We’re More Than a Vendor—We’re Your Partner
Long before we built a product at Atlan, we were a data team ourselves. We lived through the midnight pings, the rogue SQL scripts, and the never-ending Slack messages asking, “Hey, do you know what this dashboard means?” We’ve felt your pain, and that’s what sets us apart.
That experience shaped our product, our values, and our empathy. It made us obsessed with the human side of data work. And along the way, we learned a crucial lesson: governance isn’t about tools—it’s about people.
World-Kinect Corporation
We’ve watched the same story unfold in organizations everywhere, from lean startups to global enterprises. A shiny new data tool is easy to buy (let’s be honest, it can even look pretty slick on a slide deck). But a few months later, people aren’t using it, the team is lost on next steps, and no one can define success. Sound familiar?
That’s why we’ve baked this people-first perspective into everything we do—including our Advisory Workshops.
What Are Advisory Workshops?
Our Advisory Workshops are immersive, hands-on sessions where we team up with data leaders, governance experts, CIOs, CTOs, CDOs—anyone who can help answer the big questions:
“What’s the real value we want from our data? Where do we want to be in three, even five years? And what’s stopping us from getting there?”
This isn’t just another “training day” in a conference room. Think of it as an intense, collaborative dive into your governance challenges—only this time, you have an entire squad of Atlan data nerds (and proud of it!) guiding the way.
Our Journey: Building the Workshop Framework
Creating our Advisory Workshops—and the Modern Data Governance Operating Model behind them—was a labor of love. We pored over every book on data governance, change management, and systems thinking we could find. Our walls were covered in sticky notes. Our Notion docs overflowed.
But the real magic happened when we blended all that theory with hard-earned lessons from working alongside hundreds of customers. We scrutinized real failures and successes—our own and those of the organizations we’ve partnered with—and asked the tough questions:
- Why do some governance efforts fail to get off the ground?
- What does it take to make adoption stick?
- How do you actually measure success in a way that matters to the business?
After countless (sometimes heated!) discussions, we emerged with a practical, people-focused framework—one that helps teams not just get started with governance, but make it truly successful.
Inside an Advisory Workshop
So, what actually happens in these sessions? It all boils down to three core pillars:
- Clarity
Aligning on company-wide goals and defining what success really looks like. - Domain Prioritization
Figuring out which areas to tackle first based on value and feasibility (and preventing that dreaded “analysis paralysis”). - Real Implementation Planning
Taking a close look at people, processes, and tech. We assess everything from skill gaps to tech stack readiness, then build an actionable rollout plan.
“Working with us doesn’t add to the complexity—it makes things easier.”
We live by that motto. Governance can be tough, but it shouldn’t be complicated.
The Atlan Difference
Our Advisory Workshops are rooted in real-world experience, not just theory. We keep business outcomes front and center—revenue impact, risk reduction, operational efficiency, and better decision-making—and treat metadata as a means to those ends, rather than the end itself.
But let’s talk about the human factor. At Atlan, we believe that governance is serious work, yet it doesn’t have to be dull. It’s about celebrating the humans of data—the people behind the numbers—because understanding who they are, what drives them, and how they connect is what sparks true collaboration and problem-solving.
During these sessions, you won’t just sit through slides. We use interactive whiteboarding to get everyone moving, share personal “superpowers” (like Shraddha’s passion for slow hiking or Tarini’s uncanny knack for dishwasher tetris), and connect on a more authentic level. Each day ends with a celebration that recognizes the team as whole people. Sometimes that includes delicious cake, like the memorable chocolate ganache from last quarter’s roadmap review.
By embracing the human side of data work, we create an environment where real breakthroughs happen. When teams are energized, aligned, and having a bit of fun, no governance challenge is too big to tackle.
Success Stories
We’ve run these workshops around the world, helping data teams tackle complex data problems and chart a path forward. One recent workshop with a Swiss digital marketplace stands out, both for the variety of participants involved and the genuine transformation they experienced.
A 2.5-hour Data Summit Workshop, Minus the Slides
Atlan brought together data professionals from across the company: different divisions, each with unique tech stacks, data catalogs, and governance processes, all attended a design-thinking workshop we led, where the topic of data ownership unexpectedly became everyone’s common concern.
Instead of a typical product demo, we guided participants through interactive exercises—picking their top challenges, playing quick “Rock-Paper-Scissors” rounds to see who faced similar issues, and stepping into each other’s shoes through persona exercises. Emotions ran high when participants realized that, despite differing stacks and roles, they all wrestled with the same problems. One attendee confessed, “I had no idea my colleagues in other business verticals faced the same challenges I did,” while another noted, “We came here thinking it would be a product demo, but what we achieved was way more important.”
By the end of the workshop, the data teams walked away with a shared problem statement, fresh ideas for solving ownership gaps, and a renewed sense of unity. One data leader remarked, “You convinced us on Atlan without even mentioning Atlan.”
Real Impact, Real Alignment
Moments like these show how immersive, human-centered workshops can spark breakthroughs. Once individuals see that governance troubles go beyond any single vertical or tech tool, collaboration becomes far easier. And that, in a nutshell, is why our Advisory Workshops consistently lead to tangible outcomes: People walk away excited, aligned, and ready to tackle what once felt like insurmountable challenges—together.
Your Governance Partner
If you’re staring down a complex data landscape or simply don’t know where to begin, we’re here to help. We don’t believe in governance for governance’s sake; we believe in building systems that deliver tangible, lasting outcomes. Here are just a few real-world challenges we’ve tackled:
- A Large Insurance Company
Helped them navigate millions of data assets and pinpoint where to start, so they could speed up new product development. - A Social Impact Organization
Aligned siloed teams struggling with no governance framework, errors, and duplication. We identified immediate wins, built stakeholder alignment, and introduced the value of governance—clearing the path for faster, more accurate decisions.
Ready to Run Your Own Advisory Workshop?
We host these workshops globally, in person or virtually. Whether you’re a governance “noob” or a seasoned pro, we’ll meet you where you are. Let’s sit down—over coffee, Zoom, or both—and uncover what’s holding you back from your data goals. Then we’ll tackle it together.
Prefer to Learn at Your Own Pace?
Explore our Atlan University content. It’s packed with insights, frameworks, and hands-on exercises to guide you step by step.
Ready to Roll?
Reach out to your Customer Success Manager or Sales Partner. Let’s fuel your data journey with clarity, insight, and real business impact.
