The Good Tech Companies - The Guy Who Fixed One of Tech's Most Expensive Problems

Episode Date: September 17, 2025

This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/the-guy-who-fixed-one-of-techs-most-expensive-problems. Kumar Sai Sankar Javvaji built a zero-downtime database update system, saving businesses millions by automating schema changes and boosting reliability. Check more stories related to programming at: https://hackernoon.com/c/programming. You can also check exclusive content about #kumar-sai-sankar-javvaji, #zero-downtime-database, #database-schema-automation, #delta-lake-transaction-system, #data-engineering-innovation, #parallel-backfilling-updates, #good-company, and more. This story was written by: @jonstojanjournalist. Learn more about this writer by checking @jonstojanjournalist's about page, and for more stories, please visit hackernoon.com. Downtime costs companies millions, especially during database updates. Kumar Sai Sankar Javvaji solved this by creating a system with automatic table versioning, parallel backfilling, and rolling updates—allowing old and new versions to run side by side. His solution eliminates outages, streamlines deployments, and has reshaped how teams manage data infrastructure.

This audio is presented by Hacker Noon, where anyone can learn anything about any technology. The guy who fixed one of tech's most expensive problems by John Stoy and journalist. Your computer crashes, your phone freezes, and your Netflix stops working. It's keep frustrating. Now, imagine running a business where your entire data system fails. Every second of downtime costs you money. Companies lose serious cash when their systems fail. According to Gardner, the average cost of IT downtime is 5,000. $600 per minute. Big companies can lose $300,000 an hour when things break. Some lose even more.

It's like having a money fire that keeps burning until someone puts it out. This gets way worse when companies need to change their databases. Think of it like renovating your house while you're still living in it. Most of the time, you have to move out first. Same with databases, everything has to shut down before you can make changes. Recent statistics show that 44% of organizations now count their hourly downtime costs at over $1 million. That's insane money just disappearing. Kumar Sai Sankar Javaji was dealing with this nightmare every day. He was employed by a large online retailer as a data engineer. He was responsible for maintaining the seamless flow of enormous volumes of client data. But every time they needed to update how that

data was organized, everything had to stop. The breaking point came during what should have been a routine update. The company wanted to change how it stored customer information to add new features. Their system couldn't handle the change without shutting down for hours. Customers couldn't shop. Sales stopped. Money disappeared while he and his team scrambled to fix everything. Building something that works. He got tired of this mess. He sat down and built something completely different. His new system could handle database changes without shutting anything down. No more emergency meetings, no more panicked phone calls, no more lost money. His solution had three parts that worked together.

First, automatic tablo-versioning that saved old data while creating new structures. Second, smart parallel backfilling that copied historical information across multiple processes at once. Third, rolling updates that let new and old versions work side by side. Here's how it actually worked. When developers needed to change the database structure, his system would automatically save the current version, like taking a snapshot. Then it would create the new version alongside the old one. Both cold run at the same time. Old queries kept working with old data. New queries

used the new structure. No downtime, no problems. The technical setup used Delta Lakes transaction features with custom scheduling software he wrote himself. The system watched for database changes in real time, kept complete histories so nothing got lost, and led different versions coexist peacefully. Multiple processing engines handled data copying across different sections simultaneously, keeping everything running smoothly. His framework managed everything automatically. When developers deployed chemichanges, the system found affected data structures, created new versions, and started copying historical data in parallel.

All the connected systems and data pipelines got updated seamlessly. Everything stayed consistent across the entire setup without anyone having to babysit the process. The system adeptly managed complex edge cases that typically caused failures. It seamlessly handled conflicting database changes, resolved data type mismatches, and maintained connections between different table versions. It transformed risky database updates into straightforward, routine processes. Rolling updates were the coolest part. Instead of shutting everything down, new database versions could work alongside old ones.

New data flowed through updated structures while old searches of historical data kept working normally. It was similar to having two simultaneous versions of your home. Everything changed for the better. His system became essential for every software release. Engineering teams could change database structures quickly without planning complex maintenance windows or worrying about breaking things. The automation cut down on human mistakes during database transitions while keeping data available for critical business functions. Tasks that used to take hours of careful coordination now happen automatically. Instead of maintaining current, systems, this freed up engineering time to create new features. Instead of addressing long-standing

issues, people may concentrate on developing innovative new products. Company leadership noticed how big a deal his work was. It started influencing other data projects throughout the organization. The approach proved that smart design could make data systems support business growth instead of holding it back. Traditional systems treat schema changes like emergencies, Kumar Sai Sankar Javaji explains. Everything stops, teams scramble to manually update processes, and business operations suffer while we race to get systems back online. Other engineering teams started paying attention to his success. His design ideas began influencing data architecture decisions across multiple projects. New standards for handling database changes in production environments emerged. The automation

features proved especially valuable during frequent software releases, where manual work would have created impossible workloads. Database administrators loved how his system changed their daily work. Before, database changes required careful planning, long maintenance windows, and constant monitoring to make sure data stayed correct. The new system handled these operations automatically, letting teams focus on strategic projects instead of routine maintenance. The bigger picture, his work shows a major shift in how organizations think about data systems. Old school data engineering focused on building systems that could survive changes through careful planning and manual work. Modern approaches emphasize building systems that thrive on changes through automation

and smart design. His system represents this evolution toward a proactive infrastructure that adapts to business needs instead of restricting them. This matches broader industry trends toward zero downtime deployment strategies and continuous integration practices that have transformed software development. As data amounts keep growing in business requirements change faster, solutions like his point toward a future where data infrastructure becomes truly adaptive. The technology shows that with careful design and automated processes, data teams can build systems that embrace change as innovation fuel instead of operational headaches. His influence went beyond the immediate technical implementation. The organization's other teams began similarly

tackling infrastructure problems, fostering a culture of proactive automation rather than reactive firefighting. The biggest long-term effect of his work may be this change in culture. Now his system is part of every software update the company does. Teams can push changes confidently without worrying about breaking things. Company bosses love it because it works and has influenced how other data projects get built throughout the organization. This system changed how we think about data pipeline maintenance, Kumar Saisankar Javaji reflects. Instead of dreading schema changes, teams can focus on building features that drive business value. Other data engineers dealing with similar headaches can learn from what he built. His method demonstrates that

rather than seeing database changes as impending catastrophes, you can create systems that manage them with ease. A well-designed data infrastructure can accelerate rather than impede the growth off your company. Kumar Sai Sankar Javaji's work proves something important. The best innovations come from fixing real problems that actually matter. He turned something that was giving businesses a lot of difficulties and money into something monotonousin automated. That is the type of engineering that has a significant impact. Thank you for listening to this Hackernoon story, read by artificial intelligence. Visit hackernoon.com to read, write, learn and publish.