Less Guessing, More Fetching: Dutch Pet’s Data Revolution with Sigma

Life Before Sigma

Founded in 2021, Dutch Pet launched during the pandemic pet boom with a clear mission: fix the broken experience of vet care by making it more accessible. But scaling that vision came with growing pains. The team started scrappy, tracking everything in Google Sheets. As demand exploded, they upgraded to Tableau—only to hit a new wall.

We had dashboards on top of dashboards, but people still couldn’t get to the granular data they needed.
_{—Kelly Nielsen, Director of Business Intelligence.}

"We had dashboards on top of dashboards, but people still couldn’t get to the granular data they needed," said Kelly Nielsen, Director of Business Intelligence. "Asking for reports took time, and it slowed us down."

Tableau required analysts for nearly every data request. Its dashboards were static and couldn't keep up with Dutch's pace. Data bottlenecks were everywhere, and frontline teams were flying blind. 

Dutch needed a new approach: one that would give every team real-time access to trusted data without piling more work onto the data team.

Choosing a BI Solution

Dutch Pet didn’t just need a new dashboard—they needed a better way to work with data across the org. Sigma stood out for its ability to meet people where they already were: in spreadsheets. But it wasn’t just familiar—it was powerful.

“When Sigma came in, it was sort of the light bulb moment for me,” Nielsen recalled. 

With Sigma, the team got a live connection to its Snowflake data, an intuitive UI that business users could actually navigate, and a flexible canvas for building reports that adapt on the fly. That combination of accessibility and performance helped Dutch eliminate bottlenecks and scale data access fast.

Sigma had no shortcomings for us. We migrated fully in just a couple of months.
_{—Kelly Nielsen, Director of Business Intelligence}

"Sigma had no shortcomings for us. The interface was intuitive, and it connected directly to our data. We migrated fully in just a couple of months—quick and easy," said Nielsen.

Unlike Tableau, Sigma enabled true self-service. Business teams could explore by cohort, channel, or time period without waiting on data to load. Power users got faster insights. And the data team got space back to focus on strategy—not ad-hoc support.

Sigma usage spread through the team like wildfire because it was simple and fast.
_{—Joe Spector, CEO} 

"Speed and agility are everything," said Dutch Pet CEO Joe Spector. "Sigma usage spread through the team like wildfire because it was simple and fast."

Sigma delivered the scalability, flexibility, and access Dutch needed to put data in the hands of every team—from marketers to veterinarians.

Life with Sigma

Self-Service Analytics Across the Business
Sigma transformed how Dutch works with data. Now, every team can break down KPIs, filter by business unit, and explore insights—without filing a data team request. Ask Sigma, the platform’s AI-powered natural language interface, takes it even further.

At a conference, I had a two-hour break and spent the whole time exploring Ask Sigma.
_{—Joe Spector, CEO}‍

"At a conference, I had a two-hour break and spent the whole time exploring Ask Sigma," said Spector. "Even lunch couldn’t pull me away."

By shifting from manual reporting to real-time self-service, Dutch flipped its workflow—from 70% spent building reports to 70% spent on analysis.

Member Insights & Personalization
Dutch Pet’s business runs on two engines: product sales and member subscriptions. Ask Sigma helps the team identify seasonal trends, spot drop-off points in the customer journey, and uncover unmet care needs.

It also turns unstructured messages between vets and pet owners into structured insights—powering a more responsive, personalized experience.

Ask Sigma also helps Dutch quantify user behavior, understand engagement, and tie value directly to resource investment.

It’s like having another analyst on the team—one that’s 10x faster than I am.
_{—Lance Fernando, Data Scientist} 

"With one question, I used Ask Sigma to generate 10 different charts outlining our membership types," said Data Scientist Lance Fernando. "It’s like having another analyst on the team—one that’s 10x faster than I am."

Automating Vet Compensation
On the ops side, Sigma helped Dutch streamline vet payouts—a critical, once-manual process. Sigma also helps the Dutch team analyze the engagement of vets on the platform, like how available vets are to customers. 

Now, we have a unified report that pulls everything together. It’s automated and fast.
_{—Lance Fernando, Data Scientist} 

"Before, our team had to pull data manually from multiple spreadsheets and reports just to figure out what vets were doing and what they were owed," said Fernando. "Now, we have a unified report that pulls everything together. It’s automated and fast."

Future Plans with Sigma

Sigma isn’t just helping Dutch Pet move faster—it’s helping them rethink what’s possible. With the veterinary labor shortage continuing, maximizing vet time is more important than ever. Dutch plans to lean into AI-driven insights to optimize resourcing by geography, specialty, and time of day—ensuring vets are deployed where they’re needed most.

 ”Anytime that you have a ton of data, there's an opportunity”, said  Keri Voke, Chief Product Officer. “Without Sigma, I think that our pace of business would slow, honestly.” 

Anytime that you have a ton of data, there's an opportunity.
_{—Keri Voke, Chief Product Officer}‍

By structuring rich, conversational data from vet consultations and layering in AI, Dutch is building smarter tools that save time, improve care, and scale impact.

Nielsen emphasized that transparency is essential when working with AI tools like Ask Sigma. She noted that as teams start exploring AI, it’s normal to question whether the answers are accurate and trustworthy. Being able to see exactly how each result is produced helps overcome that skepticism and build confidence in the insights.

“I love the ‘show your work’ component,” she explained. “The fact that I can follow the logic and validate the steps builds a lot of trust in the product.”

I could never go back to another tool that didn’t build for their customer the way that Sigma does.
_{—Kelly Nielson, Director of Business Intelligence} 

As Dutch Pet continues to grow, Sigma remains a force multiplier—turning raw insights into action, empowering teams across the org, and helping redefine what modern veterinary care can look like.

"AI shines a light on insights that traditional reporting can miss. It helps us connect the dots that inspire innovation," said Spector. "It’s not replacing humans; it’s a powerful helper that lets us move faster and leaner."

Nielsen summed it up: “I could never go back to another tool that didn’t build for their customer the way that Sigma does.”

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