🪙Business Intelligence: Artificial Intelligence [AI] (Just the Quotes)

"Machine learning is not artificial intelligence (AI), but a method for achieving AI. ML uses algorithms to train software through specific examples and progressive improvements based on expected outcome - without explicit programming of how to accomplish these better results. Training involves providing a lot of data to a model and enabling it to learn how to process and incorporate that information." (Mark Needham & Amy E Hodler, "Graph Algorithms: Practical Examples in Apache Spark and Neo4j", 2019)

"What is the purpose of collecting data? People gather and store data for at least three different reasons that I can discern. One reason is that they want to build an arsenal of evidence with which to prove a point or defend an agenda that they already had to begin with. This path is problematic for obvious reasons, and yet we all find ourselves traveling on it from time to time. Another reason people collect data is that they want to feed it into an artificial intelligence algorithm to automate some process or carry out some task. […] A third reason is that they might be collecting data in order to compile information to help them better understand their situation, to answer questions they have in their mind, and to unearth new questions that they didn't think to ask." (Ben Jones, "Avoiding Data Pitfalls: How to Steer Clear of Common Blunders When Working with Data and Presenting Analysis and Visualizations", 2020)

"I am using ‘data strategy’ as an overarching term to describe a far broader set of capabilities from which sub-strategies can be developed to focus on particular facets of the strategy, such as management information (MI) and reporting; analytics, machine learning and AI; insight; and, of course, data management." (Ian Wallis, "Data Strategy: From definition to execution", 2021)

"Simply put, 'lakehouse' refers to an open data architecture that combines the best of data lakes and data warehouses on a single platform. At this point, it would be fair to say that a lakehouse is closer to a data lake than a data warehouse. In fact, it is an extension of your data lake to support all use cases, from BI to AI. All data science and ML personas who were shunted into downstream applications because the tools of their trade were so vastly different and can now share the same stage and have access to the same data as other data personas. This eliminates the need to stitch fragile systems together and leads to better data quality and end-to-end latencies since there is no need to copy data across disparate architectures." (Anindita Mahapatra, "Simplifying Data Engineering and Analytics with Delta", 2022)

"The AI-ML service allows data scientists to build, train and deploy production-ready AI-ML models. This layer also provides the framework to maintain and monitor such models. In addition, it gives the ability for teams to collaborate as they go about building these models. This service should be able to scale up and down as required and should be able to facilitate automatic model deployment and operations." (Pradeep Menon, "Data Lakehouse in Action", 2022)

"We are at the interesting conjunction of big data, the cloud, and artificial intelligence (AI), all of which are fueling tremendous innovation in every conceivable industry vertical and generating data exponentially. Data engineering is increasingly important as data drives business use cases in every industry vertical. You may argue that data scientists and machine learning practitioners are the unicorns of the industry, and they can work their magic for business. That is certainly a stretch of the imagination. Simple algorithms and a lot of good reliable data produce better insights than complicated algorithms with inadequate data." (Anindita Mahapatra, "Simplifying Data Engineering and Analytics with Delta", 2022)

"A Data Fabric has its focus more on the architectural underpinning, technical capabilities, and intelligent analysis to produce active metadata supporting a smarter, AI-infused system to orchestrate various data integration styles, enabling trusted and reusable data in a hybrid cloud landscape to be consumed by humans, applications, or other downstream systems." (Eberhard Hechler et al, "Data Fabric and Data Mesh Approaches with AI", 2023)

"Data management is the process of developing, implementing, and monitoring systems, procedures, and practices to deliver and enhance the value of data and assets throughout their lifecycle, while data and AI governance is defined as the exercise of authority and control during the management of data and assets." (Eberhard Hechler et al, "Data Fabric and Data Mesh Approaches with AI", 2023

"Definition of data and AI governance policies, rules, and classifications is critical to break down data silos, allow for a uniform data consumption, and prevent misuse of data. It includes monitoring of compliance and enforcement of data and AI rules and policies on an ongoing basis, as well as ensuring compliance with regulations and laws." (Eberhard Hechler et al, "Data Fabric and Data Mesh Approaches with AI", 2023)

