On April 15, Jeroen ter Heerdt officially joins Tabular Editor to help shape the next chapter of professional semantic modeling.
If you work seriously with semantic models, you already know that the engine is rarely the bottleneck. The tools around it are. As Jeroen puts it: it’s like having a racing engine trapped inside a city car.
That’s the exact problem Tabular Editor was built to solve – and on April 15, we’re bringing 18 years of experience from the Microsoft BI ecosystem on board to help us solve it even better.
Jeroen ter Heerdt – known to many of you as the Dutch Data Dude or simply Jay – joins Tabular Editor as Head of Product. Here’s what that means for the product you use every day.
"With Jeroen on board, customers can expect a more predictable and accelerated release cadence, sharper prioritization of high-impact features, and continued investment in automation, precision tooling, and developer experience," says Søren Joensen, CEO of Tabular Editor.
"He brings proven experience from the platform that defined modern BI for millions of users worldwide – and that strengthens our ability to execute at scale without losing what makes Tabular Editor unique."
In practice, Jeroen sees three areas of particular opportunity:
Deeper integration across semantic modeling platforms.
As data architectures diversify, seamless interoperability becomes a real differentiator. “There’s enormous potential in deepening integration with other semantic modeling platforms and expanding the reach of Tabular Editor across the broader Microsoft ecosystem”, says Jeroen.
AI that enhances your work – not replaces it.
"AI should enhance craftsmanship, not replace it," says Jeroen. "Tabular Editor is uniquely positioned to strike that balance. We want to leverage AI to help developers work smarter, catch issues earlier, and accelerate high-quality modeling."
A stronger, more connected community.
"The community has always been one of Tabular Editor's greatest assets," says Jeroen. "I'm eager to help it grow into its next chapter" – and to make sure what you need actually ends up in the product.
We have a strong pipeline of features lined up for upcoming releases of Tabular Editor 3. Jeroen will play a central role in shaping and executing that roadmap from day one.
The semantic model used to be an engineer's concern. Now it’s a business decision. Organizations of all sizes are demanding greater governance, transparency, and control over their semantic layer. And as AI becomes part of how people consume data, the quality of what sits underneath has never mattered more.
That’s not a new insight for us – it’s actually where we started. Tabular Editor began as two friends in T-shirts building something the community needed. Today, the product is used by professional data modelers in more than 130 countries. Scaling that responsibly requires the right leadership.
"His decision to join us comes at a pivotal moment," says Søren. "The semantic model is becoming recognized as critical infrastructure. This is the right time to invest in product leadership that matches that ambition – and Jeroen is exactly the right person to take on that leadership."
CTO Daniel Otykier will continue to drive the technical direction of the product. With Jeroen on board, Tabular Editor adds focused product leadership that enables further scaling, faster execution, and closer alignment with what customers and community actually need.
"When you are serious about building semantic models, Tabular Editor stands in a league of its own," says Jeroen. "What really drew me in is the vision: today's semantic models are often limited not by the engine, but by the tools wrapped around it. Tabular Editor gives developers the precision instruments they have been missing – and that they often did not know they needed until they had them."
"I've spent years helping people understand DAX, modeling, and the importance of clean, intentional design. Tabular Editor is building the tools for that job. Being part of a team that shares that passion was an opportunity I couldn't pass up."
"My first priority is to learn everything I can about Tabular Editor from the inside. From there, I'm most excited about exploring how we can deliver even higher quality at a reliable, sustainable pace."
"Jeroen is shaped by the community – just as Tabular Editor is," says Søren. "He combines deep technical insight with humility and strong personal integrity. He also brings something equally important: constructive impatience – the ability to challenge ideas respectfully, push for clarity, and raise the bar. Most importantly, we share the same ambition: to empower serious semantic model developers with tools that truly match the power of the engine underneath."
That ambition doesn't change on April 15. It accelerates.
Tabular Editor is a global software company developing professional tools for semantic modeling and BI development. Tabular Editor 3 is adopted by professional data modelers across more than 130 countries and supports several of the leading semantic modeling platforms on the market. The company was founded by Daniel Otykier and Søren Joensen.