Capstone: Build and Operate an AI-Native Data Platform

The capstone integrates all prior learning into a production-style portfolio project. Learners define a realistic AI-native data engineering use case, translate business and AI requirements into architecture decisions, ingest and model data, implement core platform components, and build at least one AI-native workflow such as vector retrieval, RAG, governed unstructured data preparation, or a reproducible training-data release. The project also requires governance, validation, documentation, and operations planning. By the end of the course, learners produce a portfolio-ready end-to-end AI-native data platform that demonstrates architecture, implementation tradeoffs, observability plans, CI/CD support, quality controls, access and governance decisions, and incident-response readiness. The capstone is designed to show applied, enterprise-relevant engineering judgment rather than only isolated technical tasks.