[Online] Driving Data Quality with Data Contracts: What Data PMs should know

​Continuing our new LinkedIn Live series aimed at upskilling & knowledge-sharing, we’re joined by by Andrew Jones, Principal Engineer, author, and creator of the data contracts movement!

​Why do data products keep breaking in production?

​You launch a new data product. It works in testing. Users start adopting it. Then suddenly - pipeline breaks, metrics don't match, stakeholders lose trust. Your team spends the next sprint firefighting quality issues instead of building new features.

​Or perhaps you're managing data products that depend on upstream sources you don't control. Every schema change, every unexpected null value, every undocumented field becomes a potential incident. You're left playing detective, scrambling to understand what changed and why your product broke.

​Sound familiar?

​Why this matters now:

​As data products become more complex and interconnected, the old approach of "hope for the best and fix issues when they arise" doesn't scale. Data teams are spending more time on reactive maintenance than proactive product development. Meanwhile, stakeholder trust erodes with each quality incident.

​In this session, we'll explore:

​What data contracts actually are: Beyond the buzzword, understand data contracts as a practical approach to defining and enforcing expectations between data producers and consumers - and why this matters for product managers, not just engineers.

​The quality problems they solve: How data contracts prevent the most common issues that derail data products: unexpected schema changes, missing documentation, unclear ownership, and the endless cycle of quality incidents.

​When to introduce data contracts: Learn the right time to implement contracts in your product development process - neither too early (adding unnecessary overhead) nor too late (after quality issues have already damaged trust).

​The product manager's role: What PMs should focus on versus what to leave to the engineering team, including how to facilitate conversations between producers and consumers, and how to balance quality with delivery speed.

​This conversation is relevant whether you're building internal data products or external ones - data quality challenges exist everywhere, and the principles of clear contracts apply universally.

​About our guest speaker

​Andrew Jones is a Principal Engineer, author, and trainer who has spent years thinking about how to build data platforms that enable business value. His work on building governed data platforms led him to coin and define "data contracts" as a discipline. In 2023, he published the well-received book Driving Data Quality with Data Contracts. He recently launched a hands-on course on Implementing Data Contracts, helping data teams move from theory to practice.

​How to join

​Simply click 'attending' on the LinkedIn event! If you'd prefer to watch in incognito, we'll also be broadcasting on YouTube.

​PS: Andrew will have a special gift for everyone that dials in live 👀

​About the Data & AI Product community​

​​​​Data and AI product management is still a young discipline, and there aren't many spaces dedicated to learning from peers.

​​​​So we started this meetup in 2023 to change that! Since then, it's grown into a vibrant community with chapters in London, Barcelona, and Paris.

​​​​Whether or not “product” is in your job title, if you’re involved in shaping data, analytics, and AI initiatives (e.g. product managers, strategists, BAs, data scientists, engineers, analysts) you’ll find like-minded people here.

​​​​This is an informal, welcoming space to swap lessons, share challenges, and enjoy drinks and snacks along the way 😊

​Quick FAQ

• ​Will this event be recorded? Yes, we will upload the recording here, along with previous DPM Community webinars

• ​If I sign up to this event, will I be opting into any marketing emails? No. We only use the Luma mailing list to invite you to upcoming community events and share community updates (like our end of year membership survey). You can always opt out of the Luma calendar.

• ​Can I mention this to a friend or colleague? Yes, of course! If they're based in London, send them this event. If they're not, it might be better to send them the LinkedIn Live link directly, so they don't get invited to all our in-person meetups too.

• ​Why are you doing this? Data & AI Product Management is a nascent field, and we created this community to bring together practitioners and help share our skills and experiences with those newer to DPM.