"In Exploiting semantic knowledge graphs can support interpretability and explainability of nearly all AI model types (including DL models) by discovering and depicting semantic and non-obvious relationships or depicting an ML model in a simplified and more readable, explainable way., a Data Mesh solution organizes data around business domain owners and transforms relevant data assets (data sources) to data products that can be consumed by distributed business users from various business domains or functions. These data products are created, governed, and used in an autonomous, decentralized, and self-service manner. Self-service capabilities, which we have already referenced as a Data Fabric capability, enable business organizations to entertain a data marketplace with shopping-for-data characteristics." (Eberhard Hechler et al, "Data Fabric and Data Mesh Approaches with AI", 2023)

"The AI lifecycle comprises of business problem understanding, collecting data, preparing data, building the model, deploying the model, monitoring the model, and governing the model." (Eberhard Hechler et al, "Data Fabric and Data Mesh Approaches with AI", 2023)

"The Data Fabric architecture can help enterprises address the challenges of data and AI governance effectively, including the orchestration and exchange of metadata across organizational implementations. First, Data Fabric pulls data from disparate data sources and orchestrates metadata exchange across organizational systems, thus providing a holistic view of data and AI at the enterprise level, which lays a solid technology foundation for a consistent and unified enterprise-level data and AI governance. Likewise, a Data Fabric architecture serves as a foundation for a Data Mesh solution, which is supporting organizational or departmental data and AI governance initiatives. Second, the advanced automation and AI technologies employed by a Data Fabric architecture can greatly simplify the implementation of data and AI governance at the enterprise or organizational level, enabling organizational federated Data Mesh initiatives, where orchestration and exchange of metadata across organizations need to be implemented as well." (Eberhard Hechler et al, "Data Fabric and Data Mesh Approaches with AI", 2023)

"Unstructured and semi-structured data are often critical for AI and machine learning use cases, whereas structured and semi-structured data are critical for BI use cases. Because it natively supports all three types of data classifications, you can create a unified system that supports these diverse workloads in a data lake. These workloads can complement each other in a well-designed processing architecture [...]. A data lake helps solve many of the challenges related to data volumes, types, and cost, and while Delta Lake runs on top of a data lake, it is optimized to run best on a cloud data lake." (Bennie Haelen & Dan Davis, "Delta Lake: Up and Running - Modern Data Lakehouse Architectures with Delta Lake", 2023)

"One of the most powerful enhancements in Real-Time Intelligence is the integration of anomaly detection capabilities, enabling systems to automatically flag unusual deviations in real time. Rather than relying on predefined thresholds or periodic audits, these AI-driven agents continuously monitor data streams, learning normal behavior patterns and surfacing outliers or unexpected shifts the moment they appear. This proactive approach transforms what was once passive reporting into active surveillance, allowing operational teams to respond instantly when something deviates from the norm." (Christopher Maneu et al, "The Definitive Guide to Microsoft Fabric From discovery to building a unified, secure, and scalable data platform", 2025)

"We are now witnessing the rise of a new paradigm in technology, the age of agentic AI, where intelligence moves beyond automation and prediction to autonomy and intent. In this new world, operations across industries are no longer passive systems waiting for human input or post-event analysis. Instead, they have evolved into dynamic ecosystems of intelligence, continuously learning from every signal that flows through the organization." (Christopher Maneu et al, "The Definitive Guide to Microsoft Fabric From discovery to building a unified, secure, and scalable data platform", 2025)

"With Fabric, organizations can unlock the full potential of AI and machine learning in their data workflows. First, it provides users with all the tools necessary to create and deploy AI and machine learning models; users can use the frameworks and languages of their choice. Next, it enables these users to benefit from native integration of models that enrich the data present within Fabric with advanced cognitive analytics, such as vision and language, for example, and leverage the new capabilities of generative AI. Finally, it supports users at every stage of their data project with intelligent assistants that help create data integration flows, develop transformations or analyses, build data visualization reports, and even answer business questions by leveraging existing reports and semantic models to deliver contextual insights instantly." (Christopher Maneu et al, "The Definitive Guide to Microsoft Fabric From discovery to building a unified, secure, and scalable data platform", 2025)

