Accelerating trusted data product delivery with data contracts

Scaling AI initiatives requires more than powerful models. It depends on a foundation of trusted, reusable data products that provide consistent, high-quality data to build, deploy, and maintain AI solutions at scale. Without this solid base, organizations get weighed down resolving data issues, which not only eats up valuable time but also slows innovation and undermines the very initiatives they're trying to launch.

Yet turning raw data into reliable, consumable assets is rarely straightforward. The connection between data producers and consumers is often fragile, with unplanned schema changes, broken pipelines and rework slowing delivery and eroding confidence and trust in the data.

And the challenges go deeper than pipeline breaks. Data producers and consumers frequently have different assumptions about data quality, update frequency and SLAs, which creates misaligned expectations and frustration. Ownership is often unclear, making it difficult to resolve issues quickly. Quality checks often happen late in the lifecycle, catching problems only after dashboards, reports or ML models are impacted. Governance policies, such as privacy and retention rules, are not always embedded in the pipelines, introducing compliance risk.

To address these challenges, leading organizations are adopting a "shift-left" mindset by treating data products and pipelines with the same rigor as software development. By automating relevant checks early in the lifecycle, issues can be prevented rather than discovered downstream.

Data contracts play a central role in this approach. They are machine-readable, enforceable agreements that define expectations, policies and SLAs for data products, creating a shared understanding between producers and consumers. According to Gartner, 80% of D&A leaders are already using data contracts to manage and deliver data products, signaling that this approach is quickly becoming an industry standard.

What's new: Data contract capabilities update

Collibra is introducing new data contract capabilities (private preview), advancing trusted data product delivery and governance. A data contract is a declarative, machine-readable description of a data product. This initial offering provides a developer-first experience that seamlessly integrates "shift-left" technical enforcement with enterprise-grade governance.

Key updates include:

• Data contract registry: A central, governed repository of data contracts within the Collibra Platform
• Data contract API: A public API supporting the Open Data Contract Standard (ODCS) that allows for automated push and pull operations of data contracts for integration into development flows and tools (such as dbt or GitHub)
• Contract manifest tab: A dedicated tab on the data contract asset page that lets users view the underlying YAML code or a rendered text version of the data contract manifest, with the option to select and view different data contract versions
• Data contract preview: A side panel that allows you to access a preview of the contract manifest tab, directly from your data product

How data contracts help

Converting raw data into reliable, reusable assets (data products) is complex due to issues like unplanned schema changes and poor data quality that frequently go unnoticed until late in the pipeline, severely limiting confidence in data. Furthermore, crucial personas like data engineers are often not consistently engaged with governance processes, resulting in incomplete metadata and inadequate operationalization of governance checks. By embedding structure and automated enforcement directly into the data lifecycle via machine-readable agreements, data contracts accelerate delivery and instill trust in data.

These enhancements solve key problems, including:

• Unplanned schema changes and subsequent broken downstream pipelines
• Poor data quality and inconsistencies that erode trust and require consumers to waste time cleaning data
• Low data engineer engagement in the governance processes, leading to governance silos and incomplete metadata
• Manual checks and slow feedback loops for contract violations hindering scalability
• Lack of a centralized, reliable source of truth for data product agreements and dependencies between technical and business teams

How the new data contracts capabilities work

Collibra takes a hybrid approach to governed data contracts: A single data contract asset serves as the primary object for governance, while separate components are used to store and manage all data contract versions (manifests). This design provides a clear user experience and allows the data contract asset to use Collibra’s native functionalities for comprehensive governance. For example:

• Workflows can be used to manage contract-specific processes, enabling consistency and accountability (e.g., users can create a workflow that requires a new contract to be approved by a specific team before it goes live, or trigger a notification when a contract is updated)
• Resource permissions can be set directly on the data contract asset to control who can initiate, upload or delete manifests
• Search and views enable discoverability and visualization, just like any other asset in Collibra

The new public API calls and CLI commands empower data producers with direct control. Key API endpoints support core operations such as POST /dataContracts (initialize a data contract) and POST /dataContracts/{id}/versions (upload new version). The init command automatically generates a data contract asset linked to a data product port ID, streamlining the initial setup process.

For data consumers, the contract manifest tab provides transparency by allowing users to switch between viewing the raw YAML code and a rendered text view of the manifest contents, ensuring they understand the agreed-upon standards before consumption. This integration helps ensure "shift-left" enforcement is contextualized by robust governance controls.

Additionally, the new data contract preview tab allows users to get all the information they need from their data contract manifest without having to leave the data product asset page.

Why you should be excited

Data contracts increase reliability and accelerate innovation for key personas across your organization including:

Data producers (Data engineers):

• Accelerate data delivery by using the API and CLI commands for automated push/pull operations
• Prevent disruptive upstream changes by enforcing agreements through machine-readable definitions and automated pipeline checks
• Improve productivity by having contract management integrated directly into existing developer tools

Data consumers (Data analysts/scientists):

• Help ensure dependable and trustworthy data by relying on governed, enforceable agreements
• Quickly verify the structure and terms of the data product by viewing the underlying contract manifest via the data contract preview

Data stewards:

• Maintain governance and trust over crucial data assets
• Leverage existing platform capabilities (workflows, permissions) on the data contract asset to standardize review and approval processes
• Enhance collaboration across teams for greater data product consistency using the centralized registry

Key use cases

Data contracts increase reliability and accelerate innovation for key personas across your organization including:

Data producers (Data engineers):

• Accelerate data delivery by using the API and CLI commands for automated push/pull operations
• Prevent disruptive upstream changes by enforcing agreements through machine-readable definitions and automated pipeline checks
• Improve productivity by having contract management integrated directly into existing developer tools

Data consumers (Data analysts/scientists):

• Help ensure dependable and trustworthy data by relying on governed, enforceable agreements
• Quickly verify the structure and terms of the data product by viewing the underlying contract manifest via the data contract preview

Data stewards:

• Maintain governance and trust over crucial data assets
• Leverage existing platform capabilities (workflows, permissions) on the data contract asset to standardize review and approval processes
• Enhance collaboration across teams for greater data product consistency using the centralized registry

Key takeaways

Collibra's new data contract capabilities are a powerful extension of our release theme, focusing on automation to accelerate innovation. They address a fundamental challenge in organizations: the need for a reliable and trustworthy data foundation to support the proliferation of AI models and use cases. By creating this essential groundwork, data contracts enable you to confidently build, deploy and govern your AI initiatives at scale.

By implementing data contracts in Collibra, you can build trust across your entire data ecosystem. This approach helps to not only reduce costly data incidents but also accelerate your time-to-value. These new capabilities foster enhanced collaboration and greater consistency among data products. With a central registry, API integration for automated operations and transparent viewing of data contract manifests, Collibra makes it easier for technical and business teams to align on trusted data and accelerate the delivery of strategic business outcomes, like generating more accurate AI models or enabling faster, data-driven decisions.

Join Collibra’s Product Premiere to learn:

1. How Collibra's new data contract capabilities accelerate innovation by providing a reliable and trustworthy data foundation for AI initiatives.
2. How implementing data contracts in Collibra builds trust across the data ecosystem, reduces costly data incidents, and accelerates time-to-value.
3. How a central registry, API integration for automated operations, and transparent viewing of data contract manifests foster enhanced collaboration and greater consistency among data products.

Where to learn more about data contracts

• Explainer video: What is a data contract?
• What’s new in the Collibra Platform | October 2025

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  Melanie Henry

  Melanie Henry

  Product Marketing Director

  Collibra

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  Dylan Greenfield

  Dylan Greenfield

  Senior Product Manager

  Collibra