Event: 46th TDWI Roundtable Frankfurt

Date: February 19, 2026 - Time: 5:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m.
Location: Saalbau DGB Gewerkschaftshaus - Meeting Room 4

Presentation: AI as a catalyst in information modeling: Between automation and company-specific reality
Speaker: Dirk Lerner

About the presentation: Artificial intelligence is changing the way companies work with data. Data modeling forms the foundation of successful AI implementations – it ensures that data is high-quality, well-structured, and suitable for training AI models. Without solid data models, AI systems are more prone to errors, less efficient, and more difficult to scale.

But to what extent can AI itself assist in the creation of these models? The expectation that AI will automatically generate complete data models quickly reaches its limits in practice. Definitions of key business objects such as “customer” or “product” are highly company-specific and cannot be represented by generic models. Direct, automated creation of information models by AI is therefore not realistic at present.

Nevertheless, AI opens up promising opportunities to support the modeling process. The presentation shows a practical approach: by recording and transcribing conversations during requirements analysis, data modelers can use AI to identify key business objects more quickly. In combination with predefined templates, definitions can be efficiently pre-filled and then validated by subject matter experts.

This hybrid approach combines the speed of modern AI with the indispensable domain knowledge of subject matter experts. The presentation highlights current trends such as increasing no-code automation, the shift from big data to small and wide data, and the role of agentic AI – and places these developments in the context of practical information modeling.

About the speaker: Dirk is an experienced independent consultant and managing director of TEDAMOH – the Data Modeling Hub. He is recognized worldwide as an expert in BI and data architectures as well as data modeling and is particularly valued for his work on temporal data – including groundbreaking examples on his blog and in his training courses that highlight the many aspects of time management in data and their solutions.

With a 25-year career focused on data modeling, temporal data, and automation, Dirk has consistently applied these disciplines to create flexible, lean, and extensible architectures.

As a pioneer of Data Vault and FCO-IM in Germany, Dirk has authored various publications and is a highly regarded international speaker at conferences.

About the conference: The local and free TDWI Roundtables in 15 cities are the ideal place for professional and personal exchange with colleagues. Here you can bring your problems and solutions to the table in a casual atmosphere.