In most projects the first table exists before the first definition. That is understandable — you can show a table, while a definition first has to be agreed on. And that agreement decides whether you end up with answers or with numbers three departments argue about.
"Michael, I have a simple question." Silvia Seven, CFO of FastChangeCo, pushes the project status deck aside. "How many projects have redefined what a 'customer' is from scratch in the last two years?" Michael Mueller swallows. He knows the answer. And it's uncomfortable.
"Do we actually still need data modelers if AI can take over?" The question came up after a coaching session. I paused. Not because the question was fundamentally wrong — but because it was the wrong question.
Amal leans back and looks at her notebook. Three pages filled. Plus four whiteboards covered in post-its from the requirements workshop. Somewhere in all of that are the business objects she needs for the new data model. "Diego," she asks, "how long did it used to take you to figure out what actually needed to be modeled after a workshop like this?" Diego smiles. "Back in the day? Sometimes a week."
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