The semantic layer

A semantic layer is a structured representation of your data—what it means, how it relates, and how it should be used. You might know it as an ontology, context graph, data dictionary, or knowledge base.

It captures institutional knowledge:

• What “revenue” means in your organization
• Which tables contain customer data
• How regions map to sales territories
• Which metrics are approved for reporting

Without a semantic layer, AI models hallucinate column names and invent relationships. With one, every query is grounded in your actual data structure and business logic.

The result: consistent, trustworthy answers that anyone in the organization can access—without needing SQL expertise or waiting for someone who has it.