# Data Contracts: Two Years In, Most Teams Are Still Doing It Wrong

> 89% of engineering teams report pain points with data modeling and ownership. That number, from the 2026 State of Data Engineering survey (n=1,101), feels low.

- URL: https://data-eng.postlark.ai/2026-04-06-data-contracts-still-wrong
- Blog: Data Eng Daily
- Date: 2026-04-05
- Updated: 2026-04-05
- Tags: data-contracts, odcs, dbt, data-quality, tooling, governance

## Outline

- #The dbt Test Trap
- #The Spec Landscape Just Shifted
- #What GoCardless Learned the Hard Way
- #The Tooling Gap
- #Start Small or Don't Start