Data Governance Expert

Building sustainable data governance that truly sticks

I empower organisations to lead through data-driven strategies and governance frameworks that unlock real, measurable value.

25+ Years
CDMP Master
AIGP AI Governance
192 Countries
Harro Wiersma — Data Governance Expert
Trusted by
IKEALloyds BankJohnson & JohnsonE.ONUBSAlpiqista SEMayr-MelnhofGEA Group IKEALloyds BankJohnson & JohnsonE.ONUBSAlpiqista SEMayr-MelnhofGEA Group
Who I Am

Data governance expert
with 25+ years of experience

Hello! I'm Harro Wiersma, a seasoned interim data governance, data strategy, and master data quality expert with over 25 years of experience.

I offer strategic and hands-on support to bring your data governance initiatives to life, partnering with you from initial planning through full implementation. As an expert consultant and problem solver, I ensure that your processes run smoothly and effectively, leaving your organisation well-prepared for future challenges.

I have led multiple high-profile projects, including data governance frameworks for companies like IKEA, Lloyds Bank, Johnson & Johnson, E.ON, Billiton, and UBS. My approach is highly business-value-oriented, focusing on delivering measurable business value through robust data strategies.

The 5 E's Methodology

01
Engage

Understanding your data-driven needs

02
Evaluate

Business priorities and roadmap

03
Evidence

Your data-driven future vision

04
Establish

Concrete case for change

05
Execute

Deliver targeted business value

Certifications

DAMA CDMP® Master Master & Reference Data Data Quality Master ISO 8000 IAPP AIGP SAP MDG
Services

Comprehensive data
governance solutions

Tailored consulting services designed to deliver measurable business value at every stage of your data governance journey.

01

Data & AI Governance Consulting

Design and integrate scalable data strategies and architectures aligned with your business goals.

Together we build and implement data strategies and data governance frameworks tailored to your business, maximising data potential and aligning it with your enterprise architecture and business processes for sustainable growth.

Deliverables:
  • Custom governance strategy documents
  • AI ethics frameworks
  • Data strategy alignment roadmaps
02

Data Governance Frameworks

Building tailored governance structures that ensure data quality, ownership, and compliance.

Designing and implementing robust governance frameworks enhances accountability, promotes data ownership, and streamlines processes. This covers policy design, governance roles, and structures like the data governance council.

Deliverables:
  • Comprehensive governance policy manuals
  • Business glossary
  • Role-based responsibility matrices
03

Master Data Management

Centralise and harmonise critical business data across all systems.

Master Data Management optimises essential business data by centralising, standardising, and synchronising information across all platforms, reducing redundancies and enabling accurate data access.

Deliverables:
  • Centralised master data model
  • Data domain model
  • Data integration roadmaps
  • Improved data quality metrics
04

Data Quality Management

Ensure your data is accurate, complete, and reliable for strategic decisions.

Effective data quality management is essential for accurate reporting and analysis. This service assesses data quality across systems, implements correction processes, and establishes ongoing maintenance strategies.

Deliverables:
  • Data quality rules and rulesets
  • Data quality audit reports
  • Cleansing workflows
  • One-time cleansing activities
05

CDO Advisory & Change Management

Strategic guidance for Chief Data Officers and organisational transformation.

Designed for Chief Data Officers, this advisory service helps refine strategy, structure, and implementation processes. Covers managing data-driven change, stakeholder engagement, and establishing smooth transitions to new processes.

Deliverables:
  • Strategic roadmaps
  • Stakeholder engagement plans
  • Change-readiness assessments
  • Customer experience data insights
06

Optimise — Data Quality SaaS

Automated data quality management platform to profile, monitor, and improve your data at scale.

Optimise is a SaaS solution for data quality management that helps organisations continuously profile, measure, and improve data quality across systems. Gain full visibility into your data health with automated rules, dashboards, and actionable insights.

Capabilities:
  • Automated data quality profiling
  • Real-time monitoring dashboards
  • Rule-based quality scoring
Explore Optimise →
07

Maturity Assessments

Evaluate governance effectiveness with customised surveys and growth reports.

Gain a comprehensive view of your organisation's data governance maturity, identifying strengths and areas for improvement through qualitative and quantitative analysis.

Deliverables:
  • Interactive web-based assessment
  • Growth report
  • Prioritised improvement roadmap

Custom Solutions Available — Every organisation is unique. I tailor my approach to your specific challenges.

