Design Data Model Objects for Analytics, Activation, and AI

Explore using industry-specific data standards to design data model objects in Data Cloud that can consolidate fragmented and multi-format data sources into a single view of the customer.

Design of the data model objects is a critical first step in setting up Data Cloud and will impact aspects of the implementation, including the data harmonization and mappings, as well as downstream automations and AI processing. This session will provide concrete examples of data standards in the education space and how to design a Data Cloud data model that will hold up over the long-term as new source systems and activation targets are added to the landscape. This will help architects and business analysts accelerate adoption of Data Cloud.

1. Design Data Model
Objects for Analytics,
Activation and AI
Aaron Winters, Western Governors University

2. Coffee on us.
The first 800 Trailblazers to provide feedback on this event will receive a
$5 Starbucks gift card.*

1 Download the Salesforce Events app.
2 Scan the QR code or navigate to My Event, then My Surveys.
3 Take (4) Session Surveys and the Event Survey (available on Thursday).
4 Redeem your gift card at Badge Pickup on Thursday.

*Restrictions apply. See terms and conditions at sforce.co/survey-terms

3. Aaron
Winters
Enterprise Architect
Western Governors University
aaronwinters.com
/aaronwinters

4. Business Logic in AI Layer
Trending pattern of
implementing business logic
in AI layer. Data Cloud is a
key enabler of Agentforce.

Expanding Role of Data Cloud
Marketing Cloud Growth
The new Marketing Cloud is
being built with Data Cloud
as the backend. More clouds
expected to follow.

Data Cloud Capabilities
New features related to data
access and governance, as
well as pre-built integrations
with industry clouds,
enabling new use cases.

5. Lakehouse Architecture

6. Data lakehouses enable AI agents
What is a Data Lakehouse?
Source: Databricks

7. Common components and sample software
Modern Data Platform Components
Data
Sources
Data Ingestion

Connectors
Batch & Streaming
Transformations
Airbyte, dlt, Kafka, Camel
Data Catalog

Data Location
Governance
Polaris, Unity Catalog,
DataHub, Gravitino
Data Storage

Table Formats: Iceberg, Delta Tables, Hudi
File Types: Parquet, Avro, ORC
Storage Providers: AWS S3, Azure Blob Storage, Google Cloud Storage
Process & Query

Compute: Spark
Query: Presto, Trino
Platform Management

Orchestration | Observability | Compliance | Infrastructure Management
Data
Consumers

8. Data Cloud Capabilities
Data Ingestion

Data Stream Objects
Connectors & Ingestion API
Streaming
Batch
Virtualization
Catalog & Access

Data Model Objects
Data Mappings
Tagging & Classification
(future)
Access Policies (future)
Process & Query

Identity Resolution
Calculated Insight Objects
Data Actions (CRM, MC,
Webhook)
Data Storage

Data Lake Objects & Data Spaces
Table Format: Apache Iceberg
File Type: Parquet
Management

Data Cloud App | APIs
Central role of Data Model Objects

Analytics & Data Sharing

CRMA & Tableau Connectors
JDBC, Python SDK, Java SDK
Data Cloud APIs
Apex Connect API, Flow Get Record
Data Shares
CRM Enrichment

Copied Fields (via Data Graph)
Standard & Custom Components
Screen Flows
Data Actions to Platform Events
Marketing Segmentation &
Automation

Segmentation
Activation (Marketing Cloud, S3, etc)
Data Actions to Marketing Cloud Journeys
Agents & Generative AI

Semantic Search
AI Agents & Agent Actions
Prompt Templates
Data
Sources

9. Standard Data Model Objects

10. Standard Data Model Objects (DMOs)

11. Salesforce CRM
Mappings for Standard DMOs: 88
Account, Agent Work, Agent Work Skill, Alert, Benefit, Benefit Type, Business Hours, Card, Case, Case Article, Case History 2, Category,
Contact, Conversation, ConversationParticipant, ConversationReason, ConversationReasonExcerpt, ConversationReasonGroup,
ConversationReasonReportDefinition, ConvReasonReportSegmentDefinition, Data Category, Email Message, Data Category Group,
Financial Account, Financial Account Role, Financial Goal, Financial Goal Party, Financial Holding, Group, Group Member, Journal
Subtype, Journal Type, Knowledge Article, Knowledge Article Engagement, Knowledge Article Version, Knowledge Data Category
Selection, Linked Article, Lead, Loyalty Aggregated Point Expiration Ledger, Loyalty Ledger, Loyalty Member Currency, Loyalty Member
Tier, Loyalty Partner Product, Loyalty Program, Loyalty Program Badge, Loyalty Program Currency, Loyalty Program Engagement
Attribute, Loyalty Program Engagement Attribute Promotion, Loyalty Program Group Member Relationship, Loyalty Program Member,
Loyalty Program Member Attribute Value, Loyalty Program Member Badge, Loyalty Program Member Case, Loyalty Program Member
Promotion, Loyalty Program Partner, Loyalty Program Partner Promotion, Loyalty Tier, Loyalty Tier Benefit, Loyalty Tier Group, Member
Benefit, Participant, Party Expense, Party Income, Person Life Event, Product, Promotion, Promotion Loyalty Partner Product,
Promotion Market Segment, Securities, Segment, Service Presence Status, Skill, Survey, Survey Invitation, Survey Page, Survey
Question, Survey Question Response, Survey Response, Survey Subject, Survey Version, Topic, Transaction Journal, Unit of Measure,
User, User Role, User Service Presence, Voucher, Voucher Definition

