Not Your Mum's Semantic Layer: Context, Governance, and Cost Control

This session makes the case that the semantic layer is the control point for agentic data work, and looks at three benefits that show up in production. Context: grounding agents in defined entities, metrics, and relationships so they generate correct queries instead of plausible ones. Governance: enforcing policy, lineage, and access at the semantic boundary rather than hoping the prompt holds. Cost: cutting token spend and warehouse burn by giving agents a compact, reusable map instead of letting them explore raw schemas by trial and error. Attendees will leave with a practical view of what to put in a semantic layer before pointing agents at their data, and how to tell a genuine one from a rebranded metrics catalogue.