Modern Data Engineer in 2025
What to expect from this newsletter in the new year.
Hey there! Happy 2025 to those of you who are still receiving this in your inbox. I've been away for some time, and this post is about my intentions for this newsletter moving forward.
Reflecting on 2024
2024 was a busy year. A personal highlight is that I married my wife in the summer in Nice and had an amazing honeymoon in Santorini. I immersed myself in learning. I read and took notes on over 800 articles that spoke to me. They were on tech, science, data engineering, productivity, stoicism and many other topics. I simplified my workflows by cutting out complexity.
Despite this, I published only seven articles in this newsletter. That's far below my target. I had too many ideas and not enough time to develop them all. I had no clear process for refining my thoughts. I didn't know which ideas to pursue and which to throw out.
I've been working on better systems for thinking, writing, and coding. I believe that strong processes build good habits, which are key to achieving goals.
Working in distraction-free environments.
Boosting productivity through focused workflows.
Acting on ideas immediately to capture momentum.
What has changed?
This inspired a small but meaningful change: renaming the newsletter from Modern Data Engineering to Modern Data Engineer. This shift shows a focus on individuals in data engineering. The skills, insights, and growth that define a well-rounded data engineer.
While I’ll still cover technical topics in some detail, I will share tools, workflows and tips that have made my work easier and more productive. A new app, a better writing process, or ways to stay focused. Ideas that can help you improve how you work every day. I’m looking forward to exploring these topics with you in short form writing.
While I’m a big user of dark themes, I’ve switched the newsletter to a light mode theme. It’s more accessible, inviting, and easier to read for a wider audience. I’m still working on a logo - if you have any ideas, please let me know!
Alongside the name change, the URL is now moderndataengineer.substack.com.
Thanks for reading,
Elias