Sequin's article on extracting data from REST APIs outlines the key challenges and strategies for building a reliable extraction process, emphasizing the importance of accuracy and efficiency. When APIs have limitations like low rate limits or slow throughput, extraction becomes essential to decouple systems and optimize data use. The extraction process involves pulling two main components: records, which represent the current state of data, and events, which trigger side effects based on changes. Key methods discussed include backfilling, which safely sweeps through API data, and detecting changes with incremental syncs, using strategies like sorting by updated timestamps or leveraging webhooks for real-time updates. However, challenges such as handling out-of-order webhooks and APIs that lack change detection capabilities are addressed. The article also highlights generating events by tracking state changes to create meaningful actions in downstream systems, ensuring the extraction pipeline is both robust and efficient.