"AI maturity depends as much on people as it does on tools. Organizations need to build AI literacy across roles, from analysts to executives, so that teams can ask the right questions, interpret AI results, and act on them. Cross-functional teams with skills in data engineering, machine learning, business domain knowledge, and governance are essential. AI systems should be treated as products and not one-off projects." (Fern Halper, "Data Makes the World Go 'Round", 2026)

"As part of the move to democratization and utilizing AI-infused tools and generative AI to gain insights into data, businesses need to improve their overall data literacy. Data literacy involves the awareness and recognition of the value of data, how well people understand and interact with data and analytics, and their ability to communicate data-driven insights to impact behavior and achieve business goals. It includes understanding the business and data elements, framing analytics, applying critical interpretation, and developing communication skills." (Fern Halper, "Data Makes the World Go 'Round", 2026)

"One of the most overlooked aspects of AI deployment is the operational side, what happens after a model is developed. Operational readiness is concerned with the systems, processes, and team structures required to bring AI into production. In many cases, organizations build prototypes that never make it past the lab. To succeed, organizations must have formalized processes for deploying models, integrating them into business workflows, and monitoring their performance over time (no model is good forever; they degrade as the external environment changes)." (Fern Halper, "Data Makes the World Go 'Round", 2026)

"Organizations should use a framework (such as business value vs. complexity) to identify high-impact, feasible AI projects. Organizations that succeed with AI don’t chase hype. Instead, they score and prioritize use cases based on criteria such as business value, data readiness, effort, and complexity. This helps avoid wasted time on technically interesting but low-value projects. Some create the frameworks themselves to determine the high-impact yet feasible projects. Others rely on consultants to help them with this." (Fern Halper, "Data Makes the World Go 'Round", 2026)

🪙Business Intelligence: Performance (Just the Quotes)

"Alerts and KPI thresholds are two sides of the same coin. Alerts are actions taken once a KPI threshold is reached. However, alerts are not defined for every threshold boundary. For the most part, they serve as a warning system when a KPI shows poor performance or an undesired trend. Alerts must always be accompanied by attention-capturing actions such as automatic e-mails and/or visual indication such as blinking or animation on the dashboard. The other variable for alerts is the recipient. There may be one or more appropriate recipients for each alert." (Shadan Malik, "Enterprise Dashboards: Design and best practices for IT", 2005)

"Alerts are integral to the dashboard concept in that they transform the dashboard from a graphical information presentation into a live console for managing organizational processes and performance. Effective dashboard deployment must facilitate easy management of alerts. This management process involves three components: (1) rules, (2) actions, and (3) recipients." (Shadan Malik, "Enterprise Dashboards: Design and best practices for IT", 2005)

"Metrics are measurements of activities to evaluate performance, mostly within a relative framework of time, geography, and aggregation." (Shadan Malik, "Enterprise Dashboards: Design and best practices for IT", 2005)

"The chaos without a data strategy is not as obvious, but the indicators abound: dirty data, redundant data, inconsistent data, the inability to integrate, poor performance, terrible availability, little accountability, users who are increasingly dissatisfied with the performance of IT, and the general feeling that things are out of control." (Sid Adelman et al, "Data Strategy", 2005)

"To establish a uniform performance benchmark across the organization, it is important that variance of a specific KPI be consistent across all of its possible grains." (Shadan Malik, "Enterprise Dashboards: Design and best practices for IT", 2005)

"A key sign of successful business intelligence is the degree to which it impacts business performance." (Cindi Howson, "Successful Business Intelligence: Secrets to making BI a killer App", 2008)

"When the purpose of forecasting is to generate accurate forecasts, it is useful to define performance metrics that measure predictive accuracy. Such metrics can tell us how well a particular method performs in general, as well as compared to benchmarks or forecasts from other methods." (Galit Shmueli, "Practical Time Series Forecasting: A Hands-On Guide", 2011)

