---
title: "Andrew Jones' Newsletter"
description: "A weekly newsletter for data practitioners."
source: https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/
---

# Andrew Jones' Newsletter

![A person standing next to an open envelope containing multiple documents or forms, with some documents partially visible inside](https://andrew-jones.com/images/undraw/undraw_newsletter_re_wrob.png)



[Subscribe to my weekly newsletter](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/) for practical advice on implementing data mesh, data products and data contracts.


> Love to read the little tidbits of insight and advice! The fact everything is both short and to-the point makes it actionable and easy to implement. Of course it's clear that Andrew goes deep on data contracts, data products and all the minute details. But as someone once said, the people who really get things are the ones that can package it in a clear language! Focusing a lot on the (actually hard) aspects around driving changes in culture and people.
> 
> — [Martin Abelson Sahlen](https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinsahlen/), CEO & Co-Founder at [Alvin](https://www.alvin.ai/)


> Special thanks for your newsletter. It is always on point with the problems we are trying to tackle.
> 
> — [Steve James](https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevejms/), Analytics Engineer at [bol](https://bol.com)


> Highly recommended newsletter when drafting a business strategy that is "shifting left" in the data tech stack.
> 
> — [Corrine N.](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7364193301463236609?commentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28activity%3A7364193301463236609%2C7364723982681415680%29&dashCommentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_comment%3A%287364723982681415680%2Curn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7364193301463236609%29)


Not sure? Browse the archive below.

## 2026

- 2026-09-11 — [How to frame data contracts](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-09-11-how-to-frame-data-contracts.md): How you frame them depends on your audience
- 2026-09-04 — [Increasing data accessibility](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-09-04-increasing-data-accessibility.md): It can't all be done by data engineers
- 2026-08-14 — [What is ownership?](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-08-14-what-is-ownership.md): It's not just what the spreadsheet says
- 2026-08-07 — [Reliable output needs a reliable upstream](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-08-07-reliable-output-needs-a-reliable-upstream.md): Pipelines can only be as reliable as their inputs
- 2026-07-31 — [Limit what you have in your data contract](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-07-31-limit-what-you-have-in-your-data-contract.md): Only put in fields that drive automation
- 2026-07-24 — [IaC is a prerequisite for automation](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-07-24-iac-is-a-prerequisite-for-automation.md): That's true for tooling and AI agents
- 2026-07-17 — [Data contracts anti-pattern #4: Your CI passed. Your data still broke.](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-07-17-data-contracts-anti-pattern-4-your-ci-passed-your-data-still-broke.md): How to manage changes of *meaning* as well as structure
- 2026-07-10 — [Data contracts anti-pattern #3: Vanity SLOs](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-07-10-data-contracts-anti-pattern-3-vanity-slos.md): SLOs that make a difference
- 2026-07-03 — [Data contracts anti-pattern #2: Checkbox compliance](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-07-03-data-contracts-anti-pattern-2-checkbox-compliance.md): Keep your data contracts lean and useful
- 2026-06-26 — [Data contracts anti-pattern #1: Contracts as documentation](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-06-26-data-contracts-anti-pattern-1-contracts-as-documentation.md): A data contract without impact is just documentation.
