Claritas One
Consulting/Data Strategy/Business Intelligence

Business Intelligence

A governed semantic layer, a deliberately curated tool stack, and a self-service culture — built so every executive in the room works from the same version of the truth, and the answer to a question is minutes away, not weeks.

Why most BI fails

The problem isn't the tool. It's the operating model around it.

A seven-figure Tableau licence, 400 published dashboards, and three separate definitions of monthly recurring revenue. The output doubles every quarter; the trust in it halves.

We build BI capability around a governed semantic layer, an executive KPI frame, and measured data literacy — not around whichever vendor won the last procurement event.

The semantic layer

The single version of truth, finally drawn as one.

Everything below the semantic layer is plumbing. Everything above is a decision. Governance lives on the line between them.

Source systems

Salesforce
NetSuite
Stripe
HubSpot
Product telemetry
Warehouse · dbt models
stg_customersstg_opportunitiesfct_revenuedim_product
Semantic Layer
ARR
sum(active_contracts.amount_annual)
Net Revenue Retention
(expansion − churn) / opening_arr
Gross Margin
(revenue − cogs) / revenue

Consumers

Tableau
Power BI
Looker
Spreadsheet export

Every consumer asks the layer, not the warehouse. The layer returns the governed definition — identical, every time.

The KPI cascade

Four tiers. Every metric earns its level.

Dashboards fail not because the chart is wrong, but because the metric is at the wrong altitude for the audience. We design the cascade deliberately.

Monthly

Board

  • Enterprise NRR
  • Free cash flow
  • Rule of 40
Weekly

Executive

  • Gross margin by segment
  • Sales efficiency
  • Payback period
Daily

Operating

  • Pipeline coverage
  • Activation rate
  • Support CSAT
Real-time

Team

  • Pod quota attainment
  • Deploys per week
  • Ticket SLA

Tool selection — without the magic quadrant

There is no best BI tool. Only the best fit.

Tableau

Tableau

Visual depth

Heavy analytical exploration; enterprise rollouts with VizQL-fluent analyst population.

Visualisation depth
95
Governance features
78
Cost efficiency at scale
40
Self-service friendliness
72
Power BI

Power BI

Microsoft estate

Organisations deep in M365; finance-led analytics; cost-sensitive broad rollouts.

Visualisation depth
82
Governance features
85
Cost efficiency at scale
90
Self-service friendliness
80
Looker

Looker

Semantic-first

Engineering-led orgs wanting LookML as the governance contract; embedded analytics.

Visualisation depth
70
Governance features
95
Cost efficiency at scale
55
Self-service friendliness
65
Metabase / Sigma

Metabase / Sigma

Spreadsheet-familiar

Finance & operations users; rapid rollout; warehouse-native spreadsheets.

Visualisation depth
68
Governance features
72
Cost efficiency at scale
85
Self-service friendliness
90

The self-service journey

From central bottleneck to embedded decision.

Stage 01

Central Reporting

A small BI team produces every report. Request queues grow. Business leaders wait weeks for custom cuts of obvious data.

Typical decision latency3 week lead time

Sample executive frame

An executive KPI pack, designed deliberately.

Board pack · Q2 2026
Certified · updated 14m ago
ARR
$42.8M
+18% YoY
Net Retention
118%
+2.3 pts QoQ
Gross Margin
74.2%
−0.8 pts QoQ
ARR trajectory · 12-monthsemantic layer · certified
MayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJanFebMarApr

Capabilities

A complete BI operating model, from architecture to adoption.

BI strategy & architecture

  • Current-state capability audit
  • Target architecture (warehouse + marts)
  • Tool commercial benchmarking
  • Investment case & phasing plan

Semantic & metric governance

  • Metric catalogue & certification workflow
  • Semantic layer (Cube / LookML / dbt)
  • Governance council & metric RACI
  • Versioning & deprecation policy

Executive KPI framework

  • Board-level metric design
  • Cascade to operating team tiers
  • Visual language & narrative standards
  • Leading / lagging indicator balance

Enablement & literacy

  • Role-based data literacy curriculum
  • Analytics champion network
  • Self-service guardrails
  • Adoption measurement programme

Start here

A BI diagnostic,
in three weeks.

Estate audit, tool fit, governance maturity, KPI architecture, and a prioritised ninety-day plan. Complimentary — and it often pays for itself in retired licences alone.

What you'll receive
  • Capability scorecard across 5 dimensions
  • Tool fit & licence consolidation map
  • Semantic layer gap analysis
  • 90-day value realisation plan
Next capabilityMarket Research