Malcolm Hawker

Profisee

Chief Data Officer

Head of Data Strategy

Forbes

As a member of the Forbes Technology Council, I provide written content and industry insights to Forbes.com on the role of the CDO and other data management-related topics.

Member - Forbes Technology Council

Enterprise Knowledge, LLC

As an Advisory Board member I provide insights on data strategy and data management best practices to select Enterprise Knowledge clients

Advisory Board Member

Blue Street Data

I am providing strategic advisory support to the next generation of data leaders actively working to disrupt the market for external data sharing.

Advisor

Gartner

As a Senior Director Analyst at Gartner, I provide thought leadership and strategic guidance to C-level and senior business executives looking to overcome their biggest data and analytics challenges with a focus on Master Data Management (MDM) and Data Governance.

My research and client consulting at Gartner focuses on the overlap between academic approaches to data and analytics problems and the realities of today's fast-paced, budget-constrained, and regulatory-driven environments that CDOs and CIOs navigate every day.  I apply the insights gleaned from years of hands-on experience in data and analytics with wealth of knowledge gained through the Gartner client and analyst network to provide clients actionable and practical advice on all aspects of their top data priorities:  from strategy to execution.

Senior Director Analyst

Dun and Bradstreet

As a Distinguished Architect I provided consulting and advisory services to D&B customers looking to optimize their investments in the data, systems, and business processes used to support their enterprise Data Governance, Data Quality, and Master Data Management programs.  I provided thought leadership, industry expertise, and demonstrated best practices to Senior Executives around the globe who were looking to transform their organizations to become truly data-driven.  I provided customer input and strategic guidance on the development of the long-term roadmaps for the D&B suite of Master Data products.

Distinguished Architect

Neustar

As the acting Sr. Director of I.T. at Neustar, I lead a team of over 50 professionals responsible for the corporate IT functions of the company, including the Network Security, Enterprise Applications, Corporate Network, Unified Communications/Telecom, and Business Intelligence teams.  I managed all aspects of Neustar's I.T. budget and their 1/3/5 year Operational roadmaps.  I was also responsible for defining team annual goals and performance metrics; internal and external SLA's & customer requirements. 

Prior to my interim role leading Neustar's IT organization, I held a Program Leadership position where I was responsible for multiple high visibility IT transformation initiatives spanning all aspects of the IT landscape.

Sr. Director of I.T.

Pivotal IT

Responsible for all product development, business development, resource management, and client relationship management for a leader in IT Services recognized for delivering innovative and effective solutions for it's clients.  Subject matter expert and industry speaker on Master Data Management (MDM), Data Integration, and Data Quality - particularly within the context of CRM systems, including salesforce.com.  Winner of the "Most Innovative Solution" at Pervasive Software's IntegratioNext conference in 2010.  Delivered significant revenue growth through focus on client satisfaction and successful project execution.  Built new consulting practice from the ground-up.

General Manager

QuickArrow

As the VP of Product Management I defined the product and process changes required to transform QuickArrow from a low-growth to high-growth company.  This included the implementation of a new market strategy which repositioned the product from a single offer to a tiered set of offers based on the needs of multiple customer segments.  This transformation included migrating the product from a seat-based pricing model to a value and customer-based pricing model.  I successfully transformed all Product Management processes to support an Agile development model utilizing offshore engineering resources.  Included in this transformation was the integration of real-time client feedback from a user community / networking site.  As the product leader I drove consensus on the long and short term product strategies and roadmaps with top customers, internal stakeholders & management, and company's investors and Board of Directors.

Vice President, Product Management

Hoovers Inc.

At Hoover's I led a team of Product Managers and business Analysts responsible for defining and executing the product strategies and annual product roadmaps for www.hoovers.com and other B2B sites generating in excess of $100MM in annual subscription revenues.  My team worked cross-departmentally to document all functional and UI specifications, go to market plans, and end-user research and usability studies.  In this role I also served as the Product Management interface to the Sales & Account Management organizations and attended tradeshows and industry events to represent and speak on behalf of Hoover’s and its products.  I successfully managed all aspects of the launch of  'Access Hoover's', an entirely new product that integrated Hoover's functionality within salesforce.com and generated over $3MM in subscription revenue in it's first year.

Director, Product Management

Thought Leader | CDO | Data Strategy | Master Data Management | Data Governance | Host of the CDO Matters Podcast

With over 25 years of experience in data and analytics, I am a recognized thought leader and advisor in the fields of Master Data Management (MDM) and Data Governance. I have helped some of the world's largest businesses to improve their enterprise information management strategies, and I enjoy sharing practical and actionable insights on how to leverage data as a strategic asset.

As the CDO for Profisee, I lead the global field MDM and Data Governance practice, and I am the host of the CDO Matters podcast, where I interview senior data leaders from various industries and domains. My mission is to raise the awareness and value of MDM and Data Governance to companies across the globe, and to empower them with the best practices and solutions to overcome their data quality challenges and achieve their business goals.

Semantic Layer vs. MDM — Don’t Confuse the Map with the Destination.  

If a semantic layer gives you a “single source of truth,” does that mean you can skip MDM?

Short answer: No.
Longer answer: Absolutely not.

The confusion is understandable - both MDM and semantic layers connect data. But they do so in fundamentally different ways, for fundamentally different purposes.

As my colleague Juan Sequeda brilliantly put it:  “MDM is about linking data, semantic layers are about linking schemas.”

That sounds subtle. It’s not.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐃𝐌 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐋𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐧’𝐭

MDM creates trusted, governed, persistent master data — the kind you can confidently use across both dashboards and operational systems, like ERP or CRM applications.

You need MDM when:
✔️ You want a golden record that’s actively governed and persisted over time in a data hub.  This golden record can be used within a single domain or multiple domains - depending on the use case.  

✔️ You want to ensure data used in business applications aligns with your governance policies.  

✔️ Data stewards need to enforce real-world business and data quality rules at a record level, not just metadata mappings.

✔️ You need to transform inconsistent and sometimes inaccurate source data into shareable, policy-aligned truth.

✔️ Your “truth” varies by context - and your governance model reflects that.

This isn’t just about control - it's about visibility and explainability for the data that is shared widely across your organization.  

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐋𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐃𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥
Semantic layers are powerful analytical accelerators. They abstract complexity, unify definitions, and streamline data access -  but they don’t manage data.

You may need a semantic layer when:

✔️ You need fast, federated query access across diverse sources.

✔️ You don’t need to change or persist the data.

✔️ You just want to standardize definitions — not enforce governance or correct quality issues.

✔️Your use case is read-only — think dashboards, not transactions.

In short: 
Semantic layers help you to have a consistent view of the data, and MDM helps you actively govern and manage it.

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐰
Semantic layers are having a renaissance, thanks to all the talk of data fabrics, data products, and AI-ready architectures.  They play a critical role in helping to create a 'context layer' that will be critical to enable AI to leverage insights buried in highly structured data.   

But let’s be clear:
A semantic layer without MDM is like a beautifully labeled map… but where the cities on the map are duplicated or mislabeled.

This means that any next generation 'context layer' must necessarily include *𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐃𝐌*.  

What do you think?

Piethein Strengholt Ole Olesen-Bagneux Jean-Georges Perrin Jessica Talisman Jon Cooke Ryan Dolley Samir Sharma Joe Reis Helen Grimster

CDO | Author | Keynote Speaker | Podcast Host

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