The Rise of the Data-Conscious Software Engineer: Bridging the Data-Software Gap | Mark Freeman | Shift Left Data Conference 2025

Data teams increasingly embrace software engineering practices to address quality and integration challenges, yet friction remains between software and data teams. This talk explores why standard practices alone aren’t enough and introduces the concept of the “Data-Conscious Software Engineer,” an emerging role critical to bridging these organizational divides. Attendees will learn how identifying and empowering engineers who deeply understand both software development and data workflows can foster stronger collaboration, improve data quality, and drive organizational change toward treating data as a strategic asset.