About this episode

Martin Kleppmann discusses the evolution of data systems and the importance of user data ownership.

Martin Kleppmann, an associate professor at Cambridge and author of Designing Data-Intensive Applications, discusses the evolution of data systems over the last decade, mainly the shift from monolithic databases to modular building blocks. Kleppmann underlines the importance of moving from cloud-centric data storage systems to decentralised data storage similar to Bluesky’s AT protocol. He also dives into explaining the local-first movement and the importance of users owning their data. Read a transcript of this interview: https://bit.ly/4vXoT1V Newsletter: Subscribe to the Software Architects’ Newsletter for your monthly guide to the essential news and experience from industry peers on emerging patterns and technologies: https://www.infoq.com/software-architects-newsletter InfoQ online certification cohorts: Online cohorts for senior engineers and architects, built around QCon talks. Join a 5-week confidential peer group to validate your approach and apply practitioner frameworks to the technical challenges you face at work. Learn more: https://certification.qconferences.com/ Upcoming Events: InfoQ Live (June 23, 2026) https://live.infoq.com/ InfoQ Online Certification Programs…

People in this episode

Host: InfoQ

Guest: Martin Kleppmann

Topics covered

• data agency
• decentralized storage
• local-first software
• modular data systems
• cloud computing
• data ownership

Keywords

• data systems
• decentralization
• Bluesky AT protocol
• local-first movement
• data storage
• cloud-centric systems

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Cambridge, Bluesky

Books & works: Designing Data-Intensive Applications

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