<description>&lt;p&gt;Semantic layers are having something of a moment, but they're not actually new as a concept. Ever since the first database table was designed with cryptic field names that no business user could possibly understand, there's been a need for some form of mapping and translation. Should every company be considering employing a semantic layer? Is the idea of a single, comprehensive semantic layer within an organization a monolithic concept that is doomed to fail? These questions and more get bandied about on this episode, where we were joined by industry legend &lt;a href= "https://www.linkedin.com/in/biscorecard/" target="_blank" rel= "noopener"&gt;Cindi Howson&lt;/a&gt;, Chief Data &amp; AI Strategy Officer at &lt;a href="https://www.thoughtspot.com/" target="_blank" rel= "noopener"&gt;Thoughtspot&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;For complete show notes, including links to items mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the show, visit the &lt;a href= "https://analyticshour.io/2025/12/09/286-metrics-layers-data-dictionaries-maybe-its-all-semantic-layers-with-cindi-howson/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;show page&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;This episode's Measurement Bite from show sponsor &lt;a href= "https://getrecast.com/geolift" target="_blank" rel= "noopener"&gt;Recast&lt;/a&gt; is an explanation of multicollinearity from &lt;a href= "https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-the-data-guy-kaminsky/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;Michael Kaminsky&lt;/a&gt;!&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

The Analytics Power Hour

Michael Helbling, Moe Kiss, Tim Wilson, Val Kroll, and Julie Hoyer

#286: Metrics Layers. Data Dictionaries. Maybe It's All Semantic (Layers)? With Cindi Howson

DEC 9, 202555 MIN
The Analytics Power Hour

#286: Metrics Layers. Data Dictionaries. Maybe It's All Semantic (Layers)? With Cindi Howson

DEC 9, 202555 MIN

Description

Semantic layers are having something of a moment, but they're not actually new as a concept. Ever since the first database table was designed with cryptic field names that no business user could possibly understand, there's been a need for some form of mapping and translation. Should every company be considering employing a semantic layer? Is the idea of a single, comprehensive semantic layer within an organization a monolithic concept that is doomed to fail? These questions and more get bandied about on this episode, where we were joined by industry legend Cindi Howson, Chief Data & AI Strategy Officer at Thoughtspot.

For complete show notes, including links to items mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the show, visit the show page.

This episode's Measurement Bite from show sponsor Recast is an explanation of multicollinearity from Michael Kaminsky!