In the contemporary market, the reliance of organisations on data has grown to keep their businesses running smoothly. In this space where data is prioritised, Master Data Management (MDM) is one process that helps organizations keep their important information accurate, organized, and accessible. Handling critical data like customer or patient information is not easy, especially when it comes from different sources and grows quickly.
A data architect has been working towards building these complex data systems for some of the world’s biggest organisations, helping them turn messy data into a valuable asset. Chandra Sekhara Reddy Adapa has shown that MDM is not a back-office IT task, rather a critical component for business success.
Discussing his projects, he mentioned how at LabCorp, a major healthcare company, he led the creation of a master data system that was one of the largest patient unification programs in the U.S. healthcare sector, that transformed how patient information was handled. “We brought together over a couple of million patient records into a single, unified system,” he said. “This cut processing time drastically, while achieving a 97% match rate by integrating the MDM system with AI/ML—critical for ensuring patient safety and meeting healthcare compliance standards.” Adapa also introduced blockchain technology to the MDM system. This made data sharing safer and more transparent by preventing unauthorized access and simplifying audits. These improvements helped the organisation meet strict regulations and protect patient privacy.
Additionally, the professional has worked in industries beyond healthcare. At PepsiCo, he helped move the company’s master data systems to the cloud. “This migration lowered costs by 30% and delivered nearly four times the return on investment over three years,” he noted. “It also allowed us to manage data from over 100 business areas worldwide, accelerating the rollout of new tools and helping make faster, better product decisions.”
Mentioning other projects, he shared that at Verizon, he worked on bringing together customer, vehicle, and device data to give a complete view of their users. This project saved the organisation $250 million by improving marketing and reducing safety problems. Meanwhile, at Intel, the professional helped reduce the time to onboard suppliers from a week to less than an hour, saving the company millions.
Besides his hands-on work, he has also shared his knowledge through research papers and articles, including, Blockchain-Based Master Data Management: A Revolutionary Approach to Data Security and Integrity” and “Cloud-based Master Data Management: Transforming Enterprise Data Strategy,” among others. Through his work, he has helped shape how others think about combining AI, cloud computing, and blockchain with MDM to improve data quality and security.
From Adapa’s experience, it’s clear that the future of master data management is leaning toward systems that are both decentralized and trusted. As global concerns around data privacy grow, organisations must find ways to balance security with accessibility. Artificial intelligence is becoming a critical part of this process, helping maintain cleaner, more accurate records by identifying errors and removing duplicates automatically.
Cloud-based platforms with flexible, real-time capabilities are increasingly becoming the norm for large enterprises. MDM is no longer just an internal product—it is evolving into a central platform that can feed analytics, machine learning, mobile applications, and even external collaborations. Effective data management is not only about resolving issues but also about using information to drive efficiency, lower costs, and improve customer experiences. For businesses handling vast amounts of data, a strong and reliable data backbone is no longer optional—it’s essential, as Adapa rightly summarized, “I believe next-gen MDM is intelligent, decentralized, secure, real-time, and business-aligned.”
This story was distributed as a release by Kashvi Pandey under HackerNoon’s Business Blogging Program.