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DataFramed

DataFramed

326 episodes — Page 5 of 7

#189 From BI to AI with Nick Magnuson, Head of AI at Qlik

Generative AI has made a mark everywhere, including BI platforms, but how can you combine AI and BI together? What effects can this have across organizations? With constituent aspects such as data quality, your AI strategy, and the specific use-case you’re trying to solve, it’s important to get the full picture and tread with intent. What are the subtleties that we need to get right in order for this marriage to work to its full potential?Nick Magnuson is the Head of AI at Qlik, executing the organization’s AI strategy, solution development, and innovation. Prior to Qlik, Nick was the CEO of Big Squid, which was acquired by Qlik in 2021. Nick has previously held executive roles in customer success, product, and engineering in the field of machine learning and predictive analytics. As a practitioner in this field for over 20 years, Nick has published original research in these areas, as well as cognitive bias and other quantitative topics. He has also served as an advisor to other analytics platforms and start-ups. A long-time investment professional, Nick continues to hold his Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a past member of the Chicago Quantitative Alliance and Society of Quantitative Analysts. In the episode, Richie and Nick explore what Qlik offers, including products like Sense and Staige, how Staige uses AI to enhance customer capabilities, use cases of generative AI, advice on data privacy and security when using AI, data quality and its effect on the success of AI tools, AI strategy and leadership, how data roles are changing and the emergence of new positions, and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show:QlikQlik StaigeQlik Sense[Skill Track] AI FundamentalsRelated Episode: Adapting to the AI Era with Jason Feifer, Editor in Chief of Entrepreneur MagazineSign up to RADAR: The Analytics EditionNew to DataCamp?Learn on the go using the DataCamp mobile appEmpower your business with world-class data and AI skills with DataCamp for business

Mar 20, 202444 min

#188 Scaling Enterprise Analytics with Libby Duane Adams, Chief Advocacy Officer and Co-Founder of Alteryx

Despite the critical role of analytics in guiding business decisions, organizations continue to face significant challenges in harnessing its full potential. As data sets expand and deadlines shrink, the urgency to scale analytics processes becomes paramount. What data leaders now need to focus on are essential strategies for analytics at scale, including fostering a culture of continuous learning, prioritizing data governance, and leveraging generative AI.Libby Duane Adams is the Chief Advocacy Officer and co-founder of Alteryx. She is responsible for strengthening upskilling and reskilling efforts for Alteryx customers to enable a culture of analytics, scaling the presence of the Alteryx SparkED education program and furthering diversity and inclusion in the workplace. As the former Chief Customer Officer, Libby has helped many Fortune 100 executives to identify and seize market opportunities, outsmart their competitors, and drive more revenue from their current businesses using analytics. In the episode, Richie and Libby explore the differences between analytics and business intelligence, analytics as a team sport, the importance of speed in analytics, generative AI and its implications in analytics, the role of data quality and governance, Alteryx’s AI platform, data skills as a workplace necessity, using AI to automate documentation and insights, success stories and mistakes within analytics, and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show:AlteryxAlteryx SparkED Program[Course] Introduction to AlteryxRelated Episode: From Data Literacy to AI Literacy with Cindi Howson, Chief Data Strategy Officer at ThoughtSpotSign up to RADAR: The Analytics EditionNew to DataCamp?Learn on the go using the DataCamp mobile appEmpower your business with world-class data and AI skills with DataCamp for business

Mar 18, 202443 min

#187 The Power of Vector Databases and Semantic Search with Elan Dekel, VP of Product at Pinecone

Generative AI is fantastic but has a major problem: sometimes it "hallucinates", meaning it makes things up. In a business product like a chatbot, this can be disastrous. Vector databases like Pinecone are one of the solutions to mitigating the problem.Vector databases are a key component to any AI application, as well as things like enterprise search and document search. They have become an essential tool for every business, and with the rise in interest in AI in the last couple of years, the space is moving quickly. In this episode, you'll find out how to make use of vector databases, and find out about the latest developments at Pinecone.Elan Dekel is the VP of Product at Pinecone, where he oversees the development of the Pinecone vector database. He was previously Product Lead for Core Data Serving at Google, where he led teams working on the indexing systems to serve data for Google search, YouTube search, and Google Maps. Before that, he was Founder and CEO of Medico, which was acquired by Everyday Health.In the episode, RIchie and Elan explore LLMs, hallucination in generative models, vector databases and the best use-cases for them, semantic search, business applications of vector databases and semantic search, the tech stack for AI applications, cost considerations when investing in AI projects, emerging roles within the AI space, the future of vector databases and AI, and much more.  Links Mentioned in the Show:Pinecone CanopyPinecone ServerlessLlamaIndexLangchain[Code Along] Semantic Search with PineconeRelated Episode: Expanding the Scope of Generative AI in the Enterprise with Bal Heroor, CEO and Principal at MactoresSign up to RADAR: The Analytics EditionNew to DataCamp?Learn on the go using the DataCamp mobile appEmpower your business with world-class data and AI skills with DataCamp for business

Mar 11, 202437 min

#186 How the UN is Driving Global AI Governance with Ian Bremmer and Jimena Viveros, Members of the UN AI Advisory Board

One of the most immediate needs to come out of the generative AI boom has been the need for guardrails and governmental regulation of AI technologies. Most of the work already completed in the AI space has been industry-led, with large organizations pushing AI forward to improve their efficiency as businesses and to create new avenues for revenue. This focus on industry and revenue can potentially create more inequality in the world, with companies not interested in the negative effects of AI being driven by profit, towards profit. To combat this, the UN has set up an AI Advisory Board, with members from different nationalities, backgrounds and expertises to ensure that AI is for all, and not just for profit. In this episode, we speak to two members of the board. Ian Bremmer is a political scientist who helps business leaders, policy makers, and the general public make sense of the world around them. He is president and founder of Eurasia Group, the world's leading political risk research and consulting firm, and GZERO Media, a company dedicated to providing intelligent and engaging coverage of international affairs.Ian is credited with bringing the craft of political risk to financial markets, creating Wall Street's first global political risk index (GPRI), and for establishing political risk as an academic discipline. His definition of emerging markets— "those countries where politics matters at least as much as economics for market outcomes”—has become an industry standard. “G-Zero,” his term for a global power vacuum in which no country is willing and able to set the international agenda, is widely used by policymakers and thought leaders.A prolific writer, Ian is the author of eleven books, including two New York Times bestsellers, “Us vs Them: The Failure of Globalism” which examines the rise of populism across the world, and his latest book “The Power of Crisis: How Three Threats—and Our Response—Will Change the World” which details a trio of looming global crises (health emergencies, climate change, and technological revolution) and outlines how governments, corporations, and concerned citizens can use these crises to create global prosperity and opportunity.Jimena Viveros currently serves as the Chief of Staff and Head Legal Advisor to Justice Loretta Ortiz at the Mexican Supreme Court. Her prior roles include national leadership positions at the Federal Judicial Council, the Ministry of Security, and the Ministry of Finance, where she held the position of Director General. Jimena is a lawyer and AI expert, and possesses a broad and diverse international background. She is in the final stages of completing her Doctoral thesis, which focuses on the impact of AI and autonomous weapons on international peace and security law and policy, providing concrete propositions to achieve global governance from diverse legal perspectives. Her extensive work in AI and other legal domains has been widely published and recognized.In the episode, Richie, Ian and Jimena cover what the UN's AI Advisory Body was set up for, the opportunities and risks of AI, how AI impacts global inequality, key principles of AI governance, the implementation of that governance, the future of AI in politics and global society, and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show:UN Interim Report: Governing AI for HumanityAI for Sustainable Development GoalsThe Power of Crisis: How Three Threats – and Our Response – Will Change the World by Ian BremmerWEF Davos 2024: Sam Altman on the future of AI[Course] Artificial Intelligence (AI) StrategyRelated Episode: What to Expect from AI in 2024 with Craig S. Smith, Host of the Eye on A.I PodcastSign up to RADAR: The Analytics EditionNew to DataCamp?Learn on the go using the DataCamp mobile appEmpower your business with world-class data and AI skills with DataCamp for business

