---
title: "Netflix's New AI Role"
description: "Explore how Netflix's new Media ML Data Engineer role signals the fusion of software and data engineering, as unstructured data becomes central to AI innovation."
categories: ["AI","data","trends"]
keywords: ["Netflix","Media ML Data Engineer","unstructured data","multimodal data","data engineering","software engineering","data lake","LanceDB","AI innovation","data analytics"]
ai_summary: "Netflix's new Media ML Data Engineer role highlights the fusion of software and data engineering in AI innovation."
date: 2025-08-26
lastmod: 2026-07-28
canonical_url: https://www.tomtunguz.com/netflix-new-ai-role/
author: "Tomasz Tunguz"
---

Netflix invented a new role for their data team : the [Media ML Data Engineer](https://netflixtechblog.com/from-facts-metrics-to-media-machine-learning-evolving-the-data-engineering-function-at-netflix-6dcc91058d8d).

Unstructured data is fundamentally different. It's multimodal & contains derived fields like embeddings, captions, & transcriptions. It's also at least [80% of the world's data](https://venturebeat.com/data-infrastructure/report-80-of-global-datasphere-will-be-unstructured-by-2025/) & essential for the field of AI.

This new role highlights how one of the most important companies within the data ecosystem has evolved to promote multimodal data as core. [Software engineering & data engineering are fusing](https://tomtunguz.com/data-engineering/).

{{< email_image src="llrssjozrwf1gexrs2gj" alt="lancedb-multimodal-platform" width="540" height="309" >}}

_[Netflix's Team Multimodal Architecture](https://netflixtechblog.com/from-facts-metrics-to-media-machine-learning-evolving-the-data-engineering-function-at-netflix-6dcc91058d8d)_

Different data producers send their data to a media machine learning data engineer who then supplies it for analytics, data science, & applied AI.

At the core of this role is a technology : the media data lake. In addition to access, metadata management, & data preparation, the new media data lake becomes an essential component of AI. Powering all of this is a portfolio company [LanceDB](https://lancedb.com/).

[{{< email_image src="tqhydeskdjrd8maqx9ir" alt="Screenshot 2025-08-26 at 11.25.42 AM" width="540" height="303" >}}](https://tomtunguz.com/9-predictions-for-data-2023/)

We wrote about this type of architecture in 2022 in [9 Predictions for Data in 2023](https://tomtunguz.com/9-predictions-for-data-2023/) & it's thrilling to see it come to life at Netflix.

The demand for engineers who understand both traditional data infrastructure & multimodal AI will only grow.

Companies like LanceDB are building the next generation of data platforms to support this evolution. If you're ready to work at this intersection, [check out their open positions](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/lancedb).