There’s a version of the modern data stack story that is common. Lakehouse architecture, semantic layers, self-service analytics, democratized data. It’s a good story. Mostly told by vendors and consultants selling stuff. Here’s a different version: what you get when you’re a data engineering lead

Let's start with a distinction that doesn’t get the right level of attention. In your organization right now, you have passive data consumers and active data consumers. Passive consumers want reports in their inbox every Monday morning, formatted in Excel with formulas, "just in case someone