What's a Super Swamp?

Data Lakehouses becoming Super Data Swamps highlights the strategic risk organisations face when modern data platforms scale without proper governance or value discipline.

The application of data governance often lags well behind the enthusiasm for filling data lakes and lakehouses. With the rapid adoption of AI, that gap is no longer theoretical—it’s becoming a costly and unavoidable reality for many organisations.

As data volumes explode and AI models depend on that data for high-stakes decisions, the absence of governance introduces serious risks—from degraded insight quality to regulatory exposure. Without a clear framework for trust, control, and accountability, the promise of AI quickly turns into a minefield of uncertainty.

After speaking with a few people about this, one comment stuck with me: “We’ve gone from Data Lakes… to Data Hubs… to Data Lakehouses… and now to Super Swamps.” It made my day—not because it’s funny (though it is), but because it’s true.

More data doesn’t equal better AI. In fact, the opposite is often true: quality over quantity is what drives real intelligence.

In short: it's time to change the methodology.