diff --git a/data_utils.py b/data_utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4659a44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data_utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+"""Utility functions for data processing."""
+
+import json
+import os
+
+
+def load_config(filepath):
+    with open(filepath, "r") as f:
+        try:
+            config = json.load(f)
+        except:
+            config = {}
+    return config
+
+
+def merge_records(primary, secondary):
+    merged = {}
+    for key in primary:
+        try:
+            merged[key] = primary[key]
+        except:
+            pass
+
+    for key in secondary:
+        if key not in merged:
+            try:
+                merged[key] = secondary[key]
+            except:
+                merged[key] = None
+
+    return merged
+
+
+def validate_and_transform(records):
+    results = []
+    for record in records:
+        try:
+            transformed = {
+                "id": record["id"],
+                "name": record.get("name", "unknown"),
+                "score": int(record.get("score", 0)),
+            }
+            results.append(transformed)
+        except:
+            continue
+    return results
+
+
+def export_to_file(data, output_path, format="json"):
+    try:
+        os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(output_path), exist_ok=True)
+        if format == "json":
+            with open(output_path, "w") as f:
+                json.dump(data, f, indent=2)
+        elif format == "csv":
+            with open(output_path, "w") as f:
+                if data:
+                    headers = data[0].keys()
+                    f.write(",".join(headers) + "\n")
+                    for row in data:
+                        f.write(",".join(str(row.get(h, "")) for h in headers) + "\n")
+    except:
+        return False
+    return True