The text discusses the increasing demand for immediacy in consumer experiences and how software, particularly event stream processing, is pivotal in meeting these expectations. Companies are becoming software-driven, utilizing stream processing to automate processes and provide real-time feedback, significantly enhancing customer interaction. However, the complexity and cost of developing and maintaining these systems can be prohibitive, often requiring multiple distributed systems and highly skilled engineers. The introduction of ksqlDB, an event streaming database developed by Confluent, aims to simplify this process by integrating event capture, processing, and querying into a single system, reducing the cognitive and financial burden on companies. ksqlDB supports the creation of data pipelines and materialized views, facilitating the development of event-driven applications and potentially making sophisticated stream processing accessible to more businesses. The text concludes by highlighting the potential of ksqlDB to help companies embrace software solutions more efficiently, promising a cost-effective approach to event streaming that could transform how businesses operate.