Mar 4, 202441 min

#185 Becoming Remarkable with Guy Kawasaki, Author and Chief Evangelist at Canva

Remarkable people walk among us. Some of us may be remarkable ourselves. But none of us start out remarkable. The journey to becoming a person that makes a difference in the world is never easy, as with any story that includes a hero, there are struggles, tests and moments of self-doubt. Remarkable people overcome these feats, and when they are in a position to, they give back. But what kind of mindset do these people have, how do they make decisions? What keeps them on their path towards becoming remarkable. Guy Kawasaki is the chief evangelist of Canva and the creator of Guy Kawasaki’s Remarkable People podcast. He is an executive fellow of the Haas School of Business (UC Berkeley), and adjunct professor of the University of New South Wales. He was the chief evangelist of Apple and a trustee of the Wikimedia Foundation. He has written Wise Guy, The Art of the Start 2.0, The Art of Social Media, Enchantment, and eleven other books. Kawasaki has a BA from Stanford University, an MBA from UCLA, and an honorary doctorate from Babson College.In the episode, Richie and Guy explore the concept of being remarkable, growth, grit and grace, the importance of experiential learning, imposter syndrome, finding your passion, how to network and find remarkable people, dealing with failure, management and encouraging growth, work-life balance, measuring success through benevolent impact and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show:Think Remarkable by Guy KawasakiGuy Kawasaki’s Remarkable PeopleConnect with Guy on LinkedinCanvaThe Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel RuizHow to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Katy MilkmanRelated Episode: Making Better Decisions using Data & AI with Cassie Kozyrkov, Google's First Chief Decision ScientistSign up to RADAR: The Analytics EditionNew to DataCamp?Learn on the go using the DataCamp mobile appEmpower your business with world-class data and AI skills with DataCamp for business

Feb 26, 202456 min

[AI and the Modern Data Stack] #184 Accelerating AI Workflows with Nuri Cankaya, VP of AI Marketing & La Tiffaney Santucci, AI Marketing Director at Intel

We’ve heard so much about the value and capabilities of generative AI over the past year, and we’ve all become accustomed to the chat interfaces of our preferred models. One of the main concerns many of us have had has been privacy. Is OpenAI keeping the data and information I give to ChatGPT secure? One of the touted solutions to this problem is running LLMs locally on your own machine, but with the hardware cost that comes with it, running LLMs locally has not been possible for many of us. That might now be starting to change.Nuri Canyaka is VP of AI Marketing at Intel. Prior to Intel, Nuri spent 16 years at Microsoft, starting out as a Technical Evangelist, and leaving the organization as the Senior Director of Product Marketing. He ran the GTM team that helped generate adoption of GPT in Microsoft Azure products.La Tiffaney Santucci is Intel’s AI Marketing Director, specializing in their Edge and Client products. La Tiffaney has spent over a decade at Intel, focussing on partnerships with Dell, Google Amazon and Microsoft. In the episode, Richie, Nuri and La Tiffaney explore AI’s impact on marketing analytics, the adoptions of AI in the enterprise, how AI is being integrated into existing products, the workflow for implementing AI into business processes and the challenges that come with it, the importance of edge AI for instant decision-making in uses-cases like self-driving cars, the emergence of AI engineering as a distinct field of work, the democratization of AI, what the state of AGI might look like in the near future and much more. About the AI and the Modern Data Stack DataFramed SeriesThis week we’re releasing 4 episodes focused on how AI is changing the modern data stack and the analytics profession at large. The modern data stack is often an ambiguous and all-encompassing term, so we intentionally wanted to cover the impact of AI on the modern data stack from different angles. Here’s what you can expect:Why the Future of AI in Data will be Weird with Benn Stancil, CTO at Mode & Field CTO at ThoughtSpot — Covering how AI will change analytics workflows and tools How Databricks is Transforming Data Warehousing and AI with Ari Kaplan, Head Evangelist & Robin Sutara, Field CTO at Databricks — Covering Databricks, data intelligence and how AI tools are changing data democratizationAdding AI to the Data Warehouse with Sridhar Ramaswamy, CEO at Snowflake — Covering Snowflake and its uses, how generative AI is changing the attitudes of leaders towards data, and how to improve your data managementAccelerating AI Workflows with Nuri Cankaya, VP of AI Marketing & La Tiffaney Santucci, AI Marketing Director at Intel — Covering AI’s impact on marketing analytics, how AI is being integrated into existing products, and the democratization of AILinks Mentioned in the Show:Intel OpenVINO™ toolkitIntel Developer Clouds for Accelerated ComputingAWS Re:Invent[Course] Implementing AI Solutions in BusinessRelated Episode: Intel CTO Steve Orrin on How Governments Can Navigate the Data & AI RevolutionSign up to RADAR: The Analytics EditionNew to DataCamp?Learn on the go using the DataCamp mobile appEmpower your business with world-class data and AI skills with DataCamp for business

Feb 22, 202452 min

[AI and the Modern Data Stack] #183 Adding AI to the Data Warehouse with Sridhar Ramaswamy, CEO at Snowflake

Snowflake has been foundational in the data space for years. In the mid-2010s, the platform was a major driver of moving data to the cloud. More recently, it's become apparent that combining data and AI in the cloud is key to accelerating innovation. Snowflake has been rapidly adding AI features to provide value to the modern data stack, but what’s really been going on under the hood?At the time of recording, Sridhar Ramaswamy was the SVP of AI at Snowflake, being appointed CEO at Snowflake in February 2024. Sridhar was formerly Co-Founder of Neeva, acquired in 2023 by Snowflake. Before founding Neeva, Ramaswamy oversaw Google's advertising products, including search, display, video advertising, analytics, shopping, payments, and travel. He joined Google in 2003 and was part of the growth of AdWords and Google's overall advertising business. He spent more than 15 years at Google, where he started as a software engineer and rose to SVP of Ads & Commerce. In the episode, Richie and Sridhar explore Snowflake and its uses, how generative AI is changing the attitudes of leaders towards data, how NLP and AI have impacted enterprise business operations as well as new applications of AI in an enterprise environment, the challenges of enterprise search, the importance of data quality, management and the role of semantic layers in the effective use of AI, a look into Snowflakes products including Snowpilot and Cortex, the collaboration required for successful data and AI projects, advice for organizations looking to improve their data management and much more.    About the AI and the Modern Data Stack DataFramed SeriesThis week we’re releasing 4 episodes focused on how AI is changing the modern data stack and the analytics profession at large. The modern data stack is often an ambiguous and all-encompassing term, so we intentionally wanted to cover the impact of AI on the modern data stack from different angles. Here’s what you can expect:Why the Future of AI in Data will be Weird with Benn Stancil, CTO at Mode & Field CTO at ThoughtSpot — Covering how AI will change analytics workflows and tools How Databricks is Transforming Data Warehousing and AI with Ari Kaplan, Head Evangelist & Robin Sutara, Field CTO at Databricks — Covering Databricks, data intelligence and how AI tools are changing data democratizationAdding AI to the Data Warehouse with Sridhar Ramaswamy, CEO at Snowflake — Covering Snowflake and its uses, how generative AI is changing the attitudes of leaders towards data, and how to improve your data managementAccelerating AI Workflows with Nuri Cankaya, VP of AI Marketing & La Tiffaney Santucci, AI Marketing Director at Intel — Covering AI’s impact on marketing analytics, how AI is being integrated into existing products, and the democratization of AILinks Mentioned in the Show:SnowflakeSnowflake acquires Neeva to accelerate search in the Data Cloud through generative AIUse AI in Seconds with Snowflake Cortex[Course] Introduction to SnowflakeRelated Episode: Why AI will Change Everything—with Former Snowflake CEO, Bob MugliaSign up to RADAR: The Analytics EditionNew to DataCamp?Learn on the go using the DataCamp mobile appEmpower your business with world-class data and AI skills with DataCamp for business

Feb 21, 202445 min

[AI and the Modern Data Stack] #182 How Databricks is Transforming Data Warehousing and AI with Ari Kaplan, Head Evangelist & Robin Sutara, Field CTO at Databricks

