Self-service BI requires governed metric definitions to work

Short summary

Self-service BI without governed metrics creates chaos—different teams define the same metric differently, dashboards proliferate, and the data team becomes a reconciliation help desk. Open-source BI tools (Metabase, Superset, Redash, Lightdash, Evidence) democratize access but lack semantic layers, meaning users query raw tables and define metrics ad-hoc. True self-service requires a governed semantic layer so anyone can query and get the right answer.

• •Self-service BI without metric governance leads to conflicting definitions and dashboard sprawl
• •Open-source BI tools lack semantic layers, forcing ad-hoc metric definitions
• •A governed semantic layer (e.g., Cube) enables real self-service with consistent answers

Generated with AI, which can make mistakes.