Helping business users self-serve without writing SQL

TL;DR

Most internal data systems are built for analysts, not decision-makers. This post shares a product-first approach to building internal pipelines that work for sales, ops, finance, and business users—without them ever needing to open a query editor.

Why This Matters

Companies love to say they’re data-driven. But in reality, data is often locked behind dashboards, SQL scripts, or teams with the time (and access) to pull it.

Meanwhile, your most important decision-makers—sales managers, ops teams, category heads—are left waiting.

Being data-driven is not about collecting data. It's about making it usable.

Step 1: Know Your Users

Ask yourself: Who are we building for?

Some common internal user personas:

• Sales heads → “Where are we lagging vs target this week?”
• Category managers → “Which SKUs are underperforming post-launch?”
• Ops teams → “What stock-outs are causing order delays?”
• Finance → “How are discounts impacting margins this month?”

These users don’t want SQL. They want answers.

Step 2: Define Human-Readable Data Contracts

Don’t start with the pipeline. Start with the questions.