Databricks started out as a platform for using Spark, a big data analytics engine, but it's grown a lot since then. Databricks now allows users to leverage their data and AI projects in the same place, ensuring ease of use and consistency across operations. The Databricks platform is converging on the idea of data intelligence, but what does this mean, how will it help data teams and organizations, and where does AI fit in the picture?Ari is Databricks’ Head of Evangelism and "The Real Moneyball Guy" - the popular movie was partly based on his analytical innovations in Major League Baseball. He is a leading influencer in analytics, artificial intelligence, data science, and high-growth business innovation. Ari was previously the Global AI Evangelist at DataRobot, Nielsen’s regional VP of Analytics, Caltech Alumni of the Decade, President Emeritus of the worldwide Independent Oracle Users Group, on Intel’s AI Board of Advisors, Sports Illustrated Top Ten GM Candidate, an IBM Watson Celebrity Data Scientist, and on the Crain’s Chicago 40 Under 40. He's also written 5 books on analytics, databases, and baseball.Robin is the Field CTO at Databricks. She has consulted with hundreds of organizations on data strategy, data culture, and building diverse data teams. Robin has had an eclectic career path in technical and business functions with more than two decades in tech companies, including Microsoft and Databricks. She also has achieved multiple academic accomplishments from her juris doctorate to a masters in law to engineering leadership. From her first technical role as an entry-level consumer support engineer to her current role in the C-Suite, Robin supports creating an inclusive workplace and is the current co-chair of Women in Data Safety Committee. She was also recognized in 2023 as a Top 20 Women in Data and Tech, as well as DataIQ 100 Most Influential People in Data.In the episode, Richie, Ari, and Robin explore Databricks, the application of generative AI in improving services operations and providing data insights, data intelligence, and lakehouse technology, the wide-ranging applications of generative AI, how AI tools are changing data democratization, the challenges of data governance and management and how tools like Databricks can help, how jobs in data and AI are changing and much more. About the AI and the Modern Data Stack DataFramed SeriesThis week we’re releasing 4 episodes focused on how AI is changing the modern data stack and the analytics profession at large. The modern data stack is often an ambiguous and all-encompassing term, so we intentionally wanted to cover the impact of AI on the modern data stack from different angles. Here’s what you can expect:Why the Future of AI in Data will be Weird with Benn Stancil, CTO at Mode & Field CTO at ThoughtSpot — Covering how AI will change analytics workflows and tools How Databricks is Transforming Data Warehousing and AI with Ari Kaplan, Head Evangelist & Robin Sutara, Field CTO at Databricks — Covering Databricks, data intelligence and how AI tools are changing data democratizationAdding AI to the Data Warehouse with Sridhar Ramaswamy, CEO at Snowflake — Covering Snowflake and its uses, how generative AI is changing the attitudes of leaders towards data, and how to improve your data managementAccelerating AI Workflows with Nuri Cankaya, VP of AI Marketing & La Tiffaney Santucci, AI Marketing Director at Intel — Covering AI’s impact on marketing analytics, how AI is being integrated into existing products, and the democratization of AILinks Mentioned in the Show:DatabricksDelta LakeMLflowData Lakehouse Architecture by DatabricksBuilding and Customizing GenAI with Databricks: LLMs and Beyond[Course] Understanding Modern Data Architecture[Course] Introduction to Databricks[Course] Introduction to MLflowRelated Episode: Optimizing Cloud Data Warehouses with Salim Syed, VP, Head of Engineering at Capital One SoftwareSign up to RADAR: The Analytics EditionNew to DataCamp?Learn on the go using the DataCamp mobile appEmpower your business with world-class data and AI skills with DataCamp for business

Feb 20, 202452 min

[AI and the Modern Data Stack] #181 Why the Future of AI in Data will be Weird with Benn Stancil, CTO at Mode & Field CTO at ThoughtSpot

One of the biggest surprises of the generative AI revolution over the past 2 years lies in the counter-intuitiveness of its most successful use cases. Counter to most predictions made about AI years ago, AI-assisted coding, specifically AI-assisted data work, has been surprisingly one of the biggest killer apps of generative AI tools and copilots. However, what happens when we take this notion even further? How will analytics workflows look like when generative AI tools can also assist us in problem-solving? What type of analytics use cases can we expect to operationalize, and what tools can we expect to work with when AI systems can provide scalable qualitative data instead of relying on imperfect quantitative proxies? Today’s guest calls this future “weird”. Benn Stancil is the Field CTO at ThoughtSpot. He joined ThoughtSpot in 2023 as part of its acquisition of Mode, where he was a Co-Founder and CTO. While at Mode, Benn held roles leading Mode’s data, product, marketing, and executive teams. He regularly writes about data and technology at benn.substack.com. Prior to founding Mode, Benn worked on analytics teams at Microsoft and Yammer.Throughout the episode, Benn and Adel talk about the nature of AI-assisted analytics workflows, the potential for generative AI in assisting problem-solving, how he imagines analytics workflows to look in the future, and a lot more. About the AI and the Modern Data Stack DataFramed SeriesThis week we’re releasing 4 episodes focused on how AI is changing the modern data stack and the analytics profession at large. The modern data stack is often an ambiguous and all-encompassing term, so we intentionally wanted to cover the impact of AI on the modern data stack from different angles. Here’s what you can expect:Why the Future of AI in Data will be Weird with Benn Stancil, CTO at Mode & Field CTO at ThoughtSpot — Covering how AI will change analytics workflows and tools How Databricks is Transforming Data Warehousing and AI with Ari Kaplan, Head Evangelist & Robin Sutara, Field CTO at Databricks — Covering Databricks, data intelligence and how AI tools are changing data democratizationAdding AI to the Data Warehouse with Sridhar Ramaswamy, CEO at Snowflake — Covering Snowflake and its uses, how generative AI is changing the attitudes of leaders towards data, and how to improve your data managementAccelerating AI Workflows with Nuri Cankaya, VP of AI Marketing & La Tiffaney Santucci, AI Marketing Director at Intel — Covering AI’s impact on marketing analytics, how AI is being integrated into existing products, and the democratization of AILinks Mentioned in the Show:Mode AnalyticsThoughtSpot acquires Mode: Empowering data teams to bring Generative AI to BIEverybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are[Course] Generative AI for Business[Skill Track] SQL FundamentalsRelated Episode: The Future of Marketing Analytics with Cory Munchbach, CEO at BlueConicSign up to RADAR: The Analytics EditionNew to DataCamp?Learn on the go using the DataCamp mobile appEmpower your business with world-class data and AI skills with DataCamp for business

Feb 19, 202441 min

#180 How AI is Changing Cybersecurity with Brian Murphy, CEO of ReliaQuest

Just as many of us have been using generative AI tools to make us more productive at work, so have bad actors. Generative AI makes it much easier to create fake yet convincing text and images that can be used to deceive and harm. We’ve already seen lots of high-profile attempts to leverage AI in phishing campaigns, and this is putting more pressure on cybersecurity teams to get ahead of the curve and combat these new forms of threats. However, AI is also helping those that work in cybersec to be more productive and better equip themselves to create new forms of defense and offense. Brian Murphy is a founder, CEO, entrepreneur and investor. He founded and leads ReliaQuest, the force multiplier of security operations and one of the largest and fastest-growing companies in the global cybersecurity market. ReliaQuest increases visibility, reduces complexity, and manages risk with its cloud-native security operations platform, GreyMatter. Murphy grew ReliaQuest from a boot-strapped startup to a high-growth unicorn with a valuation of over $1 billion, more than 1,000 team members, and more than $350 million in growth equity with firms such as FTV Capital and KKR Growth. In the full episode, Adel and Brian cover the evolution of cybersecurity tools, the challenges faced by cybersecurity teams, types of cyber threats, how generative AI can be used both defensively and offensively in cybersecurity, how generative AI tools are making cybersecurity professionals more productive, the evolving role of cybersecurity professionals, the security implications of deploying AI models, the regulatory landscape for AI in cybersecurity and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show:ReliaQuestReliaQuest BlogIBM finds that ChatGPT can generate phishing emails nearly as convincing as a humanInformation Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs)[Course] Introduction to Data SecurityRelated episode: Data Security in the Age of AI with Bart Vandekerckhove, Co-founder at RaitoNew to DataCamp?Learn on the go using the DataCamp mobile appEmpower your business with world-class data and AI skills with DataCamp for business

Feb 12, 202432 min

#179 Why ML Projects Fail, and How to Ensure Success with Eric Siegel, Founder of Machine Learning Week, Former Columbia Professor, and Bestselling Author

We are in a Generative AI hype cycle. Every executive looking at the potential generative AI today is probably thinking about how they can allocate their department's budget to building some AI use cases. However, many of these use cases won't make it into production.In a similar vein, the hype around machine learning in the early 2010s led to lots of hype around the technology, but a lot of the value did not pan out. Four years ago, VentureBeat showed that 87% of data science projects did not make it into production. And in a lot of ways, things haven’t gotten much better. And if we don't learn why that is the case, generative AI could be destined to a similar fate. Eric Siegel, Ph.D., is a leading consultant and former Columbia University professor who helps companies deploy machine learning. He is the founder of the long-running Machine Learning Week conference series and its new sister, Generative AI World, the instructor of the acclaimed online course “Machine Learning Leadership and Practice – End-to-End Mastery,” executive editor of The Machine Learning Times, and a frequent keynote speaker. He wrote the bestselling Predictive Analytics: The Power to Predict Who Will Click, Buy, Lie, or Die, as well as The AI Playbook: Mastering the Rare Art of Machine Learning Deployment. Eric’s interdisciplinary work bridges the stubborn technology/business gap. At Columbia, he won the Distinguished Faculty award when teaching graduate computer science courses in ML and AI. Later, he served as a business school professor at UVA Darden. Eric also publishes op-eds on analytics and social justice.In the episode, Adel and Eric explore the reasons why machine learning projects don't make it into production, the BizML Framework or how to bring business stakeholders into the room when building machine learning use cases, the skill gap between business stakeholders and data practitioners, use cases of organizations have leveraged machine learning for operational improvements, what the previous machine learning hype cycle can teach us about generative AI and a lot more. Links Mentioned in the Show:The AI Playbook: Mastering the Rare Art of Machine Learning Deployment by Eric SiegelGenerating ROI with AIBizML Cheat SheetGooderSurvey: Machine Learning Projects Still Routinely Fail to Deploy[Skill Track] MLOps Fundamentals

