Part 4/11:
One of the most significant industry disruptions discussed was the maturation of data interoperability through open table formats like Apache Iceberg. Historically, support for table formats was vendor-specific, limiting flexibility. Today, widespread vendor adoption and robust community support have made formats like Iceberg the de facto standard for open, vendor-neutral table management.
This unbundling mirrors the evolution of traditional databases by separating storage, compute engines, and governance layers—an approach that enhances flexibility and interoperability. Similarly, the catalog layer has shifted towards open-source solutions such as Apache Polaris, facilitating cross-engine data governance and management.