Discuss Your Needs
How I Work

The 5 E's methodology

Not just strategy decks — I work hands-on with your teams to build governance that actually sticks. Each phase delivers concrete, actionable outcomes.

01

Engage

I embed with your teams to understand your data landscape, business processes, and pain points first-hand. Stakeholder interviews, data audits, and current-state mapping — no assumptions, just evidence.

02

Evaluate

Together we assess business priorities, data maturity, and governance gaps. I deliver a clear-eyed assessment with a prioritised roadmap — what to fix now, what can wait, and where the quick wins are.

03

Evidence

We build the business case with hard numbers: data quality metrics, cost of poor data, and ROI projections. Your leadership gets a compelling, data-backed vision of what good governance delivers.

04

Establish

Hands-on implementation of governance frameworks, data ownership models, policies, and tooling. I set up councils, define roles, configure platforms, and train your teams — not just document what should happen.

05

Execute

I stay to ensure adoption, running data quality sprints, resolving real issues, and coaching your data stewards. The goal: a self-sustaining governance capability that outlasts my engagement.

Client Success

What industry
leaders say

I was very impressed by Harro's ability to quickly absorb and consolidate information about our business model, internal structures, and way of working. Combining that with his profound industry and domain knowledge resulted in very valuable, practical, actional deliverables.
Ralfe Poisson Enterprise Architect, Alpiq
Throughout the engagement Harro demonstrated both strategic perspective and leadership skills, and an impressive depth of knowledge and hands-on skill with regard to data management. Harro successfully delivered a realtime security event feed integration.
Dominik Raub CTO Cyber Security, UBS
We have worked intensively with Harro this year in order to develop a company wide data excellence framework for ista SE. Harro brought profound know how on data management to the table and helped our organisation to excel in data.
Nils Arwed Engelke CIO, ista SE
Harro has enormous practical expertise and willingness to react very flexible according to customer requirements. He has a very hands on mentality and it really makes fun to work with him. Even under extreme pressure it is possible to work with him in a very positive and creative way.
Gerhard Kampl Innovator & Communicator
Harro helped a lot my team to set up right data governance. I wish we will had him on board from the beginning of the project — this would save us a lot of time and have proper data strategy. If you are thinking about implementation — don't forget about DATA.
Jacek Sobaski Mayr-Melnhof
Harro and I were cross-regional business partners in our medical technology sector, and I strongly valued his partnership and collaboration in tackling data strategy issues. Harro possesses and applies practical expertise across many dimensions of the data strategy and governance landscape. He is an action-oriented leader who is clearly passionate about his work.
Joe Kosta Global Data Strategy & Governance, J&J MedTech
Harro was my key partner in the business insights team on data strategy and data management. He introduced me into the world of data and showed me how the use of data could transform the way we work in marketing, commercial and compliance. He is able to bring it to life in areas of responsibility and trigger other ways of thinking that result in key programs.
Silvia Gutierrez Ferreras Customer Engagement Lead, Johnson & Johnson
It was fantastic to work together with Harro, who has a lot of knowledge, exceptional workflow, ingenuity, and skills. His approach to consulting and powerful personality made the projects a great experience for all of the staff. His enthusiasm and dedication brought the UBS ISE data warehousing to the next level. Harro earns my highest recommendation.
Krzysztof Szekli Director, UBS
Harro is a man who gets things done. He has an impressive network in the Swiss and international business community. He has a quick conceptual grasp of new topics in IT and business, while maintaining a working helicopter-overview of the landscape. Harro is a great and easy guy to work with.
Eduard H. van Kleef Ph.D. AI & Business Intelligence
25+Years Experience
100+Projects Delivered
50+Enterprise Clients
192Countries Reached
Insights & Publications

Latest thinking

Recent Articles

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After my last visit to Kyiv, I read 'Management in Times of War'. It made me think of parallels with data governance leadership.

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Connect with me on LinkedIn for regular insights, industry updates, and practical tips on data governance.

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Get in Touch

Let's discuss your
data governance journey

Office

Harro Wiersma Smart Consulting
Bleriot-Allee 4
CH-8152 Glattpark Opfikon
Switzerland

Registration

Private Entrepreneur (Einzelfirma)
CHE-411.262.291

XAPPO Enterprises Ltd. (Malta)
C-105776 | EU VAT: MT30305135

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