Feb 5, 202448 min

#178 Making SMARTER Decisions with Lori Silverman, author of Business Storytelling for Dummies

We don’t think about every decision we make. Some decisions are easy and intuitive, others can be riddled with doubt. In a business setting, decision-making is often crucial, and with that comes pressure to ensure we’re making the right decisions in the best way possible. We can often accompany decision-making with context, providing a narrative for how we might approach a decision, citing what data and insights have had significant input into our choices. But how do we approach storytelling and decision-making to breed success? There’s probably no better person to guide us through the ins and outs of decision-making than the co-author of Business Storytelling For Dummies.Lori L. Silverman is the owner of Partners for Progress, a management consulting firm. As a business strategist, she has consulted with organizations in fifteen industries including financial services, insurance, manufacturing and petroleum companies, government entities, and professional associations. As a keynote speaker, Lori has positively impacted the lives of thousands of people. She has appeared on over fifty radio and television shows to speak about using stories in the workplace and is the co-author of Critical SHIFT and Stories Trainers Tell. She’s a pioneer in the business storytelling field, author of five books, and is known worldwide for her work in collaborative data-informed decision-making.In the episode, Richie and Lori cover common problems in business decision-making, connecting decision-making to business processes, analytics and decision-making, integrating data practitioners and decision-makers, the role of data visualization and narrative storytelling, the SMARTER decision-making methodology, the importance of intuition, challenges faced when applying decision-making methodologies and much more. Links Mentioned in the ShowBusiness Storytelling For Dummies by Karen Dietz and Lori SilvermanConnect with Lori on LinkedinLevel Up with LoriBooks by LoriThe SMARTER Framework for Data-Informed Decision MakingMonetizing Data Through Informed, Collaborative Decision MakingThe Increasingly Vital Role of Business Storytelling in LeadershipPre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade by Robert Cialdini[Skill Track] Data Storytelling

Feb 1, 20241h 3m

#177 Avoiding Burnout for Data Professionals with Jen Fisher, Human Sustainability Leader at Deloitte

Arianna Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post, woke up in a pool of blood nursing a broken cheekbone after collapsing at her desk in 2007. Various stresses and pressures in her life had manifested themself into an episode of extreme mental exhaustion. This event was the catalyst for her to write a book on well-being as well as start the behavioral-change company Thrive Global. Many of us have, or will, experience burnout at some point. The build-up of stress, negative emotions, and internal tension may not result in the same shocking scene Huffington found herself in, but its effects are serious and permeate not just through our profession but into our home life as well. Stress and burnout are especially prevalent in working environments where there is an emphasis on urgency, and with the constant advancements we’ve seen in the data & AI sphere in the past year, leaders and practitioners working in the data space will need to know how to recognize the symptoms of burnout and create workplace cultures that prevent burnout in the first place.Jen Fisher is Deloitte’s human sustainability leader. Previously, Fisher served as Deloitte’s first-ever chief well-being officer. She’s also a TEDx speaker, coauthor of the book, Work Better Together: How to Cultivate Strong Relationships to Maximize Well-Being and Boost Bottom Lines, editor-at-large for Thrive Global, and host of the “WorkWell” podcast series.In the episode, Jen and Adel cover Jen’s own personal experience with burnout, the role of a Chief Wellbeing Officer, the impact of work on our overall well-being, the patterns that lead to burnout, defining well-being in the workplace, technology’s impact on our well-being, psychological safety in the workplace, how managers and leaders can looking after themselves and their teams, the future of human sustainability in the workplace and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show:Work Better Together: How to Cultivate Strong Relationships to Maximize Well-Being and Boost Bottom LinesJen’s TED Talk: The Future of WorkBrené Brown: Clear Is Kind. Unclear Is Unkind.What Is Psychological Safety?

Jan 29, 202445 min

#176 Data Trends & Predictions 2024 with DataCamp's CEO & COO, Jo Cornelissen & Martijn Theuwissen

2023 was a huge year for data and AI. Everyone who didn't live under a rock started using generative AI, and much was teased by companies like OpenAI, Microsoft, Google and Meta. We saw the millions of different use cases generative AI could be applied to, as well as the iterations we could expect from the AI space, such as connected multi-modal models, LLMs in mobile devices and formal legislation. But what has this meant for DataCamp? What will we do to facilitate learners and organizations around the world in staying ahead of the curve?In this special episode of DataFramed, we sit down with DataCamp Co-Founders Jo Cornelissen, Chief Executive Officer, and Martijn Theuwissen, Chief Operating Officer, to discuss their expectations for data & AI in 2024.In the episode, Richie, Jo and Martijn discuss generative AI's mainstream impact in 2023, the broad use cases of generative AI and skills required to utilize it effectively, trends in AI and software development, how the programming languages for data are evolving, new roles in data & AI, the job market and skill development in data science and their predictions for 2024.Links Mentioned in the Show:Free course - Become an AI DeveloperWebinar - Data & AI Trends & Predictions 2024Courses:Artificial Intelligence (AI) StrategyGenerative AI for BusinessImplementing AI Solutions in BusinessAI Ethics

Jan 25, 202432 min

#175 Inside Algorithmic Trading with Anthony Markham, Vice President, Quantitative Developer at Deutsche Bank

In January 2024, six activists were identified by British Police in London, suspected of planning to disrupt the London Stock Exchange through a lock-in. In an attempt to prevent the building from opening for trading. Despite the foiled attempt, the strategy for this protest was inherently flawed. Trading no longer requires a busy exchange with raucous shouting and phone calls to facilitate the flow of investment around the world. Nowadays, machines can trade at a fraction of a second, ingesting huge amounts of real-time data to execute finely tuned-trading strategies. But who programs these trading machines, how do we assess risk when trading at such a high volume and in such short periods of time?Anthony Markham is Vice President, Quantitative Developer at Deutsche Bank. With a background in Aerospace and Software Engineering, Anthony has experience in Data Science, facial recognition research, tertiary education, and Quantitative Finance, developing mostly in Python, Julia, and C++. When not working, Anthony enjoys working on personal projects, flying aircraft, and playing sports.In the episode, Richie and Anthony cover what algorithmic trading is, the use of machine learning techniques in trading strategies, the challenges of handling large datasets with low latency, risk management in algorithmic trading, data analysis techniques for handling time series data, the challenges of deep neural networks in trading, the diverse roles and skills of those who work in algorithmic trading and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show:Flash crash of 2010KDB+Q Query Language[Course] Quantitative Risk Management in PythonUnderstanding Value at Risk (VaR)

Jan 22, 202431 min

#174 The Future of Marketing Analytics with Cory Munchbach, CEO at BlueConic

Cookies were invented to help online shoppers, simply as an identifier so that online carts weren’t lost to the ether. Marketers quickly saw the power of using cookies for more than just maintaining session states, and moved to use them as part of their targeted advertising. Before we knew it, our online habits were being tracked, without our clear consent. The unregulated cookie-boom lasted until 2018 with the advent of GDPR and the CCPA. Since then marketers have been evolving their practices, looking for alternatives to cookie-tracking that will perform comparatively, and with the cookie being phased out in 2024, technologies like fingerprinting and new privacy-centric marketing strategies will play a huge role in how products meet users in the future. Cory Munchbach has spent her career on the cutting edge of marketing technology and brings years working with Fortune 500 clients from various industries to BlueConic. Prior to BluConic, she was an analyst at Forrester Research where she covered business and consumer technology trends and the fast-moving marketing tech landscape. A sought-after speaker and industry voice, Cory’s work has been featured in Financial Times, Forbes, Raconteur, AdExchanger, The Drum, Venture Beat, Wired, AdAge, and Adweek. A life-long Bostonian, Cory has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Boston College and spends a considerable amount of her non-work hours on various volunteer and philanthropic initiatives in the greater Boston community. In the episode, Richie and Cory cover successful marketing strategies and their use of data, the types of data used in marketing, how data is leveraged during different stages of the customer life cycle, the impact of privacy laws on data collection and marketing strategies, tips on how to use customer data while protecting privacy and adhering to regulations, the importance of data skills in marketing, the future of marketing analytics and much more.Links Mentioned in the Show:BlueConicMattel CreationsGoogle: Prepare for third-party cookie restrictionsData Clean Rooms[Course] Marketing Analytics for Business

