Mehdi Ouazza
@mehdio.com
🧡 Data Engineer at heart
🥑 DevRel @motherduck.com (Cloud-based @duckdb.org)
🎥 YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/@mehdio
✒️ Blog http://mehdio.com/blog
🥑 DevRel @motherduck.com (Cloud-based @duckdb.org)
🎥 YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/@mehdio
✒️ Blog http://mehdio.com/blog
GitHub has all the pieces for an agentic IDE: Copilot agent, Actions, Codespaces. But it's async—fire and forget.
Cursor nails real-time pair programming. You and the agent coding together.
The holy grail? Hybrid mode. GitHub could build it, unconstrained by VSCode legacy.
Cursor nails real-time pair programming. You and the agent coding together.
The holy grail? Hybrid mode. GitHub could build it, unconstrained by VSCode legacy.
February 5, 2026 at 2:27 PM
GitHub has all the pieces for an agentic IDE: Copilot agent, Actions, Codespaces. But it's async—fire and forget.
Cursor nails real-time pair programming. You and the agent coding together.
The holy grail? Hybrid mode. GitHub could build it, unconstrained by VSCode legacy.
Cursor nails real-time pair programming. You and the agent coding together.
The holy grail? Hybrid mode. GitHub could build it, unconstrained by VSCode legacy.
OK so I made a mini movie on how to survive in data engineering.
No bias. Just ducks.
https://youtu.be/f0DDhKaZDDc
plz netflix contact for collab
No bias. Just ducks.
https://youtu.be/f0DDhKaZDDc
plz netflix contact for collab
February 2, 2026 at 2:21 PM
OK so I made a mini movie on how to survive in data engineering.
No bias. Just ducks.
https://youtu.be/f0DDhKaZDDc
plz netflix contact for collab
No bias. Just ducks.
https://youtu.be/f0DDhKaZDDc
plz netflix contact for collab
I'm not sure you are all ready for this...
See you tomorrow 🫡
See you tomorrow 🫡
January 29, 2026 at 3:03 PM
I'm not sure you are all ready for this...
See you tomorrow 🫡
See you tomorrow 🫡
2026 paradox:
We question whether LLMs are intelligent enough.
Instead of deciding whether we’ll stay intelligent while using them.
We question whether LLMs are intelligent enough.
Instead of deciding whether we’ll stay intelligent while using them.
January 20, 2026 at 2:07 PM
2026 paradox:
We question whether LLMs are intelligent enough.
Instead of deciding whether we’ll stay intelligent while using them.
We question whether LLMs are intelligent enough.
Instead of deciding whether we’ll stay intelligent while using them.
Two years ago I’d say niche down as a software engineer.
Now I’m building far outside my niche (data engineering).
It's not “Should I learn React?” but “Do I understand the problem well enough to direct AI?”
Execution is commoditized; domain expertise still matters.
Generalists win.
Now I’m building far outside my niche (data engineering).
It's not “Should I learn React?” but “Do I understand the problem well enough to direct AI?”
Execution is commoditized; domain expertise still matters.
Generalists win.
January 19, 2026 at 5:09 PM
Two years ago I’d say niche down as a software engineer.
Now I’m building far outside my niche (data engineering).
It's not “Should I learn React?” but “Do I understand the problem well enough to direct AI?”
Execution is commoditized; domain expertise still matters.
Generalists win.
Now I’m building far outside my niche (data engineering).
It's not “Should I learn React?” but “Do I understand the problem well enough to direct AI?”
Execution is commoditized; domain expertise still matters.
Generalists win.
RIP Mehdio (2019)
Time for a fresh new profile picture.
Same person. Bolder. Less hair. Hopefully wiser.
In 2026, I want to keep teaching curious students—both in person and online—and help the next generation learn not just data, but software engineering in this (post-?) AI wave.
Time for a fresh new profile picture.
Same person. Bolder. Less hair. Hopefully wiser.
In 2026, I want to keep teaching curious students—both in person and online—and help the next generation learn not just data, but software engineering in this (post-?) AI wave.
January 14, 2026 at 12:19 PM
RIP Mehdio (2019)
Time for a fresh new profile picture.
Same person. Bolder. Less hair. Hopefully wiser.
In 2026, I want to keep teaching curious students—both in person and online—and help the next generation learn not just data, but software engineering in this (post-?) AI wave.
Time for a fresh new profile picture.
Same person. Bolder. Less hair. Hopefully wiser.
In 2026, I want to keep teaching curious students—both in person and online—and help the next generation learn not just data, but software engineering in this (post-?) AI wave.
Quick software engineers reality check:
2024: AI writes code quickly — quality is meh
2025: AI writes solid code and boosts productivity
2026: Not using AI effectively becomes a liability
2026 is the year coding with AI is no longer a nice-to-have, but a must-have.
