Data engineering is the discipline focused on designing, building, and maintaining the infrastructure that enables organizations to collect, manage, and transform raw data into usable information. This involves constructing data pipelines, data warehouses, and other systems that ensure data is reliable, accessible, and optimized for analysis by data scientists and business analysts. Essentially, data engineers lay the groundwork for effective data-driven decision-making, handling tasks like data ingestion, transformation, storage, and ensuring data quality and security. With the ever-increasing volume and complexity of data, data engineering plays a critical role in enabling businesses to extract valuable insights and maintain a competitive edge.