Jan 18, 202451 min

#173 Building Trustworthy AI with Alexandra Ebert, Chief Trust Officer at MOSTLY AI

We’ve never been more aware of the word ‘hallucinate’ in a professional setting. Generative AI has taught us that we need to work in tandem with personal AI tools when we want accurate and reliable information. We’ve also seen the impacts of bias in AI systems, and why trusting outputs at face value can be a dangerous game, even for the largest tech organizations in the world. It seems we could be both very close and very far away from being able to fully trust AI in a work setting. To really find out what trustworthy AI is, and what causes us to lose trust in an AI system, we need to hear from someone who’s been at the forefront of the policy and tech around the issue. Alexandra Ebert is an expert in data privacy and responsible AI. She works on public policy issues in the emerging field of synthetic data and ethical AI. Alexandra is on Forbes ‘30 Under 30’ list and has an upcoming course on DataCamp! In addition to her role as Chief Trust Officer at MOSTLY AI, Alexandra is the chair of the IEEE Synthetic Data IC expert group and the host of the Data Democratization podcast.In the episode, Richie and Alexandra explore the importance of trust in AI, what causes us to lose trust in AI systems and the impacts of a lack of trust, AI regulation and adoption, AI decision accuracy and fairness, privacy concerns in AI, handling sensitive data in AI systems, the benefits of synthetic data, explainability and transparency in AI, skills for using AI in a trustworthy fashion and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show:MOSTLY.AIMicrosoft Research on AI FairnessUsing Synthetic Data for Machine Learning & AI in Python[Course] AI Ethics

Jan 15, 202451 min

#172 Data Storytelling and Visualization with Lea Pica from Present Beyond Measure

Your data project doesn't end once you have results. In order to have impact, you need to communicate those results to others. Presentations filled with endless tables and technical jargon can easily become tedious, leading your audience to lose interest or misunderstand your point.Data storytelling provides a solution to this: by creating a narrative around your results you can increase engagement and understanding from your audience. This is an art, and there are so many factors that contribute to visualizing data and creating a compelling story, it can be overwhelming. However, with the right approach, creating data stories can become second nature. In this special episode of DataFramed, we join forces with the Present Beyond Measure podcast to glean the best data presentation practices from one of the leading voices in the space.Lea Pica host of the Founder and Host of the Present Beyond Measure podcast and is a seasoned digital analytics practitioner, social media marketer and blogger with over 11 years of experience building search marketing and digital analytics practices for companies like Scholastic, Victoria’s Secret and Prudential.Present Beyond Measure’s mission is to bring their teachings to the digital marketing and web analytics communities, and empower anyone responsible for presenting data to an audience.In the full episode, Richie and Lea cover the full picture of data presentation, how to understand your audience, leverage hollywood storytelling, data storyboarding and visualization, the use of imagery in presentations, cognitive load management, the use of throughlines in presentations, how to improve your speaking and engagement skills, data visualization techniques in business setting and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show:Present Beyond MeasureLea’s BookConnect with Lea on LinkedinHollywood Storytelling[Course] Data Storytelling Concepts

Jan 11, 20241h 12m

#171 Data Security in the Age of AI with Bart Vandekerckhove, Co-founder at Raito

Data used to be the exhaust of our work activities, until we started seeing the value it can provide. Today, data is a strategic asset, used to gain a competitive advantage and well guarded from those that might use it to harm others. With this change in attitude, how we access and safeguard our data has improved massively. However, data breaches are not a thing of the past, and with the advent of AI, many new techniques for maliciously accessing data are being created. With the extra importance of data security, it is always pertinent to iterate on how we keep our data safe, and how we manage who has access to it. Bart Vandekerckhove is the co-founder and CEO at Raito. Raito is on a mission to bring back balance in data democratization and data security. Bart helps data teams save time on data access management, so they can focus on innovation. As the former PM Privacy at Collibra, Bart has seen first hand how slow data access management processes can harm progress. In the full episode, Richie and Bart explore the importance of data access management, the roles involved in data access including senior management’s role in data access, data security and privacy tools, the impact of AI on data security, how culture feeds into data security, the challenges of a creating a good data access management culture, common mistakes organizations make, advice for improving data security and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show:RaitoCapital One Data BreachOptus Data BreachIAMCourse: Introduction to Data Privacy

Jan 8, 202447 min

#170 What Fortune 1000 Executives Believe about Data & AI in 2024 with Randy Bean, Innovation Fellow, Data Strategy, Wavestone

We learned so much about generative AI and its impact for people and organizations in 2023, we must anticipate many more innovations in the data and AI space 2024. One of the best places to look for this information is through the wisdom of those that spend their time with the Fortune 1000 leaders that are helping shape data and AI practices. Wavestone’s annual Data and AI Executive Leadership Survey is a great way to gain insight into thoughts in current practices, as well as understand what to expect from business leaders and organizations in the near future. In this episode, we speak to the author of the survey. Randy Bean is a start-up business founder, CEO, industry thought leader, author, and speaker in the field of data-driven business leadership.  He serves as Innovation Fellow, Data Strategy for Paris-based consultancy Wavestone. Randy is the creator of the Data and AI Leadership Executive Survey discussed in today's episode. He is the author of the bestselling "Fail Fast, Learn Faster: Lessons in Data-Driven Leadership in an Age of Disruption, Big Data, and AI", and a current contributor to Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and MIT Sloan Management Review.  In the episode, Richie and Randy explore the 2024 Data and AI Leadership Executive Survey, the impact of generative AI in 2023 and what to expect from it in 2024, the state of generative AI implementation in organizations, healthcare and AI, including examples of generative AI outperforming human doctors, the evolving responsibilities of CDOs, the increasing importance of data-driven decision-making in organizations, the barriers to becoming data-driven, insights on data skills and the generational shift towards more data-savvy business leaders, as well as much more. Links Mentioned in the Show:Data and AI Leadership Executive SurveyRandy’s Articles in ForbesAlly FinancialResponsible AI InstituteCourse: Implementing AI Solutions in Business

Jan 4, 202446 min

#169 Unlocking Efficiency Gains Through Process Mining with Wil van der Aalst and Cong Yu, Chief Scientist and VP Engineering at Celonis

Regardless of profession, the work we do leaves behind a trace of actions that help us achieve our goals. This is especially true for those that work with data. For large enterprises where there are seemingly countless processes happening at any one time, keeping track of these processes is crucial. Given the scale of these processes, one small efficiency gain can leads to a staggering amount of time and money saved. Process mining is a data-driven approach to process analysis that uses event logs to extract process-related information. It can separate inferred facts, from exact truths, and uncover what really happens in a variety of operations. Wil van der Aalst is a full professor at RWTH Aachen University, leading the Process and Data Science (PADS) group. He is also the Chief Scientist at Celonis, part-time affiliated with the Fraunhofer FIT, and a member of the Board of Governors of Tilburg University. His research interests include process mining, Petri nets, business process management, workflow management, process modeling, and process analysis. Wil van der Aalst has published over 275 journal papers, 35 books (as author or editor), 630 refereed conference/workshop publications, and 85 book chapters.Cong Yu leads the CeloAI group at Celonis focusing on bringing advanced AI technologies to EMS products, building up capabilities for their knowledge platform, and ultimately helping enterprises in reducing process inefficiencies and achieving operational excellence.Previously, Cong was Principal (Research) Scientist / Research Director at Google Research NYC from September 2010 to July 2022, leading the NYSD/Beacon Research Group, and also taught at NYU Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. In the episode, Wil, Cong, and Richie explore process mining and its development over the past 25 years, the differences between process mining and ML, AI, and data mining, popular use cases of process mining, adoption from large enterprises like BMW, HP, and Dell, the requirements for an effective process mining system, the role of predictive analytics and data engineering in process mining, how to scale process mining systems, prospects within the field and much more.Links Mentioned in the Show:CelonisGartner’s Magic Quadrant for Process MiningPM4PyProcess Query Language (PQL)[Couse] Business Process Analytics in R

Dec 28, 202356 min

#168 Causal AI in Business with Paul Hünermund, Assistant Professor, Copenhagen Business School

