ServiceNow Podcasts All things Data Lineage with Dr. Irina Steenbeek
Jan 29, 2026
Dr. Irina Steenbeek, data practitioner and author focused on data lineage and governance. She explores practical limits of full technical lineage and why scope and maintenance matter. She contrasts business and technical lineage needs and argues data foundations are essential for AI governance. She shares organizational challenges and pragmatic ways to get lineage to deliver value.
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Data Management Is The Foundation For AI
- Data management is the mandatory foundation for any AI initiative and underpins AI governance.
- Data lineage and data governance require the same capabilities and artifacts, making them two sides of the same coin.
Lineage Exists At Multiple Levels
- Data lineage exists at multiple levels: business process, conceptual, logical and physical, and each level needs different artifacts and capabilities.
- Treat lineage broadly as a linked knowledge graph across metadata, architecture and processes rather than just physical flows.
Organization Wins Over Technology
- Organizational challenges top technological ones when documenting lineage; stakeholders, roles and processes matter most.
- Different stakeholder groups require different representations of lineage; business users rarely want column-level technical views.
