To paraphrase the great Bob Hoffman. Just when you feared that Agile evangelists might produce even more nonsense, they surprise you. What do they do? Exceed expectations.
And how did they do that? Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to Agile at Scale. It comes with all the miscellaneous, spiced-up, and vainglorious crap-on-the-side that accompanies it.
I was reading an article. It was written by Jeff Wilts and recommended by Bill Inmon. I got to this statement: “Teradata is a full-featured enterprise data warehouse.” For me, it went further downhill from there.
But this was the coup de grace: “Databricks is a unified data platform that can behave like a data warehouse.”
A quiet disquiet has settled over the once-confident corridors of enterprise data. What was, not so long ago, regarded as a rigorous and rather specialised craft, data warehousing and business intelligence, now frequently presents itself in a more casual, even improvisational guise. A growing number of senior executives, technology directors and indeed practitioners themselves confess to a mounting discomfort with the quality, and at times the sheer quantity, of self-proclaimed experts who populate the field.
The Skunkworks Collective – Martyn, Alba, Afi, Lila, and Coco
Madrid, Wednesday 14th January 2026
Right, listen. If you’ve ever sat through one of those AI conferences, you know the ones. Some bloke in a black polo neck stands on stage. He’s clearly never met a mirror he didn’t like. He says, “We’re on the cusp of AGI.” It sounds as if he’s just invented gravity. Then you’ll know the particular flavour of despair I’m talking about.
As we venture further into 2026, the landscape of enterprise artificial intelligence has undergone a subtle but profound shift. The once-dazzling promise of autonomous AI agents has matured into something more prosaic. These self-directed digital entities can orchestrate tasks from customer engagement to complex data integration. Yet, they are no less pervasive. They are no longer novelties confined to experimental labs; they inhabit boardrooms, back offices and supply chains alike.
Should All Business Data Requirements Be Justified in Business Terms?
A Pseudo-Debate
Motion:All business data requirements must be justified in business terms. Potential business utility should be a deciding factor in whether they are fulfilled.
For the Motion:Sir Afilonius Rex Against the Motion:Martyn Rhisiart Jones
Weaving the Dragon’s Data: A Welsh-Inspired Tale for Enterprise Architects in the New Year – 2026/01/01
The calendar turns to a fresh page in this crisp January of 2026. We, enterprise data and information architects, stand at a new threshold. Another year welcomes us, brimming with digital transformations. Data lakes swell like the River Taff after a storm. Information architectures evolve like the ancient mountain tops of Snowdonia. But amidst the algorithms and schemas, let’s pause for a moment of whimsy. What if we drew inspiration from the misty realms of Welsh myths and legends? Wales, that land of dragons and bards, offers a tapestry of stories. These stories mirror our quests: taming chaotic data into structured wisdom. They are about preserving cultural legacies in vast repositories. They ignite innovation from the sparks of history. In this Happy New Year ode, we’ll begin a narrative journey through Welsh lore. It is infused with the spirits of its iconic figures. Dylan Thomas, Dannie Abse, Richard Burton, Shirley Bassey, Paul Robeson, and Gwynfor Evans are part of this infusion. These spirits illuminate the art of data stewardship.
Top 5 Trends Shaping the Future of Data, Analytics, and AI Leadership in 2026
I’ve had the privilege of leading a groundbreaking global study in partnership with a strategic client. During this study, I spoke with many key Chief Data Officers (CDOs). I also engaged with Chief Data & Analytics Officers (CDAOs) and AI executives across industries and geographies. The insights reveal how organisations are changing their data and AI strategies. They aim to drive real business value in an increasingly complex world.
Oh, brilliant. Gather round, comrades. It’s time for another installment of “Tech Executives Discover That Computers Need Electricity.” This time, they’ve dressed it up in a shiny frock and called it “2026 Data Trends.” Christ almighty, where do we even start?
Darlings, it’s December 2025 and the party is now officially sweaty. The champagne has gone warm. Someone’s been sick in the ficus. The DJ is playing the same four AI remixes on loop. He is frantically checking the fire exits. Here is your updated field guide to the seven trends. These were going to “reshape humanity.” Now they are mostly reshaping venture capitalists’ therapy bills.
There’s a moment in every hype cycle when reality taps the industry on the shoulder and whispers, “This isn‘t working.“ And every time that moment arrives, tech responds with the grace of a cornered raccoon.
Martyn Richard Jones is primarily known as a strategist. He is also a consultant and author. His expertise lies in the fields of data and information architecture. Additionally, he is involved in business strategy and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Here is a summary of the public perception and professional profile:
Hold up, folks! You’re going to love these! They are amazing, beautiful, classy, dazzling and eminently readable. And that’s an absolute understatement of Mel Brook’s proportions.
As a writer, I have several works to my name. This post highlights some of these works. It also offers a quick link to the Amazon platform, where you can get your editions.
Conjoint analysis is a survey-based statistical technique used in market research that helps determine how people value different attributes (such as features, functions, and benefits) that make up an individual product or service.
A balanced scorecard is a strategy performance management tool – a well-structured report used to keep track of the execution of activities by staff and to monitor the consequences arising from these actions. The term ‘balanced scorecard’ primarily refers to a performance management report used by a management team, and typically focused on managing the implementation of a strategy or operational activities. In a 2020 survey 88% of respondents reported using the balanced scorecard for strategy implementation management, and 63% for operational management. Although less common, the balanced scorecard is also used by individuals to track personal performance; only 17% of respondents in the survey reported using balanced scorecards in this way. However it is clear from the same survey that a larger proportion (about 30%) use corporate balanced scorecard elements to inform personal goal setting and incentive calculations.
Automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) refers to the methods of automatically identifying objects, collecting data about them, and entering that data directly into computer systems (i.e. without human involvement). Technologies typically considered as part of AIDC include bar codes, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), biometrics, magnetic stripes, Optical Character Recognition (OCR), smart cards, and voice recognition. AIDC is also commonly referred to as “Automatic Identification,” “Auto-ID,” and “Automatic Data Capture.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_identification_and_data_capture
Adaptive control is the control method used by a controller which must adapt to a controlled system with parameters which vary, or are initially uncertain. For example, as an aircraft flies, its mass will slowly decrease as a result of fuel consumption; a control law is needed that adapts itself to such changing conditions.
Leadership, wherever it is to be found, and it can be found almost everywhere, plays an essential role in everything, and it comes in all shapes and sizes. The subject of leadership, like strategy, is very close to me, and these are facets of my knowledge and experience that I constantly try to improve. Here, I am detailing some of the leadership points of view that I have developed or embraced to some degree or another. These are things that have also served to shape me and, more importantly, to bring me to where I now am: the village of Bandoxa.
Martyn Rhisiart Jones