2024: AI writes code quickly — quality is meh
2025: AI writes solid code and boosts productivity
2026: Not using AI effectively becomes a liability
2026 is the year coding with AI is no longer a nice-to-have, but a must-have.
January 7, 2026 at 8:58 PM
Quick software engineers reality check:
2024: AI writes code quickly — quality is meh
2025: AI writes solid code and boosts productivity
2026: Not using AI effectively becomes a liability
2026 is the year coding with AI is no longer a nice-to-have, but a must-have.
2024: AI writes code quickly — quality is meh
2025: AI writes solid code and boosts productivity
2026: Not using AI effectively becomes a liability
2026 is the year coding with AI is no longer a nice-to-have, but a must-have.
A few observations from shipping with AI these past weeks :
1) TS quietly wins for AI apps (types catch hallucinations at lint time).
2) Juniors risk building human debt by skipping fundamentals.
3) AI + money works only with verification (SQL saved me). Constraints > vibes.
1) TS quietly wins for AI apps (types catch hallucinations at lint time).
2) Juniors risk building human debt by skipping fundamentals.
3) AI + money works only with verification (SQL saved me). Constraints > vibes.
January 5, 2026 at 4:05 PM
A few observations from shipping with AI these past weeks :
1) TS quietly wins for AI apps (types catch hallucinations at lint time).
2) Juniors risk building human debt by skipping fundamentals.
3) AI + money works only with verification (SQL saved me). Constraints > vibes.
1) TS quietly wins for AI apps (types catch hallucinations at lint time).
2) Juniors risk building human debt by skipping fundamentals.
3) AI + money works only with verification (SQL saved me). Constraints > vibes.
For all the parents out there, I’m launching something new: the Portable family newsletter
After living in 4 countries over the past years with young kids, I’m sharing stories on how we did it. Just honestly covering what worked, and what didn't work.
After living in 4 countries over the past years with young kids, I’m sharing stories on how we did it. Just honestly covering what worked, and what didn't work.
December 21, 2025 at 3:14 PM
For all the parents out there, I’m launching something new: the Portable family newsletter
After living in 4 countries over the past years with young kids, I’m sharing stories on how we did it. Just honestly covering what worked, and what didn't work.
After living in 4 countries over the past years with young kids, I’m sharing stories on how we did it. Just honestly covering what worked, and what didn't work.
This week's issue: thinking on how to not get more stupid with LLMs eating our brains, spinning up the new hype file format Vortex (it's gaining a lot of adoption), and other tech muse from the terminal of my mind.
blog.mehdio.com/p/ctlrr-02-h...
blog.mehdio.com/p/ctlrr-02-h...
ctlr+r #02: How to not get stupid & The Parquet Killer?
A weekly recall from the terminal of my mind: Thoughts 🧠, 🛠 Tools, and 📕 Takes.
blog.mehdio.com
November 24, 2025 at 5:28 PM
This week's issue: thinking on how to not get more stupid with LLMs eating our brains, spinning up the new hype file format Vortex (it's gaining a lot of adoption), and other tech muse from the terminal of my mind.
blog.mehdio.com/p/ctlrr-02-h...
blog.mehdio.com/p/ctlrr-02-h...
Starting a weekly habit/newsletter.
Each issue includes:
- something I’ve been thinking about
- something I’ve built, tried, or found useful
- something I read or watched, with my take
blog.mehdio.com/p/ctlrr-01-t...
Each issue includes:
- something I’ve been thinking about
- something I’ve built, tried, or found useful
- something I read or watched, with my take
blog.mehdio.com/p/ctlrr-01-t...
ctlr+r #01: Toon, LLM CLIs
Hey there, I’m starting a new habit that I hope to stick with and that will help you: ctrl+r : a weekly recall from the terminal of my mind.
blog.mehdio.com
November 16, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Starting a weekly habit/newsletter.
Each issue includes:
- something I’ve been thinking about
- something I’ve built, tried, or found useful
- something I read or watched, with my take
blog.mehdio.com/p/ctlrr-01-t...
Each issue includes:
- something I’ve been thinking about
- something I’ve built, tried, or found useful
- something I read or watched, with my take
blog.mehdio.com/p/ctlrr-01-t...
Reposted by Mehdi Ouazza
We cover everything from interview prep and data quality struggles to the eternal "just a small schema change".
Each question gets four different perspectives from @seattledataguy.bsky.social, @hachej.bsky.social, @mehdio.com, and me, with practical wisdom that goes beyond the hype.
Each question gets four different perspectives from @seattledataguy.bsky.social, @hachej.bsky.social, @mehdio.com, and me, with practical wisdom that goes beyond the hype.
