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Data Engineering Articles

Pipelines, warehouses, and the plumbing that makes data trustworthy. dbt, Snowflake, BigQuery, ELT patterns, and how to scale infra without runaway costs.

Data Engineer Roadmap 2026: skills, tools, salary, and what AI actually changes
Data Engineering
Data Engineer Roadmap 2026: skills, tools, salary, and what AI actually changes

A practical 2026 roadmap for mid-level data engineers in the US: the skills that still matter, the ones AI made…

Migrating Off Redash, For The Last Time
Data Engineering
Migrating Off Redash, For The Last Time

I spent three years writing about Redash. The first post in late 2018 framed it as on-demand analytics with a…

Building a Data Mart with Claude Over MCP, in 20 Minutes
Data Engineering
Building a Data Mart with Claude Over MCP, in 20 Minutes

This is a walk-through of one consulting engagement, not a theoretical piece on AI tooling. The brief was small enough…

10 Dashboard Design Rules, 6 Years Later
Data Engineering
10 Dashboard Design Rules, 6 Years Later

When we adapted Slava Shestopalov’s “10 rules for better dashboard design” in late 2020, the list felt close to definitive.…

BigQuery vs Snowflake in 2026: a working analyst’s comparison
Data Engineering
BigQuery vs Snowflake in 2026: a working analyst’s comparison

The 2026 head-to-head moved past features. Pricing, real concurrency, and operational fit decide it. List prices, TCO scenarios, the Fivetran…

Claude Code on a data team: three rollouts, real numbers, and what we’d do differently
Data Engineering
Claude Code on a data team: three rollouts, real numbers, and what we’d do differently

Five engineers on Max plans, two months of receipts, and three rollouts (Fivetran, Metabase, MetaLens) with concrete time and cost…

How to Use dbt MCP with Claude Code (and Stop Grepping the Manifest)
AI for Data
How to Use dbt MCP with Claude Code (and Stop Grepping the Manifest)

How to set up dbt Labs' official MCP server with Claude Code, including a real legacy-project audit story, the read-only…

How to Use Fivetran MCP with Claude Code (and Stop Clicking Through Connector UIs)
AI for Data
How to Use Fivetran MCP with Claude Code (and Stop Clicking Through Connector UIs)

How to set up Fivetran's official MCP server with Claude Code, with a real client case study (HelpScout to BigQuery),…

How to Use MCP Toolbox for Databases with Claude Code: BigQuery Setup, Tools, and a Read-Only Production Pattern
AI for Data
How to Use MCP Toolbox for Databases with Claude Code: BigQuery Setup, Tools, and a Read-Only Production Pattern

Practical guide to wiring Google's MCP Toolbox for Databases into Claude Code for BigQuery work. Setup commands, the .mcp.json block,…

How to Use OpenClaw for Your Data Team: Self-Hosted Setup, Skills, and Hosted Alternative
AI for Data
How to Use OpenClaw for Your Data Team: Self-Hosted Setup, Skills, and Hosted Alternative

Practical guide to running OpenClaw for a data team. Self-hosted on a Hostinger VPS, ChatGPT OAuth for primary inference, Moonshot…

How to Use Metabase MCP with Claude Code: A Practical Walkthrough
AI for Data
How to Use Metabase MCP with Claude Code: A Practical Walkthrough

A practical walkthrough of using Metabase MCP with Claude Code on real client projects: dashboard audits in seconds, SQL from…

Mean vs Median: When the Choice Changes the Business Decision
Data Engineering
Mean vs Median: When the Choice Changes the Business Decision

Two analysts can look at the same dataset and report numbers that are 2x apart, both correct. The arithmetic mean…

The Modern Data Stack for Startups: A Complete Guide for 2026
Data Strategy
The Modern Data Stack for Startups: A Complete Guide for 2026

The modern data stack for startups in 2026 costs $500-$3,000/month at the early stage and $3,000-$15,000/month at growth stage —…

FinTech Data Infrastructure: From Compliance to Competitive Advantage
Data Strategy
FinTech Data Infrastructure: From Compliance to Competitive Advantage

FinTech companies face a unique data challenge: the same infrastructure that keeps you compliant can either be a competitive moat…

Data Warehouse for Startups: BigQuery vs Snowflake vs Redshift in 2026
Data Engineering
Data Warehouse for Startups: BigQuery vs Snowflake vs Redshift in 2026

If you’re not sure whether you need a data warehouse yet, you probably don’t — today. But you will within…

Window Functions in SQL: The Cheatsheet That Actually Made Sense
Data Engineering
Window Functions in SQL: The Cheatsheet That Actually Made Sense

Window functions let you compute a value for each row while still seeing other rows in the dataset. ROW_NUMBER, running…

Claude Code: Picking the Model, the Effort Level, and the Cache Discipline
Data Engineering
Claude Code: Picking the Model, the Effort Level, and the Cache Discipline

Most of the Claude Code threads I see in team chats are not about prompts. They are about cost and…

The Complete Cloud Migration Strategy Guide: 5-Phase Framework for Business Success in 2026
Data Engineering
The Complete Cloud Migration Strategy Guide: 5-Phase Framework for Business Success in 2026

Transform your business operations, reduce IT costs by up to 50%, and scale effortlessly with a strategic cloud migration approach…

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