An intelligent data ingestion and governance method and system is disclosed. A set of data requirements is received from a user. The set of data requirements includes multiple different formats and corresponding location information indicating a plurality of corresponding different data sources. One or more data policies are also received from the user as part of the set of data requirements. A configuration file is automatically generated using the set of data requirements. A new dataset is retrieved from the plurality of corresponding different sources of data, using the generated configuration file. The retrieved dataset is classified, and metadata for the retrieved dataset is provided. Actionable policies are automatically generated using the metadata and the user defined data policies, and a compliance engine is generated. Security of access to the retrieved input data is controlled using the generated compliance engine.