October 30, 2025 at 2:34 PM
We cover everything from interview prep and data quality struggles to the eternal "just a small schema change".
Each question gets four different perspectives from @seattledataguy.bsky.social, @hachej.bsky.social, @mehdio.com, and me, with practical wisdom that goes beyond the hype.
Each question gets four different perspectives from @seattledataguy.bsky.social, @hachej.bsky.social, @mehdio.com, and me, with practical wisdom that goes beyond the hype.
2 things that my non tech friends asked me recently :
WTH is
- us-east-1
- astronomer
I wonder what's next.
WTH is
- us-east-1
- astronomer
I wonder what's next.
October 23, 2025 at 3:39 PM
2 things that my non tech friends asked me recently :
WTH is
- us-east-1
- astronomer
I wonder what's next.
WTH is
- us-east-1
- astronomer
I wonder what's next.
If you’ve ever found yourself in copy-paste hell during webdev — debugging logs, pasting API errors into an AI chat, or sending screenshots just to say “the button isn’t there"
I wrote something for you.
blog.mehdio.com/p/an-actuall...
I wrote something for you.
blog.mehdio.com/p/an-actuall...
An actually useful MCP for web cevelopment
Eliminates the copy-paste hell with browser-tools
blog.mehdio.com
July 19, 2025 at 2:51 PM
If you’ve ever found yourself in copy-paste hell during webdev — debugging logs, pasting API errors into an AI chat, or sending screenshots just to say “the button isn’t there"
I wrote something for you.
blog.mehdio.com/p/an-actuall...
I wrote something for you.
blog.mehdio.com/p/an-actuall...
I don't kill my side projects.
I just quietly stop maintaining them while convincing myself I'll definitely get back to that one.
I just quietly stop maintaining them while convincing myself I'll definitely get back to that one.
June 17, 2025 at 7:41 AM
I don't kill my side projects.
I just quietly stop maintaining them while convincing myself I'll definitely get back to that one.
I just quietly stop maintaining them while convincing myself I'll definitely get back to that one.
Using Docker Desktop or Podman on macOS?
WWDC surprise: Apple's own containerization framework.
The end of 3rd party containers on Mac?
youtu.be/s06VHrb_Fss
WWDC surprise: Apple's own containerization framework.
The end of 3rd party containers on Mac?
youtu.be/s06VHrb_Fss
Apple’s new ‘Container’ Engine (Bye Docker?)
YouTube video by mehdio DataTV
youtu.be
June 15, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Using Docker Desktop or Podman on macOS?
WWDC surprise: Apple's own containerization framework.
The end of 3rd party containers on Mac?
youtu.be/s06VHrb_Fss
WWDC surprise: Apple's own containerization framework.
The end of 3rd party containers on Mac?
youtu.be/s06VHrb_Fss
There’s a big shift coming in dev tools: their main users will soon be AI agents, not humans.
Neon already sees 4x more DBs spun up by AIs. The question now:
How do you make your tool AI-consumable? MCP is one answer—but new platforms & integrations will matter too.
Neon already sees 4x more DBs spun up by AIs. The question now:
How do you make your tool AI-consumable? MCP is one answer—but new platforms & integrations will matter too.
June 9, 2025 at 1:37 PM
There’s a big shift coming in dev tools: their main users will soon be AI agents, not humans.
Neon already sees 4x more DBs spun up by AIs. The question now:
How do you make your tool AI-consumable? MCP is one answer—but new platforms & integrations will matter too.
Neon already sees 4x more DBs spun up by AIs. The question now:
How do you make your tool AI-consumable? MCP is one answer—but new platforms & integrations will matter too.
Having more fun building a metadata registry for my personal website with all my content.
3 goal for this :
1. Bring public visibility to all my content (written / video) in one place
2. Make it easier to search through all of it (WIP)
3 goal for this :
1. Bring public visibility to all my content (written / video) in one place
2. Make it easier to search through all of it (WIP)
June 7, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Having more fun building a metadata registry for my personal website with all my content.
3 goal for this :
1. Bring public visibility to all my content (written / video) in one place
2. Make it easier to search through all of it (WIP)
3 goal for this :
1. Bring public visibility to all my content (written / video) in one place
2. Make it easier to search through all of it (WIP)
If you're wondering what all the fuss is about table formats—and this new one called DuckLake—this video is for you.
If you don’t choose table formats but benchmark them, it’s for you too.
If you don’t like table formats at all?
Well, then share this video with your enemies.
If you don’t choose table formats but benchmark them, it’s for you too.
If you don’t like table formats at all?
Well, then share this video with your enemies.
Forget what you know about table formats — DuckLake flips the script.
