A Missing Category in the Modern Data Stack

For all business operators who rely on data to make informed decisions, there has always been a disconnect between the tools designed for sharing data and the tools they feel comfortable using daily to share and discuss data. This is what we refer to as the Data Presentation Paradox.

Whether in Business Operations, Finance, or Customer Success, teams have been using data from dashboards or data extracts provided by data teams to build stories and narratives. However, easily integrating into their everyday slide decks and document workflows and effectively sharing it has remained a challenge.

The Data Presentation Paradox

In the modern data stack, there's a paradox we’ve all experienced: the need to effectively share insights within organizations often falls short. While real-time analytics and dashboards are crucial for monitoring activities like revenue pacing and churn rates, the primary method for disseminating data within organizations remains slides and documents. Here’s why:

1. The need to tell a story. Decisions and recommendations are driven by narratives and stories, not just data points.
2. The need to cater to a specific audience. While filters, parameters, and multiple dimensions are great for broad audiences, meetings often focus on specific projects or problems with specific audiences.
3. The need for simplicity. Technical tools for data analysts often lead to lower adoption among non-analyst teams.
4. The need for secure external sharing. External data sharing with clients or investors is often challenging due to security risks associated with user logins.

To workaround these limitations, teams often take screenshots of dashboards to include in slide decks and documents or export data into spreadsheets. This approach is inefficient and highlights a significant gap in the modern data stack.

The Missing Part: Report Generation

Recognizing this gap, Rollstack introduced a new category in the modern data stack: Report Generation. Rollstack bridges the gap by directly connecting visualization tools to slide decks and documents, automating their generation and updates, generating insights, and effectively solving the last mile problem of data presentation.

With Rollstack , teams:

• Seamlessly combine the powerful visualizations of best-in-class tools into narrative-driven presentations.
• Generate and share insights effectively with specific audiences for meetings and decision-making sessions.
• Enhance stakeholder engagement, whether it's with leadership, clients, or team members.

Today, we decided to make a small update to the modern stack!

Other Exciting Developments in the Modern Data Stack

Other parts of the data stack are rapidly evolving. We are also very excited about the potential in data transformation. The standardized nature of metrics definition and creation makes it an ideal area for LLM application, especially when enhanced with good contextualization and metadata enrichment.

What excites you the most about the evolution of the data stack?