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The Dataquest Download
Level up your data and AI skills, one newsletter at a time.
Each week, the Dataquest Download brings the latest behind-the-scenes developments at Dataquest directly to your inbox. Discover our top tutorial of the week to boost your data skills, get the scoop on any course changes, and pick up a useful tip to apply in your projects. We also spotlight standout projects from our students and share their personal learning journeys.
Hello, Dataquesters!
Here’s what we have for you in this edition:
Top Read: A clear 2026 skills roadmap that separates lasting fundamentals from distracting trends. Learn more
From the Community: Power BI project best practices and ways to earn extra time on Dataquest while expanding your network. Join the discussion
What We’re Reading: 11 useful APIs for projects; Claude Code on mobile; 21 lessons from a senior Googler; Kubernetes 1.35 in-place restarts; how LLMs judge other models; 5 cloud strategy shifts for 2026. Learn more
Everywhere you look, someone is telling you to chase the next shiny data skill. AI agents, prompt engineering, tools that promise to replace everything you learned last year. It’s overwhelming, and often misleading.
This roadmap cuts through the noise. It explains which data skills still matter in 2026, which trends are mostly distraction, and how to build a foundation that actually leads to real work and real impact. If you’re feeling behind, confused, or pulled in too many directions, this is the clarity you’ve been looking for.
From the Community
Best Practices for Building Power BI Projects: Alla provides smart, practical suggestions on how to make Power BI data visualization projects informative, easy to read, visually clean, compelling, and portfolio-ready.
How to Get Free, Extra Time on Dataquest: Explore current Community initiatives that can earn you extra free time on the Dataquest platform and other cool rewards—while also helping you expand your professional network and build meaningful connections with like-minded people.
What We're Reading
11 Powerful APIs for Your Next Project: A curated list of practical APIs—from weather and finance to image recognition—ideal for adding real-world features to projects quickly.
Claude Code On-The-Go: Shows how to run multiple Claude Code agents from a phone using a lightweight, mobile-first dev setup with remote VMs.
21 Lessons From 14 Years at Google: A senior engineer reflects on what actually drives long-term impact: user focus, clear communication, smart tradeoffs, and strong relationships.
Kubernetes v1.35 – In-Place Pod Restart: Kubernetes 1.35 introduces faster, cheaper in-place pod restarts, cutting recovery time and costs for large AI/ML workloads.
LLMs as Judges: Explores whether LLMs can fairly evaluate other models, revealing bias based on vendor, model tier, and subtle prompting cues.
New Year, New Cloud Strategy – 5 Shifts for 2026: Cloud leaders will lean into AI-driven automation to provision faster, reduce risk, and optimize hybrid cloud environments. This article breaks down the five key strategy shifts, and how to start preparing today.
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High-fives from Vik, Celeste, Anna P, Anna S, Anishta, Bruno, Elena, Mike, Daniel, and Brayan.
2026-01-07
Learn which data skills still matter in 2026, plus community Power BI tips, and smart reads on APIs, AI, and cloud shifts. Read More
2026-01-07
Learn how semantic caching and conversation memory reduce LLM costs, plus community tips on API security, search, and thoughtful AI reads. Read More
2026-01-07
Benchmark PostgreSQL, Qdrant, and Pinecone for vector search performance, plus community tips on plotting, cowsay, and real world AI reads. Read More