Metadata management moves to the center of AI scale challenges
siliconANGLE, Friday, January 23rd, 2026
Metadata management has become the practical dividing line between AI systems that scale and those that stall.
As organizations push AI from experimentation into sustained production, the limiting factor is no longer models, but visibility into sprawling data estates. Survey results and field experience from companies such as HighFens Inc. show that without usable metadata, operational expansion increases cost and complexity instead of value, according to Frederic Van Haren (pictured), chief technology officer and founder of HighFens, a technology consultancy and services firm specializing in high-performance computing, AI infrastructure and big data.
'AI by itself is all about scaling. Here's how it goes,' Van Haren explained. 'Somebody comes up with an idea, they have some data, they build a model and the most valuable data you can collect is actually the data from your customers. Scaling becomes a real challenge . every organization that is successful will have to deal with it.'