The Fifth Elephant 2025 Annual Conference (18 & 19 July)

The rise of AI has transformed data into a strategic asset, yet traditional metadata systems are failing to keep pace. Passive catalogs, built for simpler times, crumble under the demands of scalable, trusted AI. We’re entering an era where metadata must be active, trusted, and governed – becoming the central nervous system for your data ecosystem.

This talk introduces the Metadata Lakehouse (MLH), a revolutionary architectural paradigm we’re pioneering and actively implementing at Atlan. Tailored for data architects, engineers, and leaders, this session applies the proven principles of the data lakehouse to metadata, demonstrating how the MLH unifies all enterprise metadata on open, scalable cloud storage. We’ll delve into how technologies like Apache Iceberg provide ACID transactions, schema evolution, and time travel for metadata, moving beyond simple lookup to enable:

• Architecting the Future: Understand the fundamental limitations of traditional metadata systems and the core architectural principles of a Metadata Lakehouse (MLH).
• Empowering AI Governance: Learn how MLH enables advanced metadata analytics, verifiable lineage, bias management, and risk tracking for AI/ML assets.
• Unifying Your Data World: Discover strategies for true silo unification, consolidating metadata for end-to-end lineage and consistent policy enforcement.
• Driving Automation: Explore how MLH serves as the foundation for metadata-driven AI, intelligent discovery, and automated governance.

Join us for a deep dive into the practical architectural blueprints and real-world engineering challenges of building this next-generation metadata infrastructure. Our experience at Atlan, building sophisticated data governance platforms, provides unique insights into the practicalities and opportunities of this vision.

We’ll candidly discuss the implementation realities and strategic implications for establishing the essential control plane for data and AI in the enterprise. Understand why the Metadata Lakehouse is not just an evolution, but a necessity for unlocking your organization’s full AI potential.