AI is only as strong as the data beneath it. Yet most enterprises still rely on fragmented tools and reactive processes that undermine trust. The result: innovation that looks impressive in demos but collapses under real-world pressure. In this keynote, Salma Bakouk, CEO of Sifflet, argues that metadata, not models, is the true foundation for the AI era. By building a metadata control plane enriched with agentic observability, enterprises can move from reactive patchwork to proactive intelligence. In this keynote, she offers a provocative vision of where the market is heading, what traditional approaches are getting wrong, and why the winners of the AI economy will be those who treat trust not as insurance, but as infrastructure.