The People on the Front Line - Growing Data Stewards and Curators In Your Organization

The best data strategies succeed or fail at the front line, where plans are translated into day-to-day actions. Many data environments deteriorate because there are no clearly defined roles responsible for caring for data daily.

This post defines two critical front-line roles—data stewards and data curators—and explores how organizations can grow people into these roles without adding headcount.

Like all business assets, data requires continuous care throughout its life cycle. When this aspect of data strategy is overlooked, the data ecosystem gradually becomes inefficient—and in some cases, chaotic—causing significant negative impact on business operations.

The Front-Line Roles: Stewards and Curators

On the business side, we need the data steward—the subject matter expert (SME) who understands the meaning, use, and impact of data in business operations. On a day-to-day basis, data stewards typically:

• Answer questions from users of the data assets under their care

• Monitor data usage and act as first responders when issues arise

• Propose changes when business operations, regulations, or compliance requirements evolve

• Coordinate with technical teams to implement those changes

• Create and maintain business metadata throughout the data life cycle

• Retire data assets when they are no longer needed

On the technical side, data curators are the counterparts to data stewards. They are the technical SMEs for the same data assets, responsible for the corresponding technical tasks, such as:

• Developing and maintaining technical metadata

• Assessing data impacts resulting from changes in business processes

• Translating business rules and access policies into technical requirements

Together, data stewards and data curators form the operational backbone of effective data governance.

Where Do These People Come From?

The key question is how to staff these roles. Does this mean organizations must hire a large number of additional full-time employees?

Usually, the answer is no.

In nearly all organizations, steward and curator responsibilities are already being carried out—informally—by natural-born data champions. These are the people others turn to for answers about data, the ones who provide guidance when workflows change, and step in when data issues threaten business outcomes. They perform this work out of necessity, without formal recognition or support.

What leaders need is not more people, but a system that allows these individuals to thrive and grow into clearly defined roles.

The FAN Practice: Formalize, Align, Network

A practical way to achieve this is through a simple but powerful approach I call FAN.

1. Formalize

Formalizing means bringing existing stewardship and curation activities into the open and defining them with clarity. For those already performing these duties, formalization provides recognition and organizational support. It signals that their work is essential to the health of the data ecosystem.

Formalization also makes gaps visible. As leaders observe where stewardship exists—and where it does not—questions naturally arise: Who is the data steward or data curator for this metric? Who should we contact about this data issue? Over time, this awareness builds momentum, leading to the development of a distributed network of stewards and curators across the organization.

2. Align

Formalization alone is not enough. Data stewards and curators must be aligned with the broader data governance structure to succeed.

At the individual level, these roles function much like the nerve endings in the human body—sensing changes, responding quickly, and relaying signals. They should not operate in isolation. Instead, data stewards and curators should be connected to Business Owner Groups (BOGs), which in turn link to the enterprise-level data governance committee.

This alignment ensures smooth information flow, clear escalation paths, and shared accountability—without creating bottlenecks.

3. Network

Finally, organizations must actively network these front-line roles.

Much like soldiers on the front line, data stewards and curators need training, tools, communication channels, and peer support to be effective. New stewards should not step into their roles alone. They need guidance on standard practices, collaboration models, and tool usages. Experienced stewards and curators benefit from staying connected with peers, sharing lessons learned, success stories, and generating new ideas together.

This sense of community turns isolated contributors into a resilient, high-impact capability.

Why This Matters Now

As business and technology continue to evolve—especially with the arrival of AI—data carries increasingly complex intelligence. Building a data ecosystem without empowered front-line roles is not only unsustainable, but risky. When no one fully understands the meaning and implications of the data being used, data can do more harm than good.

When data stewards and curators are supported through a systematic FAN practice, they unlock tremendous value. Their in-depth knowledge, commitment, and drive to success becomes a strong force to push the business forward. 

Executive Takeaway

1. Data, as a critical business asset, requires continuous care throughout its life cycle.

2. Data stewards and data curators are essential governance roles with clearly defined responsibilities.

3. The FAN approach enables organizations to build these capabilities by developing existing talent—without increasing headcount.

If this perspective resonates with the challenges you’re navigating, I invite you to explore the Laurel Consulting website or reach out for a focused strategy conversation.