What is data lineage, and how do you capture it across a pipeline at table and column level?
When a metric looks off, lineage points you to the upstream table at fault. The signal is separating table from column lineage and knowing the three capture methods: SQL parsing, runtime hooks, and metadata APIs.
Updated Sep 2026 · Grounded in real GenAI, LLM, and AI/ML engineering interview loops and written to a senior-engineer editorial bar.
When a metric looks off, lineage points you to the upstream table at fault. The signal is separating table from column lineage and knowing the three capture methods: SQL parsing, runtime hooks, and metadata APIs.
Lead with where the obvious approach breaks, because that is the judgment they are screening for — most candidates jump straight to the happy path and lose the room.
Then walk the failure back through the pipeline in order, naming the one metric the customer's exec sponsor actually cares about before you propose the fix.