There are a few caveats to using generative AI tools, those caveats have led to a few tips that have quickly become second nature to those that use LLMs like ChatGPT. The main one being: have the domain knowledge to validate the output in order to avoid hallucinations. Hallucinations are one of the weak spots for LLMs due to the nature of the way they are built, as they are trained to correlate data in order to predict what might come next in an incomplete sequence. Does this mean that we’ll always have to be wary of the output of AI products, with the expectation that there is no intelligent decision-making going on under the hood? Far from it. Causal AI is bound by reason—rather than looking at correlation, these exciting systems are able to focus on the underlying causal mechanisms and relationships. As the AI field rapidly evolves, Causal AI is an area of research that is likely to have a huge impact on a huge number of industries and problems. Paul Hünermund is an Assistant Professor of Strategy and Innovation at Copenhagen Business School. In his research, Dr. Hünermund studies how firms can leverage new technologies in the space of machine learning and artificial intelligence such as Causal AI for value creation and competitive advantage. His work explores the potential for biases in organizational decision-making and ways for managers to counter them. It thereby sheds light on the origins of effective business strategies in markets characterized by a high degree of technological competition and the resulting implications for economic growth and environmental sustainability. His work has been published in The Journal of Management Studies, the Econometrics Journal, Research Policy, Journal of Product Innovation Management, International Journal of Industrial Organization, MIT Sloan Management Review, and Harvard Business Review, among others. In the full episode, Richie and Paul explore Causal AI, its differences when compared to other forms of AI, use cases of Causal AI in fields like drug development, marketing, manufacturing, and defense. They also discuss how Causal AI contributes to better decision-making, the role of domain experts in getting accurate results, what happens in the early stages of Causal AI adoption, exciting new developments within the Causal AI space and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show:Causal Data Science in BusinessCausal AI by causaLensIntro to Causal AI Using the DoWhy Library in PythonLesson: Inference (causal) models

Dec 18, 202350 min

#167 What to Expect from AI in 2024 with Craig S. Smith, Host of the Eye on A.I Podcast

Over the past year, we’ve seen a full hype cycle of hysteria and discourse surrounding generative AI. It almost seems difficult to think back to a time when no one had used ChatGPT. We are in the midst of the fourth industrial revolution, and technology is moving rapidly. Better performing and more capable models are being released at a stunning rate, and with the growing presence of multimodal AI, can we expect another whirlwind year that vastly changes the state of play within AI again? Who might be able to provide insight into what is to come in 2024?Craig S. Smith is an American journalist, former executive of The New York Times, and host of the podcast Eye on AI. Until January 2000, he wrote for The Wall Street Journal, most notably covering the rise of the religious movement Falun Gong in China. He has reported for the Times from more than 40 countries and has covered several conflicts, including the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, the 2003 war in Iraq, and the 2006 Israeli-Lebanese war. He retired from the Times in 2018 and now writes about artificial intelligence for the Times and other publications. He was a special Government employee for the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence until the commission's end in October 2021. In the episode, Richie and Craig explore the 2023 advancements in generative AI, such as GPT-4, and the evolving roles of companies like Anthropic and Meta, practical AI applications for research and image generation, challenges in large language models, the promising future of world models and AI agents, the societal impacts of AI, the issue of misinformation, computational constraints, and the importance of AI literacy in the job market, the transformative potential of AI in various sectors and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show:Eye on AIWayveAnthropicCohereMidjourneyYann Lecun

Dec 11, 202350 min

#166 Optimizing Cloud Data Warehouses with Salim Syed, VP, Head of Engineering at Capital One Software

Effective data management has become a cornerstone of success in our digital era. It involves not just collecting and storing information but also organizing, securing, and leveraging data to drive progress and innovation. Many organizations turn to tools like Snowflake for advanced data warehousing capabilities. However, while Snowflake enhances data storage and access, it's not a complete solution for all data management challenges. To address this, tools like Capital One’s Slingshot can be used alongside Snowflake, helping to optimize costs and refine data management strategies.Salim Syed is a VP, Head of engineering for Capital One Slingshot product. He led Capital One’s data warehouse migration to AWS and is a specialist in deploying Snowflake to a large enterprise. Salim’s expertise lies in developing Big Data (Lake) and Data Warehouse strategy on the public cloud. He leads an organization of more than 100 data engineers, support engineers, DBAs and full stack developers in driving enterprise data lake, data warehouse, data management and visualization platform services.Salim has more than 25 years of experience in the data ecosystem. His career started in data engineering where he built data pipelines and then moved into maintenance and administration of large database servers using multi-tier replication architecture in various remote locations. He then worked at CodeRye as a database architect and at 3M Health Information Systems as an enterprise data architect. Salim has been at Capital One for the past six years.In this episode, Adel and Salim explore cloud data management and the evolution of Slingshot into a major multi-tenant SaaS platform, the shift from on-premise to cloud-based data governance, the role of centralized tooling, strategies for effective cloud data management, including data governance, cost optimization, and waste reduction as well as insights into navigating the complexities of data infrastructure, security, and scalability in the modern digital era.Links Mentioned in the Show:Capital One SlingshotSnowflakeCourse: Introduction to Data WarehousingCourse: Introduction to Snowflake

Dec 4, 202333 min

#165 Data & AI for Good, with Marga Hoek, Founder & CEO, Business for Good

There's often a debate in technology ethics on whether technology is neutral or not. On one hand, critics have rightfully pointed out examples of technology exacerbating the climate crisis, amplifying bias as we've seen in our recent episode with Dr. Joy Buolamwini, or contributing to the spread of misinformation and disinformation. Conversely, we cannot deny the many wonderful things technology has given us, from better healthcare outcomes, to the ability to communicate wherever we are in the world, or to elevate the quality of life of everyone on the planet.It is this duality, that today's guest, Marga Hoek, points to as to why technology is neutral, and why it is in our hands to use it for good.Marga Hoek is a true visionary on sustainable business, capital, and technology and a successful business leader. As a three-time CEO, Board Member, Chair, and Founder of Business for Good, she applies her vision on how business can be a true force for good in practice. As a bestselling and multi-award-winning author, member of Thinkers50, and one of the most in-demand speakers on sustainable business and ESG investment, Marga Hoek has inspired many companies and leaders worldwide. She is also appreciated as a global voice for G20 and G7 Intergovernmental forums, international climate meetings and COPs, and many other prestigious global conferences. In the episode, Adel and Marga explore the fourth industrial revolution and the eight technologies that combine to build it, the ethical application of technology and how it can be the biggest lever to combating climate change and building a sustainable society, how data and AI enable real-time information sharing leading to better early warning systems related to the environment, use cases of tech for good initiatives, how collaboration can bridge the gap in investment for sustainable business ventures and a lot more. Links Mentioned In the Show:Tech for GoodAzure FarmBeatsCapgemini in the Mojave DesertReDeTec 3D PrintingFramlab 3D Printed Homes for the Unsheltered

Nov 27, 202346 min

#164 Driving Data Democratization with Lilac Schoenbeck, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Rocket Software

The consequences of data not being easily accessible within an organization are profound. Good decision-making often relies on good information, and with crucial insights locked behind closed doors, decision-makers may have to rely on incomplete information, stifling their ability to innovate through a lack of comprehensive data access or an inability to leverage data to its full potential. The ramifications of this are not merely operational – they extend to the core of an organization's ability to thrive in the data-driven era. However, democratizing access to data is only the first hurdle in driving a data led organization, employees need to feel confident in their ability to use data, try new tools and adopt new processes. But who is best to show us the benefits of accessing and utilizing data currently, and the cultural benefits it can bring. Lilac Schoenbeck is the Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at Rocket Software. Lilac has two decades of experience in enterprise software, data center technology and cloud, with wider experience in product marketing, pricing and packaging, corporate strategy, M&A integrations and product management. Lilac is passionate about delivering exceptional technology to IT teams that helps them drive value for their businesses. In the episode, Richie and Lilac explore data democratization and the importance of having widespread data capabilities across an organization, common data problems that data democratization can solve, tooling to facilitate better access and use of data, tool and process adoption, confidence with data, good data culture, processes to encourage good data usage and much more. Links mentioned in the showRocket SoftwareWhat Does Democratizing Data Mean? Unlocking the Power of Data CulturesDemocratizing Data in Large Enterprises[Course] Introduction to Data Culture

Nov 20, 202346 min

#163 Upgrading Company Culture Using The Geek Way with Andrew McAfee, Principal Research Scientist at the MIT Sloan School of Management

