An ontology provides the structure and meaning that allow data, systems, and AI to understand how operational concepts relate to one another. They are a formal representation of concepts or rules within a domain. As the backbone of knowledge graphs, they centralize data and give a shared framework across departments.
This eliminates redundancies and miscommunications. For example, using ontologies, teams from engineering, operations, or finance could access and interpret the same data in ways that are meaningful to their specific needs.