- 2026-06-12 — [Stop writing data governance policies](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-06-12-stop-writing-data-governance-policies.md): Automate them instead
- 2026-06-05 — [Meet your users where they are](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-06-05-meet-your-users-where-they-are.md): Focus on their developer experience, not your own
- 2026-05-22 — [You can't just blame data producers for poor data quality](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-05-22-you-can-t-just-blame-data-producers-for-poor-data-quality.md): Look at yourselves too
- 2026-05-15 — [Make your golden paths actually golden](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-05-15-make-your-golden-paths-actually-golden.md): Or watch them quietly build their own
- 2026-05-01 — [Data contracts are a simple concept](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-05-01-data-contracts-are-a-simple-concept.md): Simple concept, but powerful in practice
- 2026-04-24 — [The quality of a data product is its data and its code](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-04-24-the-quality-of-a-data-product-is-its-data-and-its-code.md): Monitoring code quality is as important as data quality
- 2026-04-10 — [The right level of abstraction](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-04-10-the-right-level-of-abstraction.md): How do you find the sweet spot?
- 2026-04-03 — [The Contract-driven Data Platform](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-04-03-the-contract-driven-data-platform.md): What if there was a different way to build a data platform, one that is made up of consistent, interoperable, governed data products?
- 2026-03-27 — [The data reliability question you're avoiding](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-03-27-the-data-reliability-question-you-re-avoiding.md): Are you making the right trade-offs?
- 2026-03-20 — [What does it mean to take responsibility?](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-03-20-what-does-it-mean-to-take-responsibility.md): Taking responsibility is more than getting a name down in a spreadsheet
- 2026-03-13 — [3 common data assumptions worth challenging](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-03-13-3-common-data-assumptions-worth-challenging.md): We don't necessarily need to be doing things as we've always done
- 2026-02-27 — [The bystander effect on data ownership and responsibility](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-02-27-the-bystander-effect-on-data-ownership-and-responsibility.md): What happens when ownership and responsibility is unclear
- 2026-02-20 — [What 'Contract' really means in Data Contracts](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-02-20-what-contract-really-means-in-data-contracts.md): Contracts are the interfaces between teams
- 2026-02-13 — [The case for intentional friction in data platforms](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-02-13-the-case-for-intentional-friction-in-data-platforms.md): Frictionless data platforms are harmful
- 2026-02-06 — [What happens when a data contract is breached?](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-02-06-what-happens-when-a-data-contract-is-breached.md): What happens when the data doesn't match the contract?
- 2026-01-30 — [The impact of AI-assisted code on your data platform](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-01-30-the-impact-of-ai-assisted-code-on-your-data-platform.md): Increased engineer velocity moves the bottleneck to the platform
- 2026-01-23 — [Integration vs Interoperability](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-01-23-integration-vs-interoperability.md): Do we really need to centralise everything before we can use our data?
- 2026-01-16 — [Reversing Conway's law](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-01-16-reversing-conway-s-law.md): Understand Conway's law and make it work for you
- 2026-01-09 — [A feature of architecture](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2026-01-09-a-feature-of-architecture.md): How architecture features impact your processes and ways of working

