https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev A practitioner journal on data engineering for the agentic era. Notes from the edge of agentic adoption, written by someone still figuring it out. en-us https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/the-protocols-nobody-calls-the-protocols/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/the-protocols-nobody-calls-the-protocols/ Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) Three independent specs landed in the last 12 months. They share a shape — and the shape is what's worth betting on, not the specs. https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/relaunch-i-stopped-writing-about-data/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/relaunch-i-stopped-writing-about-data/ Wed, 25 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) I published my last Sanity Check in October 2023. Then I went quiet. https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-021-advantages-of-going-deep/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-021-advantages-of-going-deep/ Sun, 22 Oct 2023 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) Three reasons deep analytics architecture knowledge pays off: (1) faster problem resolution during outages, (2) identifying optimization opportunities in mature systems without full rebuilds, and (… https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-020-analytics-antenna/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-020-analytics-antenna/ Sun, 01 Oct 2023 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) Lays out a four-part analytics architecture plan for Squarely: Sources (Amazon KDP, Vercel, Fathom Analytics, ConvertKit), Ingestion (Fivetran, Steampipe, Meltano, custom Singer tap), Processing (D… https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-019-squarelys-squares/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-019-squarelys-squares/ Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) Applies multiple business frameworks to structure Squarely as a real company. Uses EOS (Right People, Right Seats) to identify that two people need to fill eight organizational positions. Adopts Da… https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-018-getting-weird-with-squarely/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-018-getting-weird-with-squarely/ Thu, 14 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) The origin story of the Squarely case study series. Facing a three-way tension — developing craft, empowering others, and driving business growth — the founder applies a "do the weirdest thing that… https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-017-analytics-arcade/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-017-analytics-arcade/ Thu, 07 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) The founder's biggest career analytics win, told through Jack Stack's Great Game of Business framework. At a 30-year-old tech company with a fragmented "zoo" of animal-branded products, a small tas… https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-016-data-repair-work/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-016-data-repair-work/ Thu, 31 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) Identifies eight distinct ways data projects break and argues that understanding failure modes enables better maintenance strategies. Key solutions: deprecation processes for metric definition chan… https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-015-in-the-lab/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-015-in-the-lab/ Thu, 24 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) Two threads: (1) experimenting with dbt's state management for local development, noting the gap between dbt Cloud's polished Slim CI workflows and the rougher local experience; (2) reflecting on a… https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-014-good-bad-ugly-dbt/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-014-good-bad-ugly-dbt/ Thu, 17 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) Analyzes dbt Labs' pricing and technical changes through a three-lens framework. The Bad: second price increase in under a year (per-seat doubled from $50 to $100, now adding usage-based pricing at… https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-013-analyzing-in-public/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-013-analyzing-in-public/ Thu, 10 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) Argues that the secretive nature of internal analyses is a barrier to growing the data profession, then curates public analysis resources: SaaS Metrics 2.0 (canonical for B2B SaaS measurement), SOM… https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-012-were-so-back/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-012-were-so-back/ Thu, 03 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) After a year of community stagnation, identifies five emerging capabilities signaling analytics engineering's resurgence: https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-011-hi-again/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-011-hi-again/ Thu, 27 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) The newsletter relaunch. Three major life changes: moving to consulting at Mammoth Growth, beginning to work in public (YouTube, social media), and welcoming a five-month-old daughter. https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-000-writing-dag/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-000-writing-dag/ Sat, 04 Dec 2021 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) The earliest Sanity Check post. Writing is not one skill — it's research, outline, draft, edit, edit, edit, and share. The common failure mode is cramming all steps into one sitting. Inspired by Da… https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-e08-dpim-framework/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-e08-dpim-framework/ Mon, 08 Nov 2021 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) A comprehensive framework mapping how Data, People, Infrastructure, and Models interconnect to deliver analytics value. https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-e09-one-way-two-way-doors/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-e09-one-way-two-way-doors/ Mon, 08 Nov 2021 