The Self-Driving Data Architecture: Your Roadmap from Manual to Autonomous

Thank you for reading my latest article The Self-Driving Data Architecture: Your Roadmap from Manual to Autonomous.

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Last week, I was driving a new Tesla, and as I engaged the autopilot feature, a thought struck me: the evolution of autonomous vehicles mirrors the journey we’re on with data architecture. Just as cars are progressing from manual control to full autonomy, our data systems are undergoing a similar transformation.

Twenty years ago, when I started my career in data, everything was manual. Writing ETL jobs, scheduling workflows, monitoring performance — it all required hands-on attention, much like driving a car with manual transmission. Today, we’re witnessing the emergence of self-driving data architectures, and the parallels are fascinating.

The Six Levels of Data Architecture Autonomy

Recently, I was explaining this evolution to a client who was struggling to understand…