## 2025

- 2025-12-19 — [5 data contract implementations in the wild](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-12-19-5-data-contract-implementations-in-the-wild.md): Data contracts in the wild
- 2025-12-12 — [Reducing the difficulty of being a data owner](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-12-12-reducing-the-difficulty-of-being-a-data-owner.md): Ease the life of a data owner through automation.
- 2025-12-05 — [Pushing on open doors](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-12-05-pushing-on-open-doors.md): Look for the best opportunities to get started.
- 2025-11-21 — [The iPhone model for integrated platforms](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-11-21-the-iphone-model-for-integrated-platforms.md): To create an integrated experience we need to change how we build platforms.
- 2025-11-14 — [Control vs Consequences](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-11-14-control-vs-consequences.md): Taking control makes you a bottleneck. Are the consequences worth the cost?
- 2025-10-31 — [The internal cost of data quality issues](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-10-31-the-internal-cost-of-data-quality-issues.md): How does your team feel when working with poor quality data?
- 2025-10-24 — [Keeping data contracts simple](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-10-24-keeping-data-contracts-simple.md): Add more capabilities to your data contracts while keeping them simple for your users.
- 2025-10-17 — [Source-aligned data products, or output ports on the source?](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-10-17-source-aligned-data-products-or-output-ports-on-the-source.md): Do source-aligned data products solve the problem, or do we instead need a more suitable output port on the source system.
- 2025-10-10 — [A business case for data quality](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-10-10-a-business-case-for-data-quality.md): Linking data quality to a business outcome to create a business case.
- 2025-10-03 — [Why data contracts?](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-10-03-why-data-contracts.md): To do more with data, to be more effective, and to have more control, we need data contracts.
- 2025-09-26 — [Implementing Data Contracts course now live!](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-09-26-implementing-data-contracts-course-now-live.md): Looking to implement data contracts in your organisation, but don’t know where to start? This course is for you.
- 2025-09-19 — [3 steps to getting started with data contracts](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-09-19-3-steps-to-getting-started-with-data-contracts.md): Run a PoC, build minimal tooling, and talk to everyone. Then repeat.
- 2025-09-12 — [CI is too late in the SDLC to identify data changes](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-09-12-ci-is-too-late-in-the-sdlc-to-identify-data-changes.md): Using data contracts just for CI still leaves you reacting to changes. To shift left you need to engage earlier in the software development life cycle.
- 2025-08-29 — [The listen to yourself pattern](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-08-29-the-listen-to-yourself-pattern-for-publishing-events.md): How the listen to yourself pattern solves the dual-write problem
- 2025-08-22 — [The outbox pattern for publishing events](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-08-22-the-outbox-pattern-for-publishing-events.md): How the outbox pattern solves the dual-write problem
- 2025-08-15 — [Patterns for publishing events](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-08-15-patterns-for-publishing-events.md): How exactly do we move from replication to publication?
- 2025-08-08 — [How our software engineers used data lineage](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-08-08-how-our-software-engineers-used-data-lineage.md): By creating the interface as tables, and by assigning ownership correctly, there's no reason why software engineers can't benefit from lineage.
- 2025-08-01 — [Data producers need to know why](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-08-01-data-producers-need-to-know-why.md): If you want data producers to improve the quality of their data, you need to tell them why.
- 2025-07-25 — [Separating the contract UI from the platform](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-07-25-separating-the-contract-ui-from-the-platform.md): Separating the contract UI from the platform allows you to build the platform and its tools once, while also meeting users where they are.
- 2025-07-18 — [Performing a root cause analysis](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-07-18-performing-a-root-cause-analysis.md): With this deep understanding of the problem and it's root causes, you can now start thinking about how to solve them.
- 2025-07-11 — [Bridging the gap between data producers and consumers](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-07-11-bridging-the-gap-between-data-producers-and-consumers.md): To bridge the gap between data producers and consumers we need to formalise the relationship.
- 2025-07-04 — [Data contracts vs APIs](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-07-04-data-contracts-vs-apis.md): How exactly do data contracts relate to APIs?
- 2025-06-27 — [What happens when writing data is cheap](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-06-27-what-happens-when-writing-data-is-cheap.md): When writing data is cheap, reading it becomes prohibitively expensive. We need a change in mindset.
- 2025-06-20 — [Data contracts and the meta grid](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-06-20-data-contracts-and-the-meta-grid.md): This weeks post is all about metadata, and how data contracts feeds into the meta grid.

There's also links to the importance of metadata to GenAI, SQL games, and thinking of DuckDB as a protocol.
- 2025-06-13 — [Local data value in large organisations](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-06-13-local-data-value-in-large-organisations.md): Today I write about how we maintain the ability to provide local value through data.

There's also links to articles on buying a data catalog and whether that really meets your goals, how to communicate about data like a leader, and a game to see who is the best CDO.

Thanks to Keboola for sponsoring!
- 2025-06-06 — [Federated computational governance with data contracts](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-06-06-federated-computational-governance-with-data-contracts.md): Today's newsletter is the final part of my series on implementing data mesh, and today we're looking at federating and automating data governance with data contracts.

There's also links to articles on the future of Kafka, two opposing links on Iceberg, a new tutorial for data contracts, and a travel-related pun.

Plus, a fantastically detailed review of my book, which for this week only is 35% OFF both print and ebook!
- 2025-05-30 — [Driving self-serve data platforms with data contracts](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-05-30-driving-self-serve-data-platforms-with-data-contracts.md): In this week's newsletter I look at driving self-server data platforms with data contracts, which is part 4 of my 5 part series on implementing data mesh.

There are also links to articles on building an anomaly detection system and an incomplete skills a senior engineers need, beyond coding.
- 2025-05-23 — [Defining data products with data contracts](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-05-23-defining-data-products-with-data-contracts.md): In this week's newsletter I look at defining data products with data contracts, which is part 3 of my 5 part series on implementing data mesh.

