We are back with our uber-popular Prediction Video Series, and our first guest is Andrew Madson, Technical Evangelist at Dremio. As a data lakehouse management platform, Dremio is known for its fast query engine and ability to manage data across multi-cloud and hybrid environments. In this episode, Madson shares his insights and predictions for the evolving landscape of data management in 2025.

As more companies look to implement AI, Madson predicts that data management will remain a central focus in 2025, particularly in terms of data quality and privacy. The increasing demand for consolidated data, which AI relies on for effective analysis and decision-making is expected to cause renewed interest in the data lakehouse concept. Madson explains how centralized data repositories like data lakehouses can streamline AI operations by offering unified storage solutions. Madson also anticipates significant growth in Apache Iceberg tables, due to recent developments and support from companies like Databricks and AWS.

Madson also discusses the growing importance of data products, which offer a decentralized approach to data governance. While the implementation of data mesh has seen a decline due to its complex governance challenges, data products are still gaining traction. Madson explains how these products enable businesses to create governed, use-case-specific data that can be directly used for AI and analytics. This can ease the pressure on central IT teams and empower the business side to derive value from the data.

Looking ahead to 2025, Madson identifies several challenges, particularly the difficulty of consolidating data into lakehouse formats, given the fragmented state of many organizations’ data landscapes. Managing data quality is crucial, especially for AI applications where high-stakes decisions depend on reliable data. The evolution of data teams also poses challenges, and organizations will need to redefine team responsibilities as new roles like analytics engineers emerge. Madson discusses the need for a shift toward a more decentralized structure to support AI and data product initiatives.

Dremio’s focus for the coming year will be on providing AI-ready data across various environments. The company is focused on ensuring that queries are fast and reliable, while also making data management tools more user-friendly. This will help business users leverage data with minimal technological barriers.

Guest: Andrew Madson
Company: Dremio
Show: 2025 Prediction Series

This summary was written by Emily Nicholls.