Matt Warden

Writing

Four longer form pieces below. Everything after them is an archive of notes — some long and some a link plus a paragraph of comment, mostly originally posted on LinkedIn. I keep them because they're my thoughts and worth keeping outside of a social media site.

Long form

Data Custody for K-12 Districts

Who should hold custody of a school district's data, why vendors are reluctant to interoperate with Ed-Fi, and why districts should keep control of their own records anyway.

Focused Dashboard Needs & the Ed-Fi ODS

For a focused reporting need, wiring a full data warehouse to your ODS is overkill. A star schema mart is simpler and works better. An argument against the default answer.

Start Planning Ahead on Early Childhood Data

States are investing heavily in early childhood education. Connecting Pre-K data to the existing K-12 systems is the part nobody plans for until it is expensive.

Will AI Kill SaaS Software?

The question the AI Alternatives Project came out of, and the reason I started testing it with real prompts instead of arguing about it.

Shorter notes
100+ entries

A link and a comment, kept for the comment. Filter if you are looking for something specific.

AI Threatens 1 in 5 Jobs on Paper. The Labor Market Hasn't Noticed. AI & Technology
Student Loan Defaulters Are Middle-Aged, Not Fresh Graduates Economics
Only 1 in 5 Americans Still Work From Home Career
Data Center Growth Faces Delays From Power Equipment Shortages AI & Technology
Retirement Is Splitting Into Two Timelines Finance
Scaling Free College Access Through Standardized Exams Education
Americans Are Staying in Their Homes Longer And It's Reshaping the Housing Market Economics
Using Face ID to Unlock Your Phone is Crazy Security
Primary Care Access Crisis: Wait Times Hit 26 Days as Physician Supply Declines Health
Where Americans Are Relocating: City Migration Trends Economics
$150 Million AI Policy Battle Moves to Campaign Trail AI & Technology
School-Issued Devices and Declining Test Scores Education
Eye-opening Math Remediation Shifts at UC San Diego Education
Mechanic Shortage and College-educated Oversupply Economics
Is English a Coding Language? AI & Technology
Credit Card Delinquency Rates Vary 2.6x Across U.S. States Finance
$98 Billion in Data Centers Blocked in Single Quarter Economics
Expert Consensus for 2026: Cautious Optimism Meets Persistent Uncertainty Economics
Ford Offers $120K for Mechanics It Can't Find Economics
K12 vs Early Childhood Education Education
How is ChatGPT like my dog AI & Technology
I'm hearing "this could happen to anyone" Security
AI causing brain damage? AI & Technology
Pent up mortgage demand Finance
Exec vs Non-exec reactions after poor results Leadership
Harvard Business Review: You need to be bored Health
another data vs evidence example General
Debate over "encryption by default" continues General
One of the hardest problems to deal with in data analysis... AI & Technology
1. Work." "2. Underspend." "3. Use the difference to take... Career
A fundamental problem of education Education
A new Statista chart shows how long workers in different... AI & Technology
“A real commercial market has emerged… learning management... Education
A step further AI & Technology
AI Adoption in the Workplace: Generational Insights AI & Technology
AI browsers with connections to your email, calendar, etc AI & Technology
What Americans Want from AI AI & Technology
When Data Becomes Instruction AI & Technology
AI uncovers zero-day exploit in published code Security
Americans Hate High Prices but They Keep Spending Money Anyway Economics
America’s Fastest-Growing States through 2050 Finance
An astronaut is at peak physical fitness the day before he goes into space Science
Annuities are incorrectly evaluated as an investment rather... Finance
“Arm developed MTE as a tool to help developers find and... Security
“As part of that article, I asked teachers to tell me how... Education
As part of the Miami University College of Engineering and... Education
As we kick off the new year, many of us are setting... Economics
Author spends one sentence glossing over the problem of power storage AI & Technology
The Backdoor Roth: A Financial Literacy Barrier Finance
Being good at execution requires you to be firmly grounded... Career
Big Tech is Going Big on Data Centers for AI AI & Technology
Breaking Down the Average American Household Budget Finance
businesses lacking business models do strange things https://lnkd AI & Technology
By limiting ads, that implicit contract was violated"... AI & Technology
Our Brains Have a Bias on Career Risks Career
CEOs/Founders: Hire the sales team once you can no longer... Leadership
Christmas Holiday Trends General
Credit Card Debt: State by State ️ Finance
Credit card surcharges are an example of what doesn’t show... Economics
Dariusz is not downplaying the value of strong code,... Career
Debt is rising fast Finance
Despite perceptions of rising prices over the last few... Economics
Direct indexing is a powerful investment strategy that can... Finance
Districts in my network: if you are looking to address... AI & Technology
Does automatic stock dividend reinvestment make sense anymore Finance
