In the modern enterprise, one of the main hurdles to effective AI and analytics isn’t a lack of data, it’s a lack of shared meaning. For too long, business logic and definitions (such as churn rate or net margin) have been locked inside proprietary silos. This forces teams to rebuild the same semantic context over and over again, likely leading to inconsistency and wasted effort.
We recently introduced the vision for Open Semantic Interchange (OSI), an open source standard designed to act as the universal translator for data semantics. Today, we are thrilled to announce several major milestones that move OSI from a vision to a foundational industry standard.
The first version of the OSI specification is now available via an Apache 2 licensed Git repository at https://github.com/open-semantic-interchange/OSI. This specification defines a vendor-neutral, extensible model for representing semantic layer constructs such as data sets, metrics, dimensions, relationships and contexts in a way that can be consistently interpreted across tools, platforms and agentic applications.
We view this specification as a starting point, not an endpoint. Feedback, discussion and contributions from the community will shape its evolution. To learn more about how you can contribute directly, refer to the “get involved” section below.
This initiative is only as powerful as the community that stands behind it. A diverse coalition of industry leaders, from cloud hyperscalers to specialized analytics platforms, are part of the community.
Since our last update, we are thrilled to have added the following organizations to the OSI working group: AtScale, Coalesce, Collate, Credible, Databricks, JetBrains, Lightdash and Qlik.
These new additions join our existing group of industry leaders and innovators: Alation, Atlan, BlackRock, Blue Yonder, Collibra, Cube, DataHub, dbt Labs, Domo, Elementum AI, Firebolt, Hex, Honeydew, Informatica, Instacart, JPMC, Mistral AI, Omni, Preset, RelationalAI, Salesforce, Select Star, Sigma, Starburst Data and Strategy, and ThoughtSpot.
We have launched a dedicated Open Semantic Interchange project website at open-semantic-interchange.org. This site provides easy access to the OSI specification, a directory of OSI working group members and community updates. This launch reflects our core commitment to transparency and community-driven development.
From the outset, Open Semantic Interchange has been designed as a community-first project. As the initiative matures, we will transition OSI to a neutral, foundation-led governance model.
If you want to participate, here are the best ways to engage. Whether you’re building a semantic layer, an agentic data application or BI experience or a catalog/governance product, here are the best ways to engage:
Start at open-semantic-interchange.org to learn about the project.
Review the OSI repository and documentation for the current spec.
Have a use case or an idea for the spec evolution that you would like to discuss with the community? Upvote existing relevant GitHub Discussions or create a new one as necessary.
Have tools or converters you would like to add. Raise a pull request in the repo.
We are committing to building OSI in the open through a clear spec, a public home and a growing partner ecosystem. Join us in building out this path for unified semantics.
Forward-looking statements
This article contains forward-looking statements, including about our future product offerings, and are not commitments to deliver any product offerings. Actual results and offerings may differ and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties. See our latest 10-Q for more information.
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