowledge graphs.

Together, they explore:

Why so many GenAI initiatives fail without semantic structure and context.

What it means to “clean your room” before deploying AI agents.

How ontologies can evolve from niche academic tools to pract...

In this episode, co-hosts Emma McGrattan and Ole Olesen-Bagneux sit down with Dr. Shweta Shah, a seasoned data and AI architect with a fresh perspective on how we think about quality in the age of unstructured data and GenAI. Shweta introduces “Content Quality Management” (CQM), a new framework designed to help organizations prepare unstructured content for trustworthy, auditable, AI-powered outcomes.

Together, they explore:

Why traditional data quality frameworks fall short in GenAI systems.

The seven dimensions of content quality.

Why unstructured data needs more than structure to be AI-r...

In this episode, co-hosts Emma McGrattan and Ole Olesen-Bagneux sit down with Dylan Anderson, Head of Data Strategy at Profusion and author of The Data Ecosystem newsletter. Dylan brings a pragmatic, field-tested perspective on how to bridge the gap between strategy and implementation—and why many organizations still struggle to align data with business value.

Together, they explore:

Dylan’s work helping companies turn vague goals into actionable data strategies.

The real reasons enterprise-wide search still falls short, and how AI can help fix it.<...

In this episode, co-hosts Emma McGrattan and Ole Olesen-Bagneux welcome Sofia Zapounidou, Team Lead at the Publications Office of the European Commission and a lifelong champion of metadata, identifiers, and meaning in a machine-readable world. Drawing on her background in library and information science, Sofia offers a unique perspective on the evolution of data work—from card catalogs to linked open data—and what today’s AI and data communities can learn from the past.

Together, they explore:

Sofia’s work leading a linked data transformation at the E...

In this episode, co-hosts Emma McGrattan and Ole Olesen-Bagneux sit down with Tim Wiegels, Executive Data Advisor and former VP of Data at FreeNow. Known for his brutally honest and refreshingly pragmatic take on building data teams, stacks, and cultures, Tim shares lessons from a career spanning gaming, mobility, and high-growth tech.

Together, they explore:

Tim’s journey from bioinformatics PhD to startup veteran and strategic advisor.

Why he believes your first hire shouldn’t be a data scientist—or even a data engineer.

T...

In this episode, co-hosts Ole Olesen-Bagneux and Emma McGrattan sit down with Nagim Ashufta, founder of DRIVA and one of the most philosophical voices in the data world today. Known for weaving together history, human nature, and the hard realities of data work, Nagim brings a rare and much-needed perspective to the conversation around data, governance, and transformation.

Together, they explore:

Nagim’s global journey—from Kabul to Hamburg—and how it shaped his unique worldview on data and systems.

Why his work focuses on enablement over abstraction, and ho...

In this episode, co-hosts Ole Olesen-Bagneux and Emma McGrattan sit down with Andrew Jones, Principal Engineer and author of Driving Data Quality with Data Contracts (Packt Publishing). Widely credited with coining the term “data contract,” Andrew walks us through how a deceptively simple idea evolved into one of the most impactful trends in modern data architecture.

Together, they explore:

Andrew’s journey from software engineering to data leadership.

How unreliable data led him to pioneer the concept of data contracts.

The surprising connections—and distinctions—between data contr...

In this special episode, Ole Olesen-Bagneux welcomes Emma McGrattan, Actian’s CTO, as the new co-host of Enterprise Wide Search. Emma shares her journey from coding her first game at age 12 to leading global data innovation at Actian for over three decades.

Together, they explore:

Emma’s early experiences with technology and her path into data engineering.

The pervasive role of Actian’s technology in everyday life, from morning routines to global transportation systems.

The evolution of data management: from conserving storage space to enabli...

I talked to Chief Data Architect, dr. Anna Ibrahim on Episode 07 - and this conversation marks a new direction for my podcast, as I will talk more concretely about the Meta Grid in the episodes going forward.

As you will hear, Anna has deep technical understanding and - just as important - organizational experience to testify that the Meta Grid is already out there. In this conversation, we discuss the wealth of metadata repositories, that each at least in principle leverage different, distinct capabilities - albeit they contain the same metadata.

However...

Episode 06 is out! I spoke to Solomon Kahn that is the CEO of Delivery Layer and co-founder of Top Data People. We spoke about both companies, however my key interest in reaching out to Solomon is Delivery Layer. It's sort of a reverse Customer Data Platform (CDP) and I think that's surprising, but relevant, way to be searching data.

I also spoke about data influencing with Solomon. I really don't like being called a data influencer, but Solomon totally embraces it, saying that knowledgeable people should fight for influence. I like that! Finally, we talked about the...

Episode 05 is out! What does Team Topologies look like in practice? This cool, flexible organizational setup that enables fast flow for IT? Usually data scientists realize they need data engineers... But in this amazing use case, we discuss the opposite: Data engineers becoming data scientists because the data infrastructure simply works!

Eduardo da Silva has tried exactly this inside bol.com, with the input and feedback from co-author of Team Topologies, Manuel Pais. I interviewed Eduardo and Manuel and this conversation was eye-opening and very stimulating. I was simply surprised that something so smooth and powerful can...

To Scott Taylor - my data story about the Meta Grid

The preface of my book Fundamentals of Metadata Management

Scott Taylor asked me to send my data story on the Meta Grid, so he could comment on it, and - I’m thankful Scott! Here it is: The following is the current preface of my book Fundamentals of Metadata Management, to be published with O’Reilly in 2025. It contains two paragraphs, About this book and Why I wrote this book. Everyone, including YOU, can read and comment on my S...

Episode 04 is out! What is the Metadata Warehouse? Martin Sahlen is on a mission to make data teams data driven. And if there is one thing I have seen in my career, it's data teams working in the dark, with no KPIs of their activities - very little search features on themselves - a total paradox! And that's the idea behind the Metadata Warehouse.

Martin is the CEO of Alvin, and if you want to hear what the sponsor behind this podcast is all about, here you go - I partner with Alvin, because I believe in...

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Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.