---
title: "WTF is the Context Layer? EP 03 - Is Semantic Layer = Context Layer? | Atlan"
url: "https://atlan.com/wtf-context-layer/is-semantic-layer-context-layer/"
description: "Both the semantic layer and the context layer exist to help AI agents understand your business. But is knowing the meaning sufficient for agents to take action? David Mariani, Co-founder and CTO of AtScale, joins Austin to give his honest take."
keywords: "context layer, semantic layer, AI governance, enterprise AI, data context, atlan events, context layer series, david mariani, atscale"
---

> Atlan is hosting Context Conference, bringing together the leaders and builders at the frontier of giving AI the context it needs to understand their business. It runs online on October 28, 2026, from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM ET. Atlan co-founder Prukalpa Sankar opens and closes the day. Leaders from AstraZeneca, BNY and Verizon share why they invest in context and what they get from it. Registrants get early access to The AI Context Gap, a new study from MIT Technology Review Insights. Register: https://atlan.com/context-conference/

Episode 3 of Atlan's WTF is the Context Layer? series. Both the semantic layer and the context layer exist to help AI agents understand your business. A semantic layer teaches agents business language and meaning. But is knowing the meaning sufficient for agents to take action? David Mariani, Co-founder and CTO of AtScale, joins Austin to give his honest take on where they diverge, and whether they're just different names for the same solution.

## Episode details

- **Episode:** 3, "Is Semantic Layer = Context Layer?"
- **When (as listed on the page):** Wednesday, Jul 15, 11 AM ET
- **Format:** 45 min, live AMA
- **Recording:** [Watch the EP 03 recording](https://atlan.com/wtf-context-layer/is-semantic-layer-context-layer-recording/)
- **Series hub:** [WTF is the Context Layer?](https://atlan.com/wtf-context-layer/)

## Questions we'll tackle

- How is a semantic layer different from an enterprise context layer?
- The semantic layer existed for 30 years before AI made it urgent. What changed?
- The semantic layer gives AI a vocabulary. Does vocabulary make AI trustworthy?
- When every platform ships a semantic layer, who ends up owning your business logic?

## Conversation leaders

- **Austin Kronz** (host), Director of Data Strategy, Atlan. Former Gartner Director who spent years advising Fortune 500 data leaders on analytics strategy. He's the person large enterprises call when they can't figure out why their AI keeps getting context wrong.
- **David Mariani** (guest), Co-founder and CTO, AtScale, one of the companies that put the semantic layer on the enterprise map. He's spent decades building the infrastructure that sits between raw data and business decisions, and now brings that perspective to the question every enterprise data team is asking.