Data engineers have never been more important, and businesses are starting to find out

The role of data engineers is changing, according to new research, and they’re becoming increasingly crucial to businesses thanks to the rise of AI.

Three-quarters of business leaders increasingly believe data engineers – those who manage databases and extract information for actionable insights – are now integral to the success of their company, according to a survey from MIT Technology Review and Snowflake.

That rises to 86% for the largest companies with revenue over $10bn, the survey found.

"Senior leadership is quickly realizing that if they’re not using data in their decision-making processes, they risk lagging behind their competitors," said Chris Child, VP of product data engineering at Snowflake.

In a post detailing the survey results, Child noted he saw two trends contrib