How Duolingo Democratized Data Access While Protecting Sensitive Information

Global language learning leader Duolingo needed to empower its rapidly growing workforce with data insights while maintaining strict control over sensitive information. By implementing Sigma's cloud-native analytics platform, they transformed their data ecosystem from an engineering bottleneck into a self-service environment that maintains security without sacrificing accessibility.

The Initial Challenge

With 48 million daily active users generating petabytes of data, Duolingo's existing in-house analytics tools were designed primarily for technical users like engineers and product managers. This created bottlenecks as other departments increasingly needed data access for strategic decision-making. The manual request process stifled curiosity and innovation across teams.

People would limit the questions they would ask. That really limited the types of exploration they would do.
_{– Jonathan Burket, Engineering Director}

As Jonathan Burket, Engineering Director at Duolingo explains: "People would limit the questions they would ask. They'd say, 'I don't want to be a burden on the engineers or data science folks.' That really limited the types of exploration they would do."

Industry & Organizational Context

As Duolingo expanded beyond language learning into new verticals like chess, music, and math, the need for democratized data access became critical. Different departments required unique views of engagement metrics, revenue trends, and user behavior to drive growth. The company's culture of rapid experimentation, running hundreds of concurrent AB tests, demanded that all teams have the ability to quickly analyze results and iterate on product improvements. This velocity couldn't be maintained through manual data requests and engineering bottlenecks.

The Approach to Change

Rather than forcing adoption through mandates, Duolingo focused on demonstrating value by enabling access to previously inaccessible insights. The goal was to empower every employee to leverage data in their daily work, regardless of technical expertise.

We want people to be able to go in and answer their own questions without needing to rely on a data scientist.
_{– Jonathan Burket, Engineering Director}

"We want everyone at Duolingo to feel comfortable working with data, accessing it, exploring it," Burket said. "We want people to be able to go in and answer their own questions without needing to rely on a data scientist or engineer to keep them unblocked."

Sigma in Action

Duolingo leveraged Sigma's spreadsheet-like interface to make data exploration intuitive for non-technical users. The platform's row-level security capabilities enabled granular access controls, allowing managers to view their team's data while protecting sensitive information. The implementation of input tables transformed manual processes, particularly in people analytics. Teams could now annotate anomalies, track insights, and maintain audit trails directly within Sigma rather than managing disconnected spreadsheets.
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Using Sigma, I was able to make a dashboard in under two hours that got the answers.
_{– Jonathan Burket, Engineering Director}

"Previously we might have had to do SQL analysis but using Sigma, I was able to make a dashboard in under two hours that got the answers to my questions, and I was able to make visualizations that showed the distribution," Burket said.
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Business Outcomes & Impact

The transformation delivered measurable results across the organization. Within 90 days, 91% of eligible users actively adopted the platform. The data team freed 15+ engineers and data scientists from routine reporting tasks, enabling them to focus on strategic initiatives. The platform now supports 300+ concurrent AB tests, enabling rapid experimentation and product innovation. Marketing teams gained direct insight into regional performance, while people analytics automated previously manual processes.

"We've been able to see people create new dashboards in relatively quick time periods," Burket said. "Now we're seeing people say, 'Oh, I just have this idea. Let me go see how it looks in the data.'"

Looking Ahead

We're excited about the possibilities that Sigma Tenants gives us to be able to isolate the more sensitive pieces of our data.
_{– Jonathan Burket, Engineering Director}

Duolingo is particularly excited about implementing Sigma Tenants to further enhance their data governance strategy. The feature will enable them to isolate sensitive data and provide controlled access to contractors while maintaining their self-service culture. As they expand into new learning verticals and leverage AI capabilities, Duolingo sees Sigma as a crucial partner in maintaining their data-driven culture while protecting sensitive information.

"We're excited about the possibilities that Sigma Tenants gives us to be able to isolate the more sensitive pieces of our data in our ecosystem such that only some users can work with that data and we don't need to worry about other users accidentally seeing information," Burket says.

Learn more about Sigma Tenants here.

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