Last week I hosted a 2 days Data Mesh Live conference. The community driven conference on #DataMesh. It was a blast, inspiring talks, engaging audience, and great atmosphere. @datameshlive.bsky.social

How do you move from Data Mesh theory to something that actually works across teams and domains? At Data Mesh Live 2026, Tom De Wolf from ACA Group returns as host, bringing together data leaders tackling the realities of scaling data in modern organisations. 1/2

Data Mesh Live 2026 returns to Antwerp, with Tom De Wolf back as host, guiding the conversation for data architects, data product managers and data leaders. We’re proud to welcome ACA Group as our gold sponsor, supporting a community focused on making Data Mesh work in practice.

Data Mesh Live | All things Data Mesh | June 11-12 2026

Discover how to scale Data Products. Antwerp, June 11-12 2026. Book now.

buff.ly

Hallucinations are a given if your AI lacks context for the data it's been given. In a Data Mesh setup, context exists at different levels and in different domains - yet the metadata that makes it up must be understood and managed holistically. 1/2

The self-service data platform is one of Data Mesh's founding principles, but it's also the one most organisations struggle to build. Andrew Jones tackles these questions head-on and explains how to begin implementing one with data contracts as the enabling feature. Learn more: buff.ly/7Mxkt3X

What if the way we think about modularity in microservices could sharpen how we design Data Mesh? Neal Ford's keynote will bring real-world examples and tactics for data architects and leaders. Learn more: buff.ly/A2w3NWU

Data products don’t have a single architecture - they have two. The outer layer makes them trustworthy The inner layer makes them work This session reveals why ignoring either one leads to duplication, tech debt, and broken AI initiatives. Learn more: buff.ly/qnICip3

Data Mesh gave us an operating model. But data products are still slow, brittle, and dependent on tribal knowledge. At Data Mesh Live 2026, Eric Broda makes the case for the Agentic Mesh as the next stage of Data Mesh evolution and shows what it looks like in practice. Learn more: buff.ly/kUesrkf

Is metadata the weakest point in Data Mesh? Data products created in isolation, without connecting to existing enterprise metadata, end up dysfunctional. The solution is a decentralised architecture that ties together the metadata already living across your system. buff.ly/PLywdUO

When AI Meets Data Reality: How to Manage and Govern Data to Enable Swisscom for AI-Readiness. This session covers the data architecture, management practices, and governance patterns that turned a legacy data landscape into a foundation for AI at scale.

Data Mesh Live | All things Data Mesh | June 11-12 2026

Discover how to scale Data Products. Antwerp, June 11-12 2026. Book now.

buff.ly

Data-first or contract-first? The data-first approach encourages exploration and quick experimentation, but often leaves ownership unclear and producers and consumers misaligned. The contract-first approach builds trust and quality from the start. Learn more: buff.ly/LRA0vYO

Share your data across organisational boundaries without giving up control over your data. Professor and consultant Arif Wider explores some practical tips for implementing DRM principles to Data Mesh for accountable data sharing. Learn more: buff.ly/t1aiNhf

From Monolith to Mesh: How to Model Data in the Age of Data Products and AI Agents Data modelling is back on centre stage. Discover how classic techniques evolve to power data products and AI agents in a modular and composable socio-technical architecture. Learn more: buff.ly/jqGOXTy

AI only scales with clear semantics and reliable data. So why are so many AI initiatives built on sand? Saskia Untiet-Kepp explores how to design contracts based on ODPS, to automatically derive an enterprise knowledge graph with Neo4j, to feed that semantic layer into GenAI. buff.ly/1vqhlt5

AI-Assisted Data Product Engineering AI is fundamentally reshaping how data systems are engineered. Kiran Prakesh and Sebastian Werner illustrate how AI-assisted techniques accelerate data product design, delivery, and governance while preserving architectural discipline and trust. buff.ly/J0TFVEQ

Is your data platform team becoming the bottleneck it was designed to eliminate? Tom De Wolf will share how the CNCF Platform Engineering Maturity Model can guide your platform journey: assess your current state, spot the gaps, and plot your next move with confidence. Learn more: buff.ly/rxJhLYU