We are all guilty of getting excited about shiny new toys in whatever guise they present themselves to us. For many of us, lots of the recent shiny new toys have been ways of utilizing AI to update and iterate on the ways that we work. Leadership teams have been looking for ways that their organizations can incorporate AI solutions into their products, regardless of whether they might be the most valuable use of the company's time. A company that fails to incorporate new tools and technology will stagnate and fail altogether right? A failure to adapt to the new state of play will surely stop the company from becoming a high performer? Or will it? What sets apart high-performing organizations from their non high-performing counterparts?It’s not shiny new toys. It’s culture. Counter to conventional wisdom, the norms and beliefs of an organization, and not the technology and tools it uses, is what drives its performance.Andrew McAfee is a Principal Research Scientist at the MIT Sloan School of Management, co-founder and co-director of MIT’s Initiative on the Digital Economy, and the inaugural Visiting Fellow at the Technology and Society organization at Google. He studies how technological progress changes the world. His book, The Geek Way, reveals a new way to get big things done. His previous books include More from Less and, with Erik Brynjolfsson, The Second Machine Age.McAfee has written for publications including Foreign Affairs, Harvard Business Review, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. He's talked about his work on CNN and 60 Minutes, at the World Economic Forum, TED, and the Aspen Ideas Festival, with Tom Friedman and Fareed Zakaria, and in front of many international and domestic audiences. He’s also advised many of the world’s largest corporations and organizations ranging from the IMF to the Boston Red Sox to the US Intelligence Community.Throughout the episode, Adel and Andrew explore the four cultural norms of the Geek way, the evolutionary biological underpinnings of the traits high performing organizations exhibit, case studies in adapting organizational culture, the role of data in driving high performance teams, useful frameworks leaders can adopt to build high performing organizations, and a lot more. Link mentioned in the show:The Geek Way: The Radical Mindset That Drives Extraordinary Results by Andrew McAfeeThe Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies by Andrew McAfee and Erik BrynjolfssonThe Planning FallacyAnnie DukeSteven PinkerAdam Grant

Nov 13, 20231h 1m

#162 Scaling Data Engineering in Retail with Mohammad Sabah, SVP of Engineering & Data at Thrive Market

Poor data engineering is like building a shaky foundation for a house—it leads to unreliable information, wasted time and money, and even legal problems, making everything less dependable and more troublesome in our digital world. In the retail industry specifically, data engineering is particularly important for managing and analyzing large volumes of sales, inventory, and customer data, enabling better demand forecasting, inventory optimization, and personalized customer experiences. It helps retailers make informed decisions, streamline operations, and remain competitive in a rapidly evolving market. Insight and frameworks learned from data engineering practices can be applied to a multitude of people and problems, and in turn, learning from someone who has been at the forefront of data engineering is invaluable.  Mohammad Sabah is SVP of Engineering and Data at Thrive Market, and was appointed to this role in 2018. He joined the company from The Honest Company where he served as VP of Engineering & Chief Data Scientist. Sabah joined The Honest Company following its acquisition of Insnap, which he co-founded in 2015. Over the course of his career, Sabah has held various data science and engineering roles at companies including Facebook, Workday, Netflix, and Yahoo!In the episode, Richie and Mo explore the importance of using AI to identify patterns and proactively address common errors, the use of tools like dbt and SODA for data pipeline abstraction and stakeholder involvement in data quality, data governance and data quality as foundations for strong data engineering, validation layers at each step of the data pipeline to ensure data quality, collaboration between data analysts and data engineers for holistic problem-solving and reusability of patterns, ownership mentality in data engineering and much more. Links from the show:PagerDutyDomoOpsGeneCareer Track: Data Engineer

Nov 6, 202351 min

#161 Fighting for Algorithmic Justice with Dr. Joy Buolamwini, Artist-in-Chief and President of The Algorithmic Justice League

In 2015 an MIT Researcher set out to build a mirror that would augment their face to look like those of their idols. The execution of this went well, until it came to testing. When the researcher came to use the mirror, no face was detected. The researcher was not detected in the mirror, until that is, she put on a white mask, at which point, the mirror worked as expected. Three years later, a paper named ‘Gender Shades: Intersectional Accuracy Disparities in Commercial Gender Classification’ was published by the same researcher. Its release started a wider conversation about bias within AI-based facial recognition systems, and about bias within AI in general. Work to fight against algorithmic bias, or ‘The Coded-Gaze’, has been ongoing since. But who spearheaded this work and highlighted these issues to the AI and tech community? Dr. Joy Buolamwini is an AI researcher, artist, and advocate. In 2023, she is one of Time’s top 100 most influential people in AI. Joy founded the Algorithmic Justice League to create a world with more equitable and accountable technology. Her TED Featured Talk on algorithmic bias has over 1.5 million views and in 2020 Netflix released the documentary ‘Coded Bias’ following Joy’s research into the flaws of facial recognition systems. Her MIT thesis methodology uncovered large racial and gender bias in AI services from companies like Microsoft, IBM, and Amazon. Her research has been covered in over 40 countries, and as a renowned international speaker she has championed the need for algorithmic justice at the World Economic Forum and the United Nations. She serves on the Global Tech Panel convened by the vice president of European Commission to advise world leaders and technology executives on ways to reduce the harms of A.I.As a creative science communicator, she has written op-eds on the impact of artificial intelligence for publications like TIME Magazine and New York Times. Her spoken word visual audit "AI, Ain't I A Woman?" which shows AI failures on the faces of iconic women like Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, and Serena Williams as well as the Coded Gaze short have been part of exhibitions ranging from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston to the Barbican Centre, UK. A Rhodes Scholar and Fulbright Fellow, Joy has been named to notable lists including Bloomberg 50, Tech Review 35 under 35, , Forbes Top 50 Women in Tech (youngest), and Forbes 30 under 30. She holds two masters degrees from Oxford University and MIT; and a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Fortune Magazine named her to their 2019 list of world's greatest leaders describing her as "the conscience of the A.I. Revolution."In the episode, Richie and Joy discuss her journey into AI, the ethics of AI, the inception of Joy’s interest in AI bias, the Aspire Mirror and Gender Shades projects, The Algorithmic Justice League, consequences of biased facial recognition systems, highlights from Joy’s book (Unmasking AI), challenges in AI research such as misleading datasets and the importance of context, balancing working in AI and data while being an artist, and much more. Links mentioned in the show:Unmasking AI by Joy BuolamwiniAlgorithmic Justice LeagueGender Shades ProjectThe Coded Gaze

Oct 30, 202355 min

#160 Adapting to the AI Era with Jason Feifer, Editor in Chief of Entrepreneur Magazine

I think it's safe to say that we are in the peak of the hype cycle with generative AI. Almost every week now, we see new startups with exciting new GenAI use-cases and products. However, exciting doesn't necessarily translate to useful. And now more than ever, it's important for leaders, whether at incumbents or startups, to adapt and drive value with generative AI and focus on useful use-cases. So how can they adapt well to these tectonic changes? Jason Feifer is the editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine and host of the podcast Problem Solvers. Outside of Entrepreneur, he is the author of the book Build For Tomorrow, which helps readers find new opportunities in times of change, and co-hosts the podcast Help Wanted, where he helps solve listeners' work problems. He also writes a newsletter called One Thing Better, which each week gives you one better way to build a career or company you love.In the episode, Jason and Adel explore AI’s role in entrepreneurship, use cases and applications of AI, the effectiveness of certain AI tools, AI’s impact on established business models, frameworks for navigating change, advice for leaders and individuals on using AI in their work and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show:Build for Tomorrow by Jason FeiferOne Thing Better NewsletterHeyGenBurger King Accepting Credit Cards in the 90s[COURSE] Implementing AI Solutions in Business

Oct 23, 202346 min

#159 Building Trustworthy AI with Beena Ammanath, Global Head of the Deloitte AI Institute

