Sidecar: Your Newest Recruit

James and I have spent our careers inside data teams: small ones, big ones, everything in between. And while the tools and org charts changed, one thing never did: how hard it was to actually do the work.

Operationally, every team worked differently and the technology we used always varied, but there were common themes:

• Always understaffed, always waiting on the next hire that never came

• Burned out and pulled in many directions

• Seen as a cost center instead of a growth driver

One of our customers gave us an analogy that I completely stole:

Data teams are like American football teams: we have to play defense (protect the data platform! ensure it’s performant, cost-effective, and reliable) and offense (engage the business with data, enable self-service, get the right information to the right person at the right time).

Unlike the NFL where you have a dedicated team for each, most data teams are playing both sides of the ball, often resulting in attrition, split focus, and poor perception by the organization. AI is only exacerbating this dynamic.

We’re building Sidecar to change this narrative.

We called it Sidecar because we believe AI should be your accelerant, not your replacement.
The data team of the future should be focused on high-leverage, high-trust decision-making, while doing more with less.