Martin Makana Yan
Enterprise Architecture & Agentic AI

Governed data platforms.
Now governed AI.

I'm James Curry — 30+ years designing enterprise data architecture for Fortune 100 companies and regulated industries, and the founder of Martin Makana Yan. Today I apply that same governance discipline to agentic AI: skills, decisions, and knowledge treated as versioned, audited, RBAC-protected assets — not code buried in prompts.

Start a conversation What I do
"Every mature enterprise governs its data. Almost none govern what its AI knows. That gap is where I work."

What I bring

Canonical & Enterprise Data Architecture

Three decades of canonical/3NF modeling, master data management, and "Rosetta Stone" enterprise information hubs that turn fragmented systems into a single governed source of truth.

Agentic AI in Production

Daily, hands-on use of Claude Code and enterprise Copilot deployments — not pilots. I direct AI to build production dbt models, pipelines, and infrastructure.

AI & Data Governance

Schema, RBAC, lineage, and immutable audit applied to AI agent skills and decisions — the same rigor enterprises already apply to production data.

M&A Technology Integration

Post-acquisition systems rationalization and architecture alignment, from Fortune 100 environments to fast-moving mid-market consolidations.

Currently building

SnowGAPPED.ai (in development) — a governed AI knowledge platform applying the Data-as-a-Service pattern to AI: agent skills and decisions get schema, RBAC, lineage, and audit the way production data always has. Built natively on Snowflake.

Background

Dec 2023 – Present

Grant Thornton — Enterprise Architect, Data & AI

Leading enterprise migration to a unified Snowflake platform across complex, M&A-merged environments, and deploying production agentic AI frameworks enterprise-wide.

2005 – 2023

Martin Makana Yan, LLC — Principal & Owner-Operator

21 years of independent enterprise data and architecture consulting — healthcare payer/provider, financial services, industrial, and higher education clients, full P&L ownership and delivery accountability.

2014 – 2016

Eli Lilly & Company — Global Enterprise Data Architect

Directed the Data sector of the Global Enterprise Architecture Office for this Fortune 100 pharmaceutical company; Architecture Review Board authority across all enterprise-scope investments.

1999 – 2001

Red Train — Vice President & Firm Partner

Co-owner and executive operations leader of a growth-stage technology firm; full accountability for practice P&L, hiring, and client relationships across financial and e-commerce platforms.

1995 – 2005

Early Career — Chief Technologist, Sr. Consultant, Data Architect

Progressive career from Jr. Consultant to Partner, building and shipping enterprise systems since 1995 — the foundation of everything since.