There has been a lot of discussion recently about how the AI revolution will affect the role of data engineers. Contrary to some beliefs, data expertise will be more crucial than ever. However, data professionals will have to adapt and acquire new skills in order to maximize the potential of AI and improve their career prospects. AI provides organizations with the opportunity to extract more value from their data in a more efficient manner, but this cannot be achieved without the input of data engineers who understand how, when, and where to apply the technology and which models and tools to use.
1. Transforming Data Pipelines with AI
Data pipelines are responsible for consolidating various sources of data, which can be raw, unstructured, and disorganized. The goal of data engineers is to extract valuable insights from these sources. AI is set to revolutionize this work by significantly accelerating the process. By integrating AI into data pipelines, engineers can quickly extract insights from sources like customer service transcripts or text documents. This would take hours to do manually, and AI can uncover valuable insights that may have been otherwise missed. Data engineers need to develop skills in understanding how to apply AI models effectively in data pipelines to maximize their value.
2. Harnessing AI for Data Mapping and Consistency
Different data sources often store information in different formats, which can pose a challenge when consolidating data. AI can play a crucial role in data mapping to ensure consistency and eliminate duplicates. Engineers can utilize AI models to build a canonical customer database by providing prompts and letting the AI complete the task in a fraction of the time. This frees up engineers to focus on higher-level work such as data strategy and architecture. Acquiring skills in constructing effective prompts will be essential for data engineers to leverage AI for data mapping.
“Ultimately, the goal is to understand all the data sources available to an organization and how they can be best leveraged to meet the business goals. Handing tasks like data mapping off to an AI model will free up time for that higher-level work.” – Jeff Hollan, Director of Product Management at Snowflake
3. Evolving Business Intelligence with AI
BI analysts currently spend a significant amount of time creating static reports for business leaders. However, AI-driven chatbots and conversational interfaces are changing the way executives interact with data. Business leaders will expect to have interactive capabilities with their reports, which means BI analysts need to upgrade their skills. They will need to understand the pipelines, plug-ins, and prompts required to build dynamic and interactive reports. Cloud data platforms offer low-code options for addressing these new requirements, but BI analysts will need to overcome the learning curve.
4. Managing Third-Party AI Services
Data scientists will increasingly work with outside vendors that provide AI models, datasets, and other services. Familiarity with the available options, selecting the right model for the task, and managing these relationships will be critical skills to acquire. This shift will resemble the transition that IT teams went through with the rise of cloud services a decade ago. Data scientists must adapt to ensure they can effectively leverage external AI resources.
The integration of AI into data engineering will revolutionize the field and allow data engineers to focus on more strategic and proactive work. It will automate laborious tasks and enable them to contribute to the bigger picture. Acquiring the necessary skills to effectively leverage AI models will make data engineers even more valuable to their teams and enhance their job satisfaction.
“AI will allow engineers to automate the most laborious parts of their work and free up time to think about the bigger picture. This will require new skills, but it will allow them to focus on more strategic, proactive work, making data engineers even more valuable to their teams — and their work a lot more enjoyable.” – Jeff Hollan, Director of Product Management at Snowflake