Does where you live impact your economic mobility Economics
Early childhood education will not be allowed by... Education
education data in the US would be in a very different place... Education
Excellent article https://lnkd General
Excellent perspective regarding big data AI & Technology
Hackers Exploiting Trust via Fake Emergency Requests Security
Forgetting the ominous clickbaiting headline, this is a... AI & Technology
From Pandemic Savings to Post-Pandemic Spending: A Financial Shift Economics
Global Optimism for 2025: A Snapshot Economics
Goldman Sachs Delivers Grim Outlook for Prospective Homebuyers Finance
Good write up from the Ed-Fi Alliance of the impact of our work with Michigan Education
Grocery Spending Varies Widely Across the US Economics
Have regularly seen fake email requests pretending to be an... AI & Technology
Having seen many atrociously organized spreadsheets not fit... AI & Technology
Hiring occurs at a point in time, and after that point in... Career
Home Buying Struggles Are Real Finance
Huge one-year increases in certain states (VT, NJ, MT) https://lnkd Economics
I feel blessed to be able to provide our employees and... AI & Technology
I once had feedback from a leadership team member that my... Leadership
I still find that almost nobody knows how much more they’re... Finance
I went into pilot training expecting it to be difficult but... General
If you’re a parent with kids in a TX school district, let... Education
In tech, a lot of people boarded planes where the pilots... AI & Technology
The Uneven Recovery Economics
Interesting Career
Interesting article Career
Interesting legal question on what qualifies as price... General
Interesting perspective Education
It's surprising to me how quickly sentiment is shifting around higher education Education
Which Number Is Larger: 5.12 or 5.8? AI & Technology
Longest Commutes in U Finance
Many Americans count on their tax refunds Finance
Why Most Meetings Suck Leadership
“Model Context Protocol has attracted an enormous amount of... AI & Technology
Most higher ed institutions arent investing strategically... AI & Technology
Most meeting suck Leadership
Must keep brain power switch in the ON position when using data and technology AI & Technology
my article on prototyping for BI is now available on TDWI AI & Technology
No matter their length, "success" books seem to have about... General
Nobody can do the “last mile” of learning but you Career
Prompt Engineering: The Fastest Disappearing Job AI & Technology
Regardless of what "side" you're on, this has large implications http://lnkd General
Are We Being Selfish About Remote Work? Leadership
Savings fuels sober risk taking which fuels more savings Finance
Simple strategy to defeat AI fraud calls Security
Social Engineering Is About to Get Worse Security
Silly financial advice we give young people Finance
State Economic Performance Is Diverging Economics
Statista’s chart shows that employment in certain U Career
Student Loan Debt: A Look Across the U Finance
Tax Burdens and Real Estate Trends: A Holistic Perspective Finance
Teacher shortages are a problem in every state, whether red or blue Education
That sound you hear is millions of "business models"... AI & Technology
The Americans might have invented the world’s best methods... General
The best data for decision making is data that REJECTS hypotheses Career
The fundamental problem of education Education
The goal of forecasting isn’t to be right, but to be as... Leadership
The landscape of companies is shifting: Economics
The People Death Spiral Career
The phrase “work-life balance” has always seemed off to me Career
The understanding of "middle-class income" varies across the US Economics
The U.S. dominates the world university ranking. "The U.S.... Education
The world's largest company may surprise you Economics
EdTech Zombieware Education
Theresa Payton critiques the long-term dominance of large... Finance
These are challenging times for a lot of people, and I know... AI & Technology
This article stole all my trade secrets https://lnkd Economics
This is a one-way view of hiring, with the underlying... Career
This is shyness or social anxiety, not introversion Health
This is solid and mirrors advice I received early in my career Career
This Statista article, with select countries summarized in... Education
Timescape Cosmology Gets a Bump Science
To those worried autonomous cars might lead to accidents:... AI & Technology
Transforming K-12 Education with Data Interoperability Education
U.S. Credit Card Debt Reaches Record $1.17 Trillion... Finance
We have a bad habit of overbroad application of technology https://lnkd AI & Technology
“We know that Covid (and school closures) hurt achievement... Education
We know that our people want work location flexibility, but... Finance
“We study subliminal learning, a surprising phenomenon... Education
Were receipts ever actually evidence of anything AI & Technology
What Does Financial Success Look Like Across Generations Finance
What is "financial success" Economics
Which Country Reads the Most Education
Why in-flight wifi is still slow and expensive: monopoly... General
Will be interesting to see if this can work Career
“You’re not a startup anymore AI & Technology