Reverse ETL is the process of moving enriched, business-ready data from analytical platforms back into operational systems, allowing teams to act on insights directly in their day-to-day tools. This approach closes the loop between analytics and operations, making data truly actionable by syncing it into operational systems such as CRMs and marketing platforms. Automated pipelines are essential for reverse ETL, addressing challenges like schema drift, performance, governance, and extensibility through off-the-shelf platforms that require minimal engineering effort. By unifying data from various sources and pushing insights back into business tools, reverse ETL enables end-to-end data activation, as seen in the success of Canva, which unified data from marketing, sales, and engagement platforms, enriched it, and pushed it into tools like Braze, resulting in improved email open rates, platform engagement, cost savings, and faster marketing segmentation.