Workday: How a Semantic Layer Taught AI the Language of Business | Context as Culture

Workday's governance system worked beautifully for people — until generative AI exposed a critical flaw: systems designed for human intuition produce untrustworthy, hallucinated answers when machines use them.

Joe Dos Santos, VP at Workday, shares how Workday is transforming governance from passive documentation into an active semantic layer that becomes the core intelligence powering trustworthy AI.

Key takeaways (from the session "Context as Culture"):

Human-centric governance systems fail when AI needs to interpret business logic without human intuition
Active semantic layers teach AI the language of business, turning governance into intelligence rather than documentation
Generative AI exposes gaps in traditional governance that humans could work around but machines cannot
The semantic layer becomes the most critical asset in AI-driven enterprises, not just a BI tool
Trust in AI outputs requires governance designed for both human and machine consumption from the start

📺 Watch the full keynote and explore all Re:Govern 2025 sessions → https://atlan.com/regovern/

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00:00 - Workday: Context as Culture
01:06 - Building a Data Product Mindset
02:31 - The Challenge of AI and Semantic Layers
05:50 - The Future of AI Governance
07:00 - Lessons from Workday’s AI Journey