The Data Praxis

Insights on Data Governance, AI Governance, AI Products, Data Architecture, and Product Strategy. By Vikas Pratap Singh.

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Data Governance & Management September 1, 2026 · 7 min read

The Critical Data Element Practitioner's Guide

A seven-part practitioner's guide to building, operationalizing, and scaling Critical Data Element programs in financial services, insurance, and healthcare. From structural definition through usage-first identification, operationalization, risk integration, and a full reference implementation, with worked examples, RACI matrices, and regulatory cross-references.

#critical-data-elements#data-governance#data-quality#data-lineage

Data Governance & Management September 1, 2026 · 25 min read

Building Your CDE Inventory: From Tier 1 Uses to Source Elements

A seven-step methodology for usage-first Critical Data Element identification, covering lineage-based tracing, criticality scoring, the DAMA-NL weighted model, building the CDE register, and layering the semantic glossary around your identified elements. Part 2 of the Critical Data Element Practitioner's Guide.

#critical-data-elements#data-governance#data-quality#data-lineage

Data Governance & Management September 1, 2026 · 24 min read

Measuring What Matters: CDE Program Reporting, KPIs, KRIs, and Risk Integration

CDE programs that report in governance language die in committee. Programs that translate Data Quality into risk language, connect to the enterprise risk appetite, and give every stakeholder the view they need are the ones that survive. Part 5 of the Critical Data Element Practitioner's Guide.

#critical-data-elements#data-governance#data-quality#risk-management

Data Governance & Management September 1, 2026 · 18 min read

What a CDE Actually Is: The Meta Model That Nobody Published

A CDE is a business-level concept, not a physical column. Each CDE maps one-to-many to physical columns across systems. This article provides the canonical three-layer meta model for Critical Data Elements, grounded in ISO 11179, DCAM, practitioner evidence, and vendor implementations. Part 0 of the Critical Data Element Practitioner's Guide.

#critical-data-elements#data-governance#data-quality#metadata-management

Data Governance & Management September 1, 2026 · 31 min read

Operationalizing CDEs: Quality, Lineage, and Controls That Actually Work

Identifying Critical Data Elements is less than half the work. This article covers the tiered quality SLAs, column-level lineage, remediation workflows, and accountability structures that turn a CDE inventory into an operating capability. Part 3 of the Critical Data Element Practitioner's Guide.

#critical-data-elements#data-governance#data-quality#data-lineage

Data Governance & Management September 1, 2026 · 30 min read

The CDE Program in Practice: A Reference Implementation From Day One to Year Two

Six articles of frameworks, methodologies, and scoring models converge into one worked reference implementation. This capstone walks through populated artifacts, end-to-end worked examples across banking, insurance, and healthcare, and an 18-month timeline showing what a CDE program looks like at every milestone. Part 6 of the Critical Data Element Practitioner's Guide.

#critical-data-elements#data-governance#data-quality#data-lineage

Perspectives

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Essays on thinking clearly, living intentionally, and building a career worth having.

First Principles April 30, 2026 · 8 min read

Second-Order Thinking: The Decision Framework That Separates Good from Great

Most people stop at the first consequence. The best decision-makers ask 'and then what?' repeatedly. A practical guide to second-order thinking for career, technology, and life decisions.

#mental-models#decision-making#first-principles#second-order-thinking

Philosophy & Psychology April 12, 2026 · 9 min read

Truth Waits Patiently: Why Reality Always Collects the Cost of Denial

You can ignore truth, argue with it, or replace it with a more comforting story. None of that makes it disappear. Reality is patient. And when truth returns after a long period of avoidance, it rarely arrives as information. It arrives as correction.

#truth#self-deception#mental-models#self-awareness

Productivity & Systems April 3, 2026 · 10 min read

Deep Work in the Age of AI: Why Focus Is Your Last Unfair Advantage

Current AI can assist with routine cognitive work, but accountable judgment, creative synthesis, and sustained concentration remain human strengths. Deep work is now the scarcest, most valuable skill a knowledge worker can build.

#deep-work#focus#AI#productivity

The Data Praxis

Latest Articles

The Critical Data Element Practitioner's Guide

Building Your CDE Inventory: From Tier 1 Uses to Source Elements

Measuring What Matters: CDE Program Reporting, KPIs, KRIs, and Risk Integration

What a CDE Actually Is: The Meta Model That Nobody Published

Operationalizing CDEs: Quality, Lineage, and Controls That Actually Work

The CDE Program in Practice: A Reference Implementation From Day One to Year Two

Perspectives

Second-Order Thinking: The Decision Framework That Separates Good from Great

Truth Waits Patiently: Why Reality Always Collects the Cost of Denial

Deep Work in the Age of AI: Why Focus Is Your Last Unfair Advantage

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