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) Short piece on Amazon's decision-making framework: distinguish between one-way doors (irreversible decisions deserving careful deliberation) and two-way doors (reversible decisions where speed matt… https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-e07-datas-secret-sauce/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-e07-datas-secret-sauce/ Wed, 20 Oct 2021 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) Explores the tension between protecting proprietary business insights and sharing analytical methodologies. Uses cooking analogies: share the recipe, keep the secret sauce. Just as Granny's fruit c… https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-e06-open-book-analytics/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-e06-open-book-analytics/ Tue, 12 Oct 2021 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) Explores why the analytics field is experiencing genuine momentum. Rejects surface explanations (rebranding, new tools, "purple people") in favor of a deeper cause: bottom-up narrative construction… https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-e05-analytics-crafting/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-e05-analytics-crafting/ Sat, 25 Sep 2021 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) Argues analytics should recognize itself as a legitimate craft, not just a technical discipline. Three traditional approaches to hard jobs: specialization, automation, or professionalization. Analy… https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-e04-git-environmentalism/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-e04-git-environmentalism/ Sun, 11 Apr 2021 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) Addresses a maturing analytics team problem: developers bypassing version control by committing directly to master during urgent situations. Walks through the cascade of failures this creates — pro… https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-e03-analytics-mixed-bag/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-e03-analytics-mixed-bag/ Sat, 03 Apr 2021 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) A wide-ranging exploration of why analytics struggles with identity despite universal organizational need. Four problem areas: unclear terminology (endless rebranding from "Knowledge Discovery" to… https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/incremental-models/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/incremental-models/ Tue, 30 Mar 2021 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) People think incremental means small. Taking tiny steps. This is not one of those stories. Sometimes incremental changes can open new opportunities. https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-e02-3ms-of-comprehension/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-e02-3ms-of-comprehension/ Wed, 10 Mar 2021 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) Introduces the 3Ms framework for building business comprehension: Measure (define metrics and map action sequences), Monitor (collect data from existing systems), Model (analyze, project, and ident… https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/flywheel-to-dag/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/flywheel-to-dag/ Tue, 09 Mar 2021 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) How a flywheel becomes a DAG: Time. https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-e01-silly-simple-question/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/issue-e01-silly-simple-question/ Thu, 04 Mar 2021 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) The very first Sanity Check post. Explores the universal experience of professionals fielding "obvious" questions from friends and family — printer problems for IT grads, Instagram help for data sc… https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/in-defense-of-black-boxes/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/in-defense-of-black-boxes/ Fri, 19 Feb 2021 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) Black box models are not the problem. Unexpected results -- or variance in the results -- are the real problem. https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/soft-skills-remote-work/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/soft-skills-remote-work/ Wed, 10 Feb 2021 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) Where do you learn how to screen record? Get good audio for meetings? These were not part of your job description, but they are no longer optional. https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/analytics-infrastructure-buy-in/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/analytics-infrastructure-buy-in/ Wed, 03 Feb 2021 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) To successfully roll out a business-wide analytic infrastructure you have two paths: https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/no-vendor-prince-charming/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/no-vendor-prince-charming/ Wed, 03 Feb 2021 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) No vendor will save or correct the gaps in your business' analytics. Take responsibility yourself. I know you can do it! https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/two-inputs-avoid-insanity/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/two-inputs-avoid-insanity/ Wed, 27 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) Albert Einstein is credited with saying "Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, and expecting different results." https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/getting-started-dbt/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/getting-started-dbt/ Mon, 18 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) Teaching analysts to level up and use the dbt stack. Lots of tools to configure, so let's show them how to do it. https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/analytics-canon/ https://sc-v3-preview.pages.dev/posts/analytics-canon/ Wed, 30 Dec 2020 00:00:00 GMT ben@raydata.co (Ben Wilson) There are definitive sources in every field. The founder wanted to write one for the Analytics space. Kimball comes to mind. There are also several related ideas that are not consolidated to one so…