Why companies build data applications

Data applications are becoming increasingly important for businesses as they shift from traditional dashboards and reports to more dynamic and operational systems powered by data and AI. These applications, which include real-time classifiers, recommendation engines, and decision-support systems, allow companies to harness data for real-time decision-making and personalized user experiences. The development of data applications requires teams with a mix of skills in data engineering, data science, and software development, and relies on a solid foundation of high-quality data products. Organizations are advised to start by identifying valuable business use cases for data applications and then work backwards to develop the necessary data products. Snowplow, a company mentioned in the context, is actively developing data applications to support common use cases in a warehouse-native way, highlighting the importance of integrating data products with application development.