Join dbt experts Dustin Dorsey and Dakota Kelley from phData as they share real-world lessons from implementing dbt at some of the world’s largest enterprises. In this “tales from the field” talk, they’ll share real stories that highlight the most common challenges companies face and how they’ve helped teams solve them. Whether you’re just starting your dbt journey or looking to mature your organization, come hear from the experts and learn how to avoid the costly mistakes others have made.

Master the art of data transformation with the second edition of this trusted guide to dbt. Building on the foundation of the first edition, this updated volume offers a deeper, more comprehensive exploration of dbt’s capabilities—whether you're new to the tool or looking to sharpen your skills. It dives into the latest features and techniques, equipping you with the tools to create scalable, maintainable, and production-ready data transformation pipelines. Unlocking dbt, Second Edition introduces key advancements, including the semantic layer, which allows you to define and manage metrics at scale, and dbt Mesh, empowering organizations to orchestrate decentralized data workflows with confidence. You’ll also explore more advanced testing capabilities, expanded CI/CD and deployment strategies, and enhancements in documentation—such as the newly introduced dbt Catalog. As in the first edition, you’ll learn how to harness dbt’s power to transform raw data into actionable insights, while incorporating software engineering best practices like code reusability, version control, and automated testing. From configuring projects with the dbt Platform or open source dbt to mastering advanced transformations using SQL and Jinja, this book provides everything you need to tackle real-world challenges effectively. What You Will Learn Understand dbt and its role in the modern data stack Set up projects using both the cloud-hosted dbt Platform and open source project Connect dbt projects to cloud data warehouses Build scalable models in SQL and Python Configure development, testing, and production environments Capture reusable logic with Jinja macros Incorporate version control with your data transformation code Seamlessly connect your projects using dbt Mesh Build and manage a semantic layer using dbt Deploy dbt using CI/CD best practices Who This Book Is For Current and aspiring data professionals, including architects, developers, analysts, engineers, data scientists, and consultants who are beginning the journey of using dbt as part of their data pipeline’s transformation layer. Readers should have a foundational knowledge of writing basic SQL statements, development best practices, and working with data in an analytical context such as a data warehouse.

Dive into Chick-fil-A's data-centric culture, where efficient data transformation is pivotal for operational success. With data serving as a cornerstone, teams must rapidly process, clean, and validate vast volumes of data across diverse departments. Leveraging a robust toolkit including dbt and Databricks, Chick-fil-A is managing over 30 dbt projects seamlessly. Hear from the Chick-fil-A analytics engineering team as they explore the intricacies of scaling data transformation initiatives and the pivotal role dbt plays in overcoming challenges inherent in managing data at such scale. Gain insights into the specific obstacles addressed by dbt and how its features empower Chick-fil-A's teams to navigate complex data landscapes with agility and precision.

Speakers: Tony Yuan Senior Principal Team Leader Chick-fil-A

Dustin Dorsey Principal Data Architect Onix

Read the blog to learn about the latest dbt Cloud features announced at Coalesce, designed to help organizations embrace analytics best practices at scale https://www.getdbt.com/blog/coalesce-2024-product-announcements

Summary

The dbt project has become overwhelmingly popular across analytics and data engineering teams. While it is easy to adopt, there are many potential pitfalls. Dustin Dorsey and Cameron Cyr co-authored a practical guide to building your dbt project. In this episode they share their hard-won wisdom about how to build and scale your dbt projects.

Announcements

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Interview

Introduction How did you get involved in the area of data management? What was your path to adoption of dbt?

What did you use prior to its existence? When/why/how did you start using it?

What are some of the common challenges that teams experience when getting started with dbt?

How does prior experience in analytics and/or software engineering impact those outcomes?

You recently wrote a book to give a crash course in best practices for dbt. What motivated you to invest that time and effort?

What new lessons did you learn about dbt in the process of writing the book?

The introduction of dbt is largely res

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