Glossary/Data & Martech/Data Lake
Data & Martech
Data Lake
A storage repository holding large volumes of raw data in native formats, structured or unstructured, until it is needed for analysis.
By Brandon Mina·CEO, BrandPilot AI·Updated November 2026
Short answer
A data lake is a storage repository that holds large volumes of raw data in its native format, whether structured, semi-structured or unstructured, until it is needed for analysis. It offers low-cost, flexible storage, but without good governance it can become disorganized and difficult to query reliably.