Decision
The exchange rate isn't just a dimension. It's part of the fact.
Converting currency at query time gives you the right number and is still the wrong architecture.
Senior Data Engineer · Panama · UTC-5
I build data pipelines that survive contact with the operation.
Since 2013, mostly in places where a wrong number has consequences: a retailer going regional, and a bank replacing its core. Now I'm doing it on my own product too. This is where I write down the decisions — the numbers behind them, what I traded away, and what broke anyway.
Open to remote senior data engineering roles. Panama is UTC-5 — full overlap with US Eastern, no visa required, no timezone theater.
Ingestion & transformation BigQuery · dbt · Python · PySpark
Governance & quality DAMA/DMBOK · Lineage · Data contracts
Domain Banking · Insurance · Regulatory reporting
Latest writing
All posts →Decision
The model migrates. The reasoning doesn't.
The same table that was right on-premises turns expensive in the cloud, and the model never changed.
Governance
A copy doesn't have opinions
Why storing only balance changes isn't enough for month-end reporting — the fix isn't one table doing both jobs, it's two layers with different jobs: the one that copies and the one that answers.
Decision
Average balance isn't calculated. It's captured.
Why daily average balance in banking can't be rebuilt after the fact — the real decision was choosing which accrual tables to snapshot daily, knowing the cost is permanent.