Why We Use Separate Tech Stacks for Personalization and Experimentation
Original URL: https://engineering.atspotify.com/2026/1/why-we-use-separate-tech-stacks-for-personalization-and-experimentation
Article Written: January 1, 2026
Added: January 8, 2026
Type: vision
Summary
The article discusses the importance of separating tech stacks for personalization and experimentation at Spotify. It explains how personalized applications enhance user experiences by tailoring content to individual preferences using advanced machine learning models. The distinction between personalization and experimentation is highlighted, emphasizing the need for different infrastructures and methodologies for each. The article also outlines the benefits of this separation in terms of scalability and efficiency in evaluating recommendation systems.
💠Your Thoughts
very agreed with this example: "A recommendation algorithm might boost immediate listening time by only suggesting familiar songs users already love. While this looks great on short-term engagement metrics, it reduces music discovery and ultimately harms long-term satisfaction. "