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In this interview from NDC Sydney 2026, Adam Cogan chats with keynote speaker Chris Auld about why AI agents perform better when they have access to structured business data instead of relying purely on unstructured documents. Chris explains how ontologies and semantic models can help organizations improve agent reasoning, reduce ambiguity, and create more reliable AI systems. They discuss practical ways businesses can start small, especially in large enterprises with older systems and messy data, by modeling one part of a business process at a time.

Chris also shares why technologies like Microsoft Fabric can help bring structured information together so agents can reason over it more effectively. The conversation finishes with an important reminder about governance, trust, and maintaining a social license as technologists. As AI accelerates software delivery, Chris argues that responsible systems, customer trust, and regulatory awareness are becoming more important than ever.

00:00 | Introduction
00:17 | Chris Auld’s keynote theme
00:31 | What ontologies mean for AI agents
01:07 | Why structured business rules matter
01:31 | The problem with messy enterprise data
02:02 | Stop stuffing docs into prompts
02:28 | Advice for manufacturers with legacy systems
02:57 | Start small and model one process first
03:47 | Why structured data beats unstructured documents
04:44 | Governance, KYC, and maintaining trust in AI

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👋 Get in touch:
Adam Cogan – SSW Chief Architect + Microsoft Regional Director
About: https://www.ssw.com.au/people/adam-co…
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#AI #AIAgents #ArtificialIntelligence #DataModeling #Ontology #SemanticModel #MicrosoftFabric #Governance #NDCSydney #ChrisAuld #AdamCogan #SSWTV

V2 – Bahjat

About the speakers

About the speakers

Adam Cogan blogs at adamcogan.com and interviews for SSW TV frequently. He is the Chief Architect at SSW, a Microsoft Solutions Partner specializing in custom enterprise .NET and Azure solutions mostly using Blazor, Angular, and React. His solutions also involve AI, Office 365, SharePoint, Dynamics 365, and the Power Platform.

Adam is currently working on TinaCMS - the world's best Markdown GitHub editor.

His deep knowledge of SharePoint's many capabilities, combined with the latest technologies (Angular, React, SPFx), let him propose high-quality tailored SharePoint Applications to clients.

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