Throughout the past year, we've seen AI go from a nice-to-have, to a must-have in almost every large organization’s boardroom. There’s been more and more focus deploy AI  by leadership teams, and as a result, there's never been more pressure on the data team to deliver with AI. However, as the pressure to deliver with AI grows, the need to build safe and trustworthy experiences has also never been more important. But how do we balance between innovation and building these trustworthy experiences? How do you make responsible AI practical? Who should we get into the room when scoping safe AI use-cases? Beena Ammanath is an award- winning senior technology executive with extensive experience in AI and digital transformation. Her career has spanned leadership roles in e-commerce, finance, marketing, telecom, retail, software products, service, and industrial domains. She is also the author of the ground breaking book, Trustworthy AI.Beena currently leads the Global Deloitte AI Institute and Trustworthy AI/ Ethical Technology at Deloitte. Prior to this, she was the CTO-AI at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. A champion for women and multicultural inclusion in technology and business, Beena founded Humans for AI, a 501c3b non-profit promoting diversity and inclusion in AI. Her work and contributions have been acknowledged with numerous awards and recognition such as 2016 Women Super Achiever Award from World Women’s Leadership Congress and induction into WITI’s 2017 Women in Technology Hall of Fame.Beena was honored by UC Berkeley as 2018 Woman of the Year for Business Analytics, by the San Francisco Business Times as one of the 2017 Most Influential Women in Bay Area and by the National Diversity Council as one of the Top 50 Multicultural Leaders in Tech.In the episode, Beena and Adel delve into the core principles of trustworthy AI, the interplay of ethics and AI in various industries, how to make trustworthy AI practical, who are the primary stakeholders for ensuring trustworthy AI, the importance of AI literacy when promoting responsible and trustworthy AI, and a lot more.Links mentioned in the ShowTrustworthy AI by Beena AmmanathDeloitte AI InstituteHumans for AIData Literacy by Design, with Valerie Logan, CEO of the Data Lodge[Course] Implementing AI Solutions in Business[Webinar - October 19th 2023] Building a Capability Roadmap for AI

Oct 16, 202339 min

#158 Building Human-Centered AI Experiences with Haris Butt, Head of Product Design at ClickUp

In today's AI landscape, organizations are actively exploring how to seamlessly embed AI into their products, systems, processes, and workflows. The success of ChatGPT stands as a testament to this. Its success is not solely due to the performance of the underlying model; a significant part of its appeal lies in its human-centered user experience, particularly its chat interface. Beyond the foundational skills, infrastructure, and tools, it's clear that great design is a crucial ingredient in building memorable AI experiences.How do you build human-centered AI experiences? What is the role of design in driving successful AI implementations? How can data leaders and practitioners adopt a design lens when building with AI?Here to answer these questions is Haris Butt, Head of Product Design at ClickUp. ClickUp is a project management tool that's been making a big bet on AI, and Haris plays a key role in shaping how AI is embedded within the platform.Throughout the episode, Adel & Haris spoke about the role of design in driving human-centered AI experiences, the iterative process of designing with large language models, how to design AI experiences that promote trust, how designing for AI differs from traditional software, whether good design will ultimately end up killing prompt engineering, and a lot more.

Oct 9, 202353 min

#157 Is AI an Existential Risk? With Trond Arne Undheim, Research Scholar in Global Systemic Risk at Stanford University

It's been almost a year since ChatGPT was released, mainstreaming AI into the collective consciousness in the process. Since that moment, we've seen a really spirited debate emerge within the data & AI communities, and really public discourse at large. The focal point of this debate is whether AI is or will lead to existential risk for the human species at large.We've seen thinkers such as Elizier Yudkowski, Yuval Noah Harari, and others sound the alarm bell on how AI is as dangerous, if not more dangerous than nuclear weapons. We've also seen AI researchers and business leaders sign petitions and lobby government for strict regulation on AI. On the flip side, we've also seen luminaries within the field such as Andrew Ng and Yan Lecun, calling for, and not against, the proliferation of open-source AI. So how do we maneuver this debate, and where does the risk spectrum actually lie with AI? More importantly, how can we contextualize the risk of AI with other systemic risks humankind faces? Such as climate change, risk of nuclear war, and so on and so forth? How can we regulate AI without falling into the trap of regulatory capture—where a select and mighty few benefit from regulation, drowning out the competition in the meantime?Trond Arne Undheim is a Research scholar in Global Systemic Risk, Innovation, and Policy at Stanford University, Venture Partner at Antler, and CEO and co-founder of Yegii, an insight network with experts and knowledge assets on disruption. He is a nonresident Fellow at the Atlantic Council with a portfolio in artificial intelligence, future of work, data ethics, emerging technologies, and entrepreneurship. He is a former director of MIT Startup Exchange and has helped launch over 50 startups. In a previous life, he was an MIT Sloan School of Management Senior Lecturer, WPP Oracle Executive, and EU National Expert.In this episode, Trond and Adel explore the multifaceted risks associated with AI, the cascading risks lens and the debate over the likelihood of runaway AI. Trond shares the role of governments and organizations in shaping AI's future, the need for both global and regional regulatory frameworks, as well as the importance of educating decision-makers on AI's complexities. Trond also shares his opinion on the contrasting philosophies behind open and closed-source AI technologies, the risk of regulatory capture, and more. Links mentioned in the show:Augmented Lean: A Human-Centric Framework for Managing Frontline Operations by Trond Arne Undheim & Natan LinderFuture Tech: How to Capture Value from Disruptive Industry Trends Trond Arne UndheimFuturized PodcastStanford Cascading Risk StudyCourse: AI Ethics

Oct 2, 202347 min

#156 Making Better Decisions using Data & AI with Cassie Kozyrkov, Google's First Chief Decision Scientist

From the dawn of humanity, decisions, both big and small, have shaped our trajectory. Decisions have built civilizations, forged alliances, and even charted the course of our very evolution. And now, as data & AI become more widespread, the potential upside for better decision making is massive. Yet, like any technology, the true value of data & AI is realized by how we wield it. We're often drawn to the allure of the latest tools and techniques, but it's crucial to remember that these tools are only as effective as the decisions we make with them. ChatGPT is only as good as the prompt you decide to feed it and what you decide to do with the output. A dashboard is only as good as the decisions that it influences. Even a data science team is only as effective as the value they deliver to the organization. So in this vast landscape of data and AI, how can we master the art of better decision making? How can we bridge data & AI with better decision intelligence?​​Cassie Kozyrkov founded the field of Decision Intelligence at Google where, until recently, she served as Chief Decision Scientist, advising leadership on decision process, AI strategy, and building data-driven organizations. Upon leaving Google, Cassie started her own company of which she is the CEO, Data Scientific. In almost 10 years at the company, Cassie personally trained over 20,000 Googlers in data-driven decision-making and AI and has helped over 500 projects implement decision intelligence best practices. Cassie also previously served in Google's Office of the CTO as Chief Data Scientist, and the rest of her 20 years of experience was split between consulting, data science, lecturing, and academia. Cassie is a top keynote speaker and a beloved personality in the data leadership community, followed by over half a million tech professionals. If you've ever went on a reading spree about AI, statistics, or decision-making, chances are you've encountered her writing, which has reached millions of readers. In the episode Cassie and Richie explore misconceptions around data science, stereotypes associated with being a data scientist, what the reality of working in data science is, advice for those starting their career in data science, and the challenges of being a data ‘jack-of-all-trades’. Cassie also shares what decision-science and decision intelligence are, what questions to ask future employers in any data science interview, the importance of collaboration between decision-makers and domain experts, the differences between data science models and their real-world implementations, the pros and cons of generative AI in data science, and much more. Links mentioned in the Show:Data scientist: The sexiest job of the 22nd centuryThe Netflix PrizeAI Products: Kitchen AnalogyType one, Two & Three Errors in StatisticsCourse: Data-Driven Decision Making for BusinessRadar: Data & AI Literacy Edition

Sep 25, 20231h 9m

#155 Building Diverse Data Teams with Tracy Daniels, Chief Data Officer at Truist

In data science, the push for unbiased machine learning models is evident. So much effort is made into ensuring the products we create are done thoughtfully and correctly, but are we investing the same effort in ensuring our teams, the very architects of these models, are diverse and inclusive? Bias in data can lead to skewed results, and similarly, a lack of diversity in teams can result in narrow perspectives. As we prioritize building diversity and inclusion into our data, it's equally crucial to embed these principles within our teams. So, who is best equipped to guide us in integrating DEI from a data perspective?Tracy Daniels is the Chief Data Officer for Truist Financial Corporation. She leads the team responsible for Truist’s enterprise data capabilities, including strategy, governance, data platform delivery, client, master & reference data, and the centers of excellence for business intelligence visualization and artificial intelligence & machine learning. She is alsothe executive sponsor for Truist’s Enterprise Technology & Operations Diversity Council. Daniels joined Truist in 2018. She has more than 25 years of banking and technology experience leading high performing technology portfolio, development, infrastructure and global operations organizations. Tracy enjoys participating in civic and philanthropic endeavors including serving on the Georgia State University Foundation Board of Trustees. She has been recognized as a National 2013 WOC STEM Rising Star award recipient, the 2017 Working Mother magazine Mother of the Year recipient, and a 2021 Women In Technology (WIT) Women of the Year in STEAM finalist.In the episode Tracy and Richie discuss Truist's approach to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and