What's the Right Approach to Data Products?

Which approach delivers the most value when building data products?

🔼 Top-Down: Start with the business use case first. Define the problem before doing any data work. Once clear, find and package only the data you need.

🔽 Bottom-Up: Spend time modeling everything upfront, aiming to create a universal data layer. Then, when a use case emerges, see if the pre-built data model fits.

If you've been in data for a while, you’ve seen the second approach play out.

📌 Massive data modeling efforts before proving value

📌 Expensive central data platforms that take years before being useful

📌 AI & analytics teams constantly fighting for access to raw data

Most organizations still operate bottom-up, despite the friction and inefficiencies.

But in today's AI-first, Agentic world, the old approach doesn’t scale.

Why We Work Top-Down

In AI & Agentic workflows, iteration and raw data access are critical.

✅ Business-first thinking ensures value is delivered fast
✅ AI needs continuous pattern analysis, training, and new data sources
✅ Avoids wasted effort on pre-modeling data that may never be used
✅ Faster delivery with just the right amount of control
✅ Greater business agility and cost reduction

The Enterprise Shift: From "Data-Centric" to "Business Process-Centric" Thinking

Instead of forcing static, pre-modeled data into ever-changing use cases, we let business processes dictate the data needs.

📍 We use Data Object Graphs (DOGs) to dynamically assemble the required data for each use case.
📍 No more waiting for the "perfect" data model—just the right data at the right time.
📍 AI & Agentic models thrive in this approach, adapting dynamically as business needs evolve.

This isn't just theory—this is how leading organizations are winning with AI today.

What’s Your Approach?

Are you still stuck in bottom-up data modeling loops, or have you moved to business-first, dynamic data assembly?

Get in touch with Dataception if you want to explore a faster, more scalable approach to data products.

With Dataception's DOGs (Data Object Graphs), AI is just a walk in the park.