Pros
What I value most is that the work feels like mine. As an IC you own the whole arc of a problem, from framing through to shipping and how it gets reported back to the business. You have some ad-hoc requests to deal with once in a while, but it never becomes the whole job. In general, ICs are trusted to be total owners and are held accountable to deliver impact. There’s more to like beyond that. Comp bands are competitive. The data stack is solid (dbt + Snowflake + good EL and reverse-ETL tooling). Various levels of leadership are receptive to IC feedback and typically respond well. This last point has improved significantly in 2026.
Cons
Prioritization isn’t always settled, so longer-term work can lose momentum to whatever’s urgent. But on this front as well there’s been recent signs of improvement. WLB is good, but you have to set your own boundaries rather than wait for them to be drawn for you.
