---
title: "Data Ontology defined: The context layer your AI agents are missing"
description: "The Post argues that AI agents are breaking a long-standing assumption in enterprise data: that a human analyst can always resolve ambiguity. Richard Tomlinson explains that while analysts rely on tribal knowledge—like which revenue table is trusted or what ‘active customer’ means—agents lack this context. This gap causes inconsistent answers and erodes trust in self-service tools. The conversation examines why previous ontology efforts stalled and what must be true for an ontology to support agents. The ontology is positioned as the missing context layer that companies have not yet built."
---

# Data Ontology defined: The context layer your AI agents are missing

[Databricks](https://yomu.fyi/company/databricks) · Richard Tomlinson · Sep 22, 2026

**Type:** Explainer

## Summary

The Post argues that AI agents are breaking a long-standing assumption in enterprise data: that a human analyst can always resolve ambiguity. Richard Tomlinson explains that while analysts rely on tribal knowledge—like which revenue table is trusted or what ‘active customer’ means—agents lack this context. This gap causes inconsistent answers and erodes trust in self-service tools. The conversation examines why previous ontology efforts stalled and what must be true for an ontology to support agents. The ontology is positioned as the missing context layer that companies have not yet built.

## Context

The Post is an interview with Richard Tomlinson about the role of data ontology in enterprise AI. It argues that AI agents lack the implicit business context that human analysts rely on, such as which revenue table is trusted or what ‘active customer’ means. The conversation highlights why previous ontology attempts stalled and what is needed for ontologies to support AI agents.

## Takeaways

- AI agents lack the tribal knowledge human analysts use to interpret ambiguous data, such as which revenue table is trusted or what ‘active customer’ means.
- Without ontology, different tools return different answers, causing business users to distrust self-service analytics.
- Previous attempts to build ontologies stalled, and a successful ontology must hold up when agents rely on it.

## FAQ

### Why do AI agents need business context beyond the schema?

AI agents need business context because they lack the tribal knowledge human analysts have, such as which revenue table is trusted or what 'active customer' means. Without this, agents may give inconsistent answers, eroding user trust.

### What assumption about enterprise data are AI agents breaking?

The assumption is that a knowledgeable human can always interpret ambiguous data. AI agents break this by operating without such a human, leading to inconsistent answers and distrust in self-service tools.

**Tags:** [AI Agents](https://yomu.fyi/topic/ai-agents), [Enterprise Data](https://yomu.fyi/topic/enterprise-data), [Ontology](https://yomu.fyi/topic/ontology)

- Source: [Databricks](https://www.databricks.com/blog/data-ontology-defined-context-layer-your-ai-agents-are-missing)
- Source URL: https://www.databricks.com/blog/data-ontology-defined-context-layer-your-ai-agents-are-missing
- Ingested by Yomu: 2026-09-22T00:00:13.653Z

[Read original post](https://www.databricks.com/blog/data-ontology-defined-context-layer-your-ai-agents-are-missing)