#decision layer

For years, enterprise data conversations centered on platforms. Which warehouse? Which lakehouse? Which cloud? In my recent Forbes pieces, “Beyond The Enterprise Data Platform: Why Ecosystems Win” and “How ERP Data Fits Into The Enterprise Data Ecosystem,” I argued that the more important question is no longer which platform wins. It is how the enterprise designs the ecosystem around data, applications, workflows, and governance. That question is becoming more urgent because AI agents are starting to act on enterprise data, not just analyze it. They are recommending actions, triggering workflows, engaging customers, and influencing decisions at a speed where manual review cannot be the only control. That changes the role of data management. Clean, governed, and trusted data is no longer a back-office requirement. It determines whether artificial intelligence can operate within the business without creating more risk than value. That is the lens for Informatica World 2026. The event sho