"Data are essential, but performance improvements and competitive advantage arise from analytics models that allow managers to predict and optimize outcomes. More important, the most effective approach to building a model rarely starts with the data; instead it originates with identifying the business opportunity and determining how the model can improve performance." (Dominic Barton & David Court, "Making Advanced Analytics Work for You", 2012) 

"Once these different measures of performance are consolidated into a single number, that statistic can be used to make comparisons […] The advantage of any index is that it consolidates lots of complex information into a single number. We can then rank things that otherwise defy simple comparison […] Any index is highly sensitive to the descriptive statistics that are cobbled together to build it, and to the weight given to each of those components. As a result, indices range from useful but imperfect tools to complete charades." (Charles Wheelan, "Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data", 2012)

"Metrics can serve two purposes: identifying problems and measuring performance. When the goal is to identify problems and pinpoint areas of operational inefficiency and ineffectiveness, defining the right metric requires a bit of detective work. It requires you to uncover the data residue of a problem and to determine what evidence can be found and how exactly it shows up. When the goal is to measure performance, the right success metrics focus on measures that can be controlled and where improvement in the metric is an unambiguously good thing." (Zach Gemignani et al, "Data Fluency", 2014)

"In order to get measures to drive performance, a reporting framework needs to be developed at all levels within the organization." (David Parmenter, "Key Performance Indicators: Developing, implementing, and using winning KPIs" 3rd Ed., 2015)

"[...] the real power of the data lake is to enable advanced analytics or data science on the detailed and complete history of data in an attempt to uncover new variables and metrics that are better predictors of business performance." (Billl Schmarzo, "Driving Business Strategies with Data Science: Big Data MBA" 1st Ed., 2015)

"Unfortunately, some organizations are replicating the bad data warehouse practice by creating special-purpose data lakes - data lakes to address a specific business need. Resist that urge! Instead, source the data that is needed for that specific business need into an 'analytic sandbox' where the data scientists and the business users can collaborate to find those data variables and analytic models that are better predictors of the business performance. Within the 'analytic sandbox', the organization can bring together (ingest and integrate) the data that it wants to test, build the analytic models, test the model's goodness of fit, acquire new data, refine the analytic models, and retest the goodness of fit." (Billl Schmarzo, "Driving Business Strategies with Data Science: Big Data MBA" 1st Ed., 2015)

"When it comes to data lakes, some things usually stay constant: the storage and processing patterns. Change could come in any of the following ways: Adding new components and processing or consumption patterns to respond to new requirements. […] Optimizing existing architecture for better cost or performance" (Rukmani Gopalan, "The Cloud Data Lake: A Guide to Building Robust Cloud Data Architecture", 2022)

"Delta Lake is a transactional storage software layer that runs on top of an existing data lake and adds RDW-like features that improve the lake’s reliability, security, and performance. Delta Lake itself is not storage. In most cases, it’s easy to turn a data lake into a Delta Lake; all you need to do is specify, when you are storing data to your data lake, that you want to save it in Delta Lake format (as opposed to other formats, like CSV or JSON)." (James Serra, "Deciphering Data Architectures", 2024)

"Observability extends the concept of reliability. It’s about having the ability to monitor the health and performance of the data product. By using tools to track various metrics like response times and error rates, organizations can proactively manage the data product’s health. This proactive management plays a crucial role in maintaining the product’s reliability, as it allows for the early identification and resolution of potential issues before they escalate." (Jean-Georges Perrin & Eric Broda, "Implementing Data Mesh: Principles and Practice to Design, Build, and Implement Data Mesh", 2024)

"The lakehouse combines the best elements of data lakes and data warehouses for OLAP workloads. It merges the scalability and flexibility of data lakes with the management features and performance optimization of data warehouses. [...] A lakehouse eliminates the need for disjointed systems and provides a single, coherent platform for all forms of data analysis. Lakehouses enhance the performance of data queries and simplify data management, making it easier for organizations to derive insights from their data." (Denny Lee et al, "Delta Lake: The Definitive Guide", 2025)