<p><strong>Do fundamentals still matter, or are we all just &quot;vibe engineering&quot; our architectures now?</strong> </p><p>Coming to you live and sweating from the hillsides of Phuket, Thailand, this week&#39;s Freestyle Friday dives into the tension between chasing the newest tech and mastering first principles. After a recent LinkedIn debate suggesting teams &quot;don&#39;t have time&quot; for fundamentals anymore, I had to set the record straight.</p><p>I cover why building data platforms without a theoretical framework is like building a house on a Thai hillside without a geologist (spoiler: it ends in a mudslide), the limits of Kimball, and why the rise of AI actually guarantees that data engineering is going to become <em>more</em> critical, not less.</p><p>Plus, an update on my upcoming book, <em>Mixed Model Arts</em>, and where you can catch me keynoting around the world in the coming months.</p><p><strong>Links to my Upcoming Events:</strong></p><ul><li><p><strong>April 29:</strong> <a href="https://cube.registration.goldcast.io/events/a87b0088-098d-4467-a11d-db6821c3a639?utm_source=joereis&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=agentic-analytics-summit-2026" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Agentic Analytics Summit (Cube)</a></p></li><li><p><strong>May 6-8:</strong> <a href="https://datainnovationsummit.com/region/nordics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Data Innovation Summit</a> (Stockholm, Sweden). <em>Catch my Keynote on May 7th and my Mixed Model Arts workshop on May 8th!</em></p></li><li><p><strong>May 18-20:</strong> <a href="https://current.confluent.io/london" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Current (London, UK)</a></p></li></ul>