When different systems, applications or organisations need to communicate with each other and actually understand what is being said, interoperability is key. It enables a hospital’s software to communicate with an insurance company, for example, or one vendor’s inventory system to synchronise with another’s logistics platform. At the heart of many of these data exchanges is XML. XML (Extensible Markup Language) may not be new or flashy, but it remains one of the most powerful tools for achieving reliable, structured interoperability across diverse platforms. Why is interoperability so hard? Systems are built using different programming languages, data models and communication protocols. Without a shared format or structure, exchanging data can result in a complex web of custom APIs, ad hoc conversions, and manual adjustments. To get systems working together seamlessly, you need: A standardised structure for data. A way to validate that structure. A format that is language-agnostic and platform-neutral. XML ticks all these boxes. How XML enables interoperability 1. Self-describing structure XML uses tags to clearly label data:    Maria Ortega    87234 This means that a receiving system doesn’t have to guess what each field means, as it is explicitly defined. This reduces the risk of