Hello, Neo4j Community
After decades of working with various RDBMSs (DB2, Sybase, SQL Server, etc.) and building all kinds of systems, I became a strong advocate for Graph databases. I firmly believe Graphs can unlock unprecedented value when applied to workloads traditionally served by RDBMSs or other NoSQL databases.
That said, I recognize that current Graph databases—like Neo4j—are not yet optimized for these workloads, perhaps not even in their commercial models. And they won’t be unless we start actively exploring these possibilities. Having spent 17 years at Microsoft leading teams to bring new platforms and products to market—many of which were far from “optimized” at first—I’ve learned that progress requires bold early adoption. If we don’t take the leap, we won’t learn, and without learning, we won’t evolve. It’s a process, not a switch you can just flip.
Right now, Graph databases account for less than 2% of the market, while RDBMSs hold around 70%. There is enormous potential for Graphs to claim a significant portion of that share—if we have the appetite to pursue it.
So, I ask myself: Why aren’t Graph database vendors going after these workloads? My only explanation is that they are so captivated by the incredible capabilities Graphs already provide for their existing use cases that they fail to see beyond them. They are, in a sense, “blinded” by their own brilliance. And I get it—Graph technology is amazing. But to reach its full potential, vendors need to step back, see the bigger picture, and think really big. If there’s a company positioned to lead this charge, it’s Neo4j.
After Microsoft, I spent five years co-investing in and working at a startup where we used Graphs to build Line of Business applications—not the typical Graph workloads. I quickly realized that applying Graphs to these use cases required an entirely new approach; we couldn’t simply use them the way we use RDBMSs. This experience fundamentally changed my perspective on everything I had learned in my career. So much so that I feel compelled to share what I’ve discovered—and I’m still learning.
I’ve written articles and shared code on implementing these ideas with Neo4j, which you can find on my GitHub: A New Approach
Now, I’m reaching out to this community to see if others share this vision and want to explore it further. If this resonates with you, I’d love to connect.
Cheers,
Marcos Pinedo