On January 21, Matthias Dod, Chief Enterprise Architect Master Data Management at Bosch, had the privilege of giving a guest lecture to IT students at the Universität Stuttgart and provided valuable insights into the importance of master data, its challenges in international enterprises like Bosch and the future of master data management (MDM).

Photo licensed and provided by Bosch

Key messages:

• In today’s data-driven world, the importance of master data cannot be overstated.
• Master data refers to critical business information that is essential for operations and decision making. It includes information of key entities like customers, suppliers, products, employees, etc.
• Effective master data management is essential for various critical processes such as customs declarations or product compliance.
• Master data management is one of the basic elements of a successful data strategy of enterprises. It includes efficient governance and distribution of master data to ensure it is fit for specified purposes.
• There are different master data application architecture patterns that are essential for effective data management, such as central governance (MDM system as “System of record”) or consolidation (MDM system as “System of reference”).
• How important is master data management for AI use cases?
  THERE IS NO AI WITHOUT (MASTER) DATA.