Definition: You define what entities ARE across the organization. You become the ontology.
The Mechanism:
This is the deepest form of embedding. The system doesn’t just store data about customers, employees, or products — it defines what “customer,” “employee,” or “product” means.
The data model becomes the organizational mental model.
Example — Snowflake:
Snowflake defines what “a customer” means across data science, finance, operations, and executive reporting through shared data models and semantic layers.
When finance says “customer,” they mean Snowflake’s definition
When data science builds a churn model, they use Snowflake’s customer entity
The word itself carries the system’s assumptions
The Existential Crisis:
Without you, the organization doesn’t know what things ARE CALLED. Switching isn’t migration — it’s philosophical reconstruction.
Switching Cost Profile: Indeterminate. Many organizations at this level effectively cannot switch.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
