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Episode 253:

Why Traditional Data Pipelines Are Broken (And How to Fix Them) with Ruben Burdin of Stacksync

July 16, 2025

This week on The Data Stack Show, Eric and welcomes back Ruben Burdin, Founder and CEO of Stacksync as they together dismantle the myths surrounding zero-copy ETL and traditional data integration methods. Ruben reveals the complex challenges of two-way syncing between enterprise systems like Salesforce, HubSpot, and NetSuite, highlighting how existing tools often create more problems than solutions. He also introduces Stacksync’s innovative approach, which uses real-time SQL-based synchronization to simplify data integration, reduce maintenance overhead, and enable more efficient operational workflows. The conversation exposes the limitations of current data transfer techniques and offers a glimpse into a more declarative, flexible approach to managing enterprise data across multiple systems. You won’t want to miss it.

Notes:

Highlights from this week’s conversation include:

  • The Pain of Two-Way Sync and Early Integration Challenges (2:01)
  • Zero Copy ETL: Hype vs. Reality (3:50)
  • Data Definitions and System Complexity (7:39)
  • Limitations of Out-of-the-Box Integrations (9:35)
  • The CSV File: The Original Two-Way Sync (11:18)
  • Stacksync’s Approach and Capabilities (12:21)
  • Zero Copy ETL: Technical and Business Barriers (14:22)
  • Data Sharing, Clean Rooms, and Marketing Myths (18:40)
  • The Reliable Loop: ETL, Transform, Reverse ETL (27:08)
  • Business Logic Fragmentation and Maintenance (33:43)
  • Simplifying Architecture with Real-Time Two-Way Sync (35:14)
  • Operational Use Case: HubSpot, Salesforce, and Snowflake (39:10)
  • Filtering, Triggers, and Real-Time Workflows (45:38)
  • Complex Use Case: Salesforce to NetSuite with Data Discrepancies (48:56)
  • Declarative Logic and Debugging with SQL (54:54)
  • Connecting with Ruben and Parting Thoughts (57:58)

 

The Data Stack Show is a weekly podcast powered by RudderStack, customer data infrastructure that enables you to deliver real-time customer event data everywhere it’s needed to power smarter decisions and better customer experiences. Each week, we’ll talk to data engineers, analysts, and data scientists about their experience around building and maintaining data infrastructure, delivering data and data products, and driving better outcomes across their businesses with data.

RudderStack helps businesses make the most out of their customer data while ensuring data privacy and security. To learn more about RudderStack visit rudderstack.com.

About the Podcast

Each week we’ll talk to data engineers, analysts, and data scientists about their experience around building and maintaining data infrastructure, delivering data and data products, and driving better outcomes across their businesses with data.

To keep up to date with our future episodes, subscribe to our podcast on Apple, Spotify, Google, or the player of your choice.

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