On June 10, the day before the main conference, three full-day hands-on workshops are running. Data Mesh in Action - Jacek Majchrzak Guiding Data Mesh Lean Transformations - Paulo Caroli Implementing a Data Mesh with Data Contracts - Andrew Jones Learn more 👉 buff.ly/TyHGWVG

Kicking Off a Mentality Change in an Organisation. In this talk, Amy Raygada will cover: 👉 How to align People, Process, and Technology to drive sustainable data governance. 👉 Practical techniques for overcoming organisational resistance 👉 Best practices for data ownership

Last week we announced the line-up for Data Mesh Live (Tom De Wolf shared a great walk through of the program themes). Early-bird pricing ends this week. Locking in tickets early helps both attendees and organisers. It gives you (or your boss!) a welcome discount /1

🚀 It's the final week before our Call For Papers closes. We are looking for real-world stories of Data Mesh implementations, tactics and strategies for scaling data products, tips for governing data in highly regulated environments. 2026.datameshlive.com/cfp/

What's in store for the 2026 edition of Data Mesh Live? 🎤 More content (We're adding an extra day of talks) 📈Practical strategies for increasing the value of your data 🧠 Deep insights on managing large, complex data systems (governance, quality, accessibility etc)

You have until Sunday to purchase your super early-bird ticket for Data Mesh Live 2026. What's in store for Data Mesh Live 2026? 🎤 More content (We're adding an extra day of talks) 📈 Scaling beyond the first 10–15 data products — practical strategies for increasing the value of your data 1/2

A single Data Product won’t give your business an ROI. Take a step back and understand what the business is trying to do. Identify the value chain between multiple data products and ensure these are usable and valuable to your org. Search Data Mesh Live on YouTube for the whole talk.

Just make sure we don’t get sued 😅 Avoiding litigation is one reason to care about good data governance, but many overlook the fact that it also creates business value. Check out Karin Håkansson's talk by searching for Data Mesh Live on Google or YouTube.

During this training we will introduce you to the idea of the Data Mesh and it's guiding principles. We will solve simple case study by applying all of the data mesh principles to some degree. You will learn how to design data product and the simple self-serve data platform: buff.ly/ZOFrnkl

The Call for Proposals for #DDDEU is open until January 16, 2026. We're looking for hands-on labs and talks. No need to submit fully formed abstracts: if you submit a rough idea we like, we'll have a conversation with you to see where it could go: buff.ly/6mfXld2

Because in a data mesh, a data landscape is decomposed into smaller data products, we can make use of their compositional nature. We extend the technique of consumer-driven contracts to enable data sharers to define testable constraints on how data can be reshared. 🎬 youtu.be/eOA5PYtuxEc

Automating Federated Data Governance ... by Arif Wider - Data Mesh Live 2025

Data Mesh Live 2025 - Organised by Aardling (https://aardling.eu/) …

youtu.be

We will examine the design, governance and management of the full spectrum of data along its value chain, from raw data products to advanced ML and AI Products. We will discuss the different types of productized data, the governance roles required to manage them effectively. 🎬 youtu.be/gR_T4PzpS5w

Productising Data along the Value Chain by Kinda El Maarry - Data Mesh Live 2025

Data Mesh Live 2025 - Organised by Aardling (https://aardling.eu/) …

youtu.be

We’ll explore a tried-and-tested approach to designing, implementing, and governing data products. You’ll leave with actionable insights and strategies that can be applied to your own context—coming directly from practitioners who helped shape the data mesh paradigm. 🎬 youtu.be/CLafDSDKpa4

What We Talk About When We Talk About Data Products by Kiran Prakash - Data Mesh Live 2025

Data Mesh Live 2025 - Organised by Aardling (https://aardling.eu/) …

youtu.be

Data Mesh Live offers various sponsorship tiers, from Platinum to Startup, each with unique benefits like booth space and program booklet presence. Find the perfect fit for your company. 👉 Contact sales@aardling.eu for details. #DataMeshLive #SponsorshipOptions #TechEvents