Enrique Catalá enriquecatala

Hi, I'm Enrique Catalá 👋

I'm a Computer Engineer and Executive Professional with more than 20 years of experience in the Data Platform space. Currently, I serve as Principal Data Architect for Lidl Plus (one of the biggest Loyalty programs in Europe) at SCRM International Lidl Hub / Schwarz Global Services Barcelona. My dedication to technical excellence and the community led to a decade-long tenure as a Microsoft Data Platform MVP.

In my role, I technically lead a team of +100 data and platform engineers in shaping the data architecture. My work harmonizes strategic guidance with technical stewardship, driving our data capabilities to high levels of scalability, agility, and innovation.

I specialize in designing and building high-performance Data Platforms, large-scale Streaming solutions, and establishing decentralized architectures guided by Data Contracts and Data Mesh principles. Additionally, I am actively involved in designing and deploying agentic architectures on top of our data platforms to enable conversational analytics via semantic layers using LangGraph agents.

🔑 Key Responsibilities & Focus:

Technical Strategic Leadership: Spearheading the design and adoption of a cutting-edge Data Mesh architecture. Collaborating across the Schwarz Group to establish a federated, scalable, and self-service data platform.
Data Platforms, Streaming & Governance: Building scalable real-time and batch ingestion systems with Spark, Databricks, and Event Hubs, enforced by robust Data Contracts.
Agentic Architectures & AI: Leading the strategy and implementation of agentic AI systems using LangGraph on top of our data platforms, enabling conversational analytics through semantic layers and complex multi-agent orchestration.
Standards & Best Practices: Establishing robust frameworks for data ingestion, modeling, and consumption to uphold the highest quality and engineering standards.
Tech-Business Integration: Merging technical and business insights in high-level strategic dialogues with business leaders to align technology with corporate goals.
Innovation & Research: Continually researching emerging technologies and architectural methodologies to keep our data platforms at the technological forefront.

🔭 Principal Data Architect at Lidl Plus
🏆 Microsoft Data Platform MVP (10 consecutive years)
🌱 Currently exploring: Semantic Layers, Multi-agent systems, and Advanced Data Mesh.
💬 Ask me about: Data Platforms, Spark/Databricks, Streaming (Kafka and Event Hub), Data Contracts, Agentic Architectures (LangGraph), and AI/RAG integrations.
⚡ Fun fact: I'm an ultralight (ULM) pilot! 🛩️ Watch me fly here :)

🚀 Highlighted Open Source Projects

Here are some of my most successful and active open-source contributions:

mssql-server-samplesdb: Ready-to-use SQL Server Docker image bundled with all official sample databases.
sqlserver-docker-alwayson: Docker templates to deploy a SQL Server Availability Group (AlwaysOn) solution locally or in testing environments.
mcp-lightrag: A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for LightRAG with support for idempotent file uploads.