---
title: "Why War \u0026 Peace Is Killing Your Data Budget "
description: "Learn how selective data recalculation can cut your cloud data warehouse costs by 9x. Key insights for startups to optimize their AI/ML transformation spend."
categories: ["fundraising"]
keywords: ["cloud data warehouse","selective data recalculation","Databricks","SQLMesh","AI transformation","data budget optimization","cost savings in data engineering","Tobiko","venture capital","data stack efficiency"]
ai_summary: "Discover how selective data recalculation can save 9x on cloud data warehouse costs for AI/ML transformations."
date: 2025-03-06
lastmod: 2026-07-28
canonical_url: https://www.tomtunguz.com/tobiko-databricks-benchmark/
author: "Tomasz Tunguz"
---

Imagine if every time you edited a document, the word processor forced you to retype everything that had been written before that edit. 



How expensive would that be for a company?

This is exactly how data transformation works today. Each time a data engineer modifies some part of the data stack, the Cloud Data Warehouse & its transformation layer recalculates everything.

What if the system were designed so that it only recalculated the metrics needed? How much less expensive would it be? 

[Databricks partnered with Tobiko](https://tobikodata.com/tobiko-dbt-benchmark-databricks.html) to quantify the impact. Selective recalculation delivers a 9x cost savings. 


![image](https://res.cloudinary.com/dzawgnnlr/image/upload/avijphq8pxms3dq8vg3u.png)

Selective recalculation - only calculating what needs to be - delivers the 9x cost savings. This efficiency becomes critical as data transforms from a business asset into the business foundation itself with AI.

Migrating to a new system is often expensive, but with [SQLMesh's dbt adapter](https://sqlmesh.readthedocs.io/en/stable/integrations/dbt/#using-airflow), no code changes are required to the existing schema to support this cost savings.

In a world where every cloud dollar counts, it's time to stop forcing your data warehouse to rewrite "War and Peace" when all you need is the Cliff's Notes — your CFO will thank you.