Also links on enabling enterprise data flow and the 13 software engineering laws, and a dam good pun.
- 2025-05-16 — [Implementing domain ownership with data contracts](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-05-16-implementing-domain-ownership-with-data-contracts.md): In this week's newsletter I write about implementing domain ownership with \data contracts, in the 2nd part of my data mesh series.Also links on moving from outputs to outcomes, understanding the business context, and an Excel interface for the open data contract standard.
- 2025-05-09 — [The challenges of implementing a data mesh](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-05-09-the-challenges-of-implementing-a-data-mesh.md): This week's newsletter is the start of a 5-part series on implementing a data mesh, starting with the challenges many have and the reasons why people are saying it's "dead". Also links to articles on data contracts, data platforms, and columnar storage.
- 2025-05-02 — [Data incidents are opportunities](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-05-02-data-incidents-are-opportunities.md): In this week's newsletter I write about the opportunities provided by data incidents. There's also links to articles on Data Platform Engineering and data quality.
- 2025-04-25 — [Interfaces, control, and data contracts](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-04-25-interfaces-control-and-data-contracts.md): In this week's newsletter I write about control.

There's also links to an article on how metrics influence behaviour, and another on how to work as a data team in "wartime" (i.e. when investments are not growing).
- 2025-04-18 — [Investing in decentralisation](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-04-18-investing-in-decentralisation.md): This week I talk about the investment you need to make when decentralising.

There's also links to posts on applying software engineering to data, Cloudflare's support for Iceberg, and Ben Thompsons interview with Google Cloud Platform CEO Thomas Kurian.
- 2025-04-11 — [Shifting Left: How Data Contracts Underpin People, Processes, and Technology](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-04-11-shifting-left-how-data-contracts-underpin-people-processes-and-technology.md): This week I've published an in-depth article on shifting left, which is previewed below and available in full on the Confluent blog, plus links on docs-as-code, a new release of ODCS, and data exploration with DuckDB and Rill. Enjoy!
- 2025-04-04 — [Your data quality problem is an incentives problem](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-04-04-your-data-quality-problem-is-an-incentives-problem.md)
- 2025-03-28 — [Data pipelines as dependable as software](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-03-28-data-pipelines-as-dependable-as-software.md)
- 2025-03-21 — [The many applications of data contracts](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-03-21-the-many-applications-of-data-contracts.md)
- 2025-03-14 — [Starting small with data contracts](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-03-14-starting-small-with-data-contracts.md)
- 2025-03-07 — [Wrapping legacy applications with data contracts](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-03-07-wrapping-legacy-applications-with-data-contracts.md)
- 2025-02-28 — [From data replication to data publication](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-02-28-from-data-replication-to-data-publication.md)
- 2025-02-21 — [Data teams in dysfunctional environments](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-02-21-data-teams-in-dysfunctional-environments.md)
- 2025-02-14 — [Integration without coupling, with data contracts](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-02-14-integration-without-coupling-with-data-contracts.md)
- 2025-02-07 — [The language of data contracts](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-02-07-the-language-of-data-contracts.md)
- 2025-01-31 — [Delivering data products with data contracts](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-01-31-delivering-data-products-with-data-contracts.md)
- 2025-01-24 — [Learnable systems with data contracts](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-01-24-learnable-systems-with-data-contracts.md)
- 2025-01-17 — [Influencing through platforms](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-01-17-influencing-through-platforms.md)
- 2025-01-10 — [Iceberg, and the elephant in the room](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2025-01-10-iceberg-and-the-elephant-in-the-room.md)

## 2024

- 2024-12-20 — [Metadata management at Notion](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2024-12-20-metadata-management-at-notion.md)
- 2024-12-13 — [Creating platforms with data contracts](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2024-12-13-creating-platforms-with-data-contracts.md)
- 2024-12-06 — [Adopting a product mindset](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2024-12-06-adopting-a-product-mindset.md)
- 2024-11-29 — [Increase collaboration with interfaces](https://andrew-jones.com/newsletter/2024-11-29-increase-collaboration-with-interfaces.md)