✅ Metadata in Postgres/DuckDB
✅ Data in Parquet on S3
✅ No more crawling metadata files
@mehdio.com breaks it down with a hands-on @supabase + @duckdb.org setup 🛠️
📺 youtu.be/hrTjvvwhHEQ
✅ Metadata in Postgres/DuckDB
✅ Data in Parquet on S3
✅ No more crawling metadata files
@mehdio.com breaks it down with a hands-on @supabase + @duckdb.org setup 🛠️
📺 youtu.be/hrTjvvwhHEQ
Understanding DuckLake: A Table Format with a Modern Architecture
YouTube video by MotherDuck
youtu.be
June 5, 2025 at 2:43 PM
If you're wondering what all the fuss is about table formats—and this new one called DuckLake—this video is for you.
If you don’t choose table formats but benchmark them, it’s for you too.
If you don’t like table formats at all?
Well, then share this video with your enemies.
If you don’t choose table formats but benchmark them, it’s for you too.
If you don’t like table formats at all?
Well, then share this video with your enemies.
The best part of being active online is turning connections into real-life moments.
Just hosted a sold-out DATA+AI meetup in Zurich at Google!
Just hosted a sold-out DATA+AI meetup in Zurich at Google!
June 4, 2025 at 12:19 PM
The best part of being active online is turning connections into real-life moments.
Just hosted a sold-out DATA+AI meetup in Zurich at Google!
Just hosted a sold-out DATA+AI meetup in Zurich at Google!
I just had an epiphany, what Iceberg, Delta Lake, and Duck Lake have in common?
Their logos are all blue. Like a lake...
You’re welcome.
Their logos are all blue. Like a lake...
You’re welcome.
June 3, 2025 at 2:59 PM
I just had an epiphany, what Iceberg, Delta Lake, and Duck Lake have in common?
Their logos are all blue. Like a lake...
You’re welcome.
Their logos are all blue. Like a lake...
You’re welcome.
What if medium-sized software companies are slowly dying?
I’ve seen more and more solo-preneurs and small teams shipping fast, staying lean — and still landing enterprise customers.
So what if scaling headcount… wasn’t actually necessary?
blog.mehdio.com/p/the-slow-d...
I’ve seen more and more solo-preneurs and small teams shipping fast, staying lean — and still landing enterprise customers.
So what if scaling headcount… wasn’t actually necessary?
blog.mehdio.com/p/the-slow-d...
The Slow Death of Medium-Sized Software Companies
What if scaling was no longer the goal? And what would that mean for software engineers?
blog.mehdio.com
June 1, 2025 at 4:06 PM
What if medium-sized software companies are slowly dying?
I’ve seen more and more solo-preneurs and small teams shipping fast, staying lean — and still landing enterprise customers.
So what if scaling headcount… wasn’t actually necessary?
blog.mehdio.com/p/the-slow-d...
I’ve seen more and more solo-preneurs and small teams shipping fast, staying lean — and still landing enterprise customers.
So what if scaling headcount… wasn’t actually necessary?
blog.mehdio.com/p/the-slow-d...
Remember: AI won't replace software engineers—but it will replace those who don't use AI.
I wrote about my latest AI productivity hacks using Cursor.
blog.mehdio.com/p/making-cur...
I wrote about my latest AI productivity hacks using Cursor.
blog.mehdio.com/p/making-cur...
Making Cursor smarter (and up to date)
Context is king — and documentation context rules.
blog.mehdio.com
May 29, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Remember: AI won't replace software engineers—but it will replace those who don't use AI.
I wrote about my latest AI productivity hacks using Cursor.
blog.mehdio.com/p/making-cur...
I wrote about my latest AI productivity hacks using Cursor.
blog.mehdio.com/p/making-cur...
Reposted by Mehdi Ouazza
Today we're launching DuckLake, an integrated data lake and catalog format powered by SQL. DuckLake unlocks next-generation data warehousing where compute is local, consistency central, and storage scales till infinity. ducklake is an open standard and we implemented it in the "ducklake" extension.
May 27, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Today we're launching DuckLake, an integrated data lake and catalog format powered by SQL. DuckLake unlocks next-generation data warehousing where compute is local, consistency central, and storage scales till infinity. ducklake is an open standard and we implemented it in the "ducklake" extension.
Since I teach #dataengineering, I figured my personal website should reflect that—it’s all about pipelines.
I’ve automated most of the publishing workflow so the site acts as a central metadata hub, no matter where I post content online.
I’ve automated most of the publishing workflow so the site acts as a central metadata hub, no matter where I post content online.
May 16, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Since I teach #dataengineering, I figured my personal website should reflect that—it’s all about pipelines.
I’ve automated most of the publishing workflow so the site acts as a central metadata hub, no matter where I post content online.
I’ve automated most of the publishing workflow so the site acts as a central metadata hub, no matter where I post content online.