Standard DMOs and Starter Data Bundles
In date as of February 2025

12. Standard DMOs and Starter Data Bundles
In date as of February 2025

Marketing Cloud Account
Engagement (Pardot)
Mappings for Standard DMOs: 3

Email Activity
Form Activity
Landing Page and Web Page Activity

Commerce (B2B)
Mappings for Standard DMOs: 35
Account , Coupon , Fulfillment Order , Fulfillment Order
Line Item, Fulfillment Order Item Adjustment, Fulfillment
Order Item Tax, Location Group Product Exclusion
Change , Location Group Product Inventory Change ,
Location , Location Product Inventory Change , Order
Adjustment Group Summary , Order Delivery Method ,
Order Delivery Group Summary , Order Item Adjustment
Line Summary , Order Item Summary , Order Item
Summary Change , Order Item Tax Line Item Summary ,
Order Payment Summary , Order Summary , Payment
Method , Process Exception , Product , Product Attribute
, Product Catalog , Product Category , Product Category
Product , Promotion , Return Order , Return Order Item
Adjustment , Return Order Item Tax , Return Order Line
Item , Sales Channel , Web Store , Web Store Catalog ,
Web Store Network

13. Standard DMOs and Starter Data Bundles
In date as of February 2025

Marketing Cloud Engagement
Mappings for Standard DMOs: 3

Campaigns and Journeys Mappings
Contact Mappings
Engagement Mappings


B2C Commerce
Mappings for Standard DMOs: 10

Bundles Product
Customer Profile
Goods Product
Master Product
Product Catalog
Product Category
Product Category Product
Sales Order
Sales Order Customer
Sales Order Product

14. Custom Data Model Objects
Workforce-to-Employment Example

15. Custom Data Model Objects
Step 1: Identify Relevant Data Standards
OSIDs / CampusAPI
Common Education
Data Standards
Schema.org
Open Badges
Comprehensive Learner Record
Credential Transparency
Description Language
JEDx
Learner Employment
Record - Resume Standard
Ed-Fi Data Standard
Academic College Transcript
European Learning Model

16. Custom Data Model Objects
Step 2: Compare Data Standards
Standard 1 Standard 2
Entity IdEntity NameProperty DescriptionIgnore?
DMO
AlignmentEntity IdEntity NamePropertyDescriptionIgnore?
DMO
Alignment

17. Custom Data Model Objects
Step 3: Define Data Entities and Attributes

Design data model based on
common data entities and
attributes

Alternatively leverage
industry-specific data exchange
standards/frameworks

Reconcile with standard DMOs
Source: Learner Information Framework

18. Required Standard DMOs
Individual
Attributes that represent a person, including first and last names, birthday, and data and privacy preferences.
Party Identification
Defines a way to identify a person or organization, depending on the channel or method used to highlight that
information. Use this information to help identify people, typically customers using some type of ID.
Contact Point Email
Email address for an individual and additional information related to that address, including deliverability status, purpose,
time zone, and preferences.
Contact Point Phone
Phone number for an individual and additional information related to that number, including, purpose, time zone, and
whether it can receive SMS messages.
Contact Point Address
Physical mailing address for an individual and additional information related to that address, includes business or personal
use, country, region, and preferences.

19. Custom Data Model Objects
Step 4: Implement Data Model Objects
Data Cloud (sandbox)


Data Cloud Home
Org (sandbox)


Data Cloud App
Data Ingestion Catalog & Access Process & Query
Data Storage
Data
Sources
Data
Consumers
Data Cloud (production)


Data Cloud Home
Org (production)


Data Cloud App
Data Ingestion Catalog & Access Process & Query
Data Storage
Data
Sources
Data
Consumers
Create sandbox
Sandbox Org
Created
1
2
Provision
Data Cloud
Tenant
Reconfigure
Connections to Sources
4
3
Build Data
Cloud
Configuration
5
Deploy Data
Cloud
Configuration
6
-Data Kits (packages
& change sets)
-Metadata API
-Manual

20. Resources
https://bit.ly/4bj5Qpw

22. Coffee on us.
The first 800 Trailblazers to provide feedback on this event will receive a
$5 Starbucks gift card.*

1 Download the Salesforce Events app.
2 Scan the QR code or navigate to My Event, then My Surveys.
3 Take (4) Session Surveys and the Event Survey (available on Thursday).
4 Redeem your gift card at Badge Pickup on Thursday.

*Restrictions apply. See terms and conditions at sforce.co/survey-terms