Case study 01 · Insurance
Governed Databricks Lakehouse for a U.S. Insurance Provider
Unifying fragmented operational data into a governed platform for dashboards, master data and AI-assisted exploration.
The challenge
A workers' compensation insurance carrier needed to bring data from multiple systems and on-premises databases into one Lakehouse. The target was more than a migration: the new platform needed to become a trusted source for reporting while also providing the context and access patterns required by AI-assisted users.
Platform goal
Create one governed data foundation that can support operational integrations, dashboards and AI use cases without duplicating definitions across teams.
Governance goal
Make business terminology and critical master data understandable and manageable in the same environment as the technical data assets.
What was delivered
- A Databricks Lakehouse consolidating data from legacy and operational sources.
- A Business Glossary application linking business terms to technical assets and standardising organisational definitions.
- An MDM application to consolidate, cleanse and govern critical business data.
- An end-to-end Databricks ingestion pipeline carrying legacy-system data through to the Golden layer.
- Databricks Genie spaces enabling natural-language exploration of governed data.
A governance layer designed into the platform
Solution flow
Architecture principles
- Keep business context close to the governed data assets rather than in a disconnected document repository.
- Use a single Lakehouse foundation so dashboards, APIs and AI experiences consume consistent data.
- Treat ingestion and governance as reusable platform capabilities, not one-off project tasks.
- Expose AI-assisted exploration only on top of governed, understandable data.
For business users
Business definitions and critical data can be discovered in a central portal, reducing ambiguity around what data means and how it should be used.
For data and AI teams
The same platform provides technical lineage, curated data and governed access patterns for analytics and AI-assisted exploration.
Technology
- Databricks
- Unity Catalog
- Databricks Apps
- Kafka
- Dash
- Genie
Commercial takeaway
A modern data platform creates more value when governance is part of the user experience. The engagement combined Lakehouse engineering, master data, glossary capabilities and AI access in one governed environment.
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