Explore the various approaches and trade-offs for querying streaming data in Apache Kafka-based architectures in this 54-minute conference talk from GeeCON 2024. Learn how to tackle the fundamental challenge of querying data when everything in your system operates as a stream, moving beyond the traditional monolithic database approach. Discover multiple solutions for asking questions about topic contents, including Kafka Streams, streaming SQL implementations, relational databases, data lakes, and real-time analytics databases like Apache Pinot. Understand the specific use cases, benefits, and limitations of each querying method to make informed architectural decisions. Gain insights into building more evolvable, responsive, and maintainable event-driven systems while mastering the art of selecting the right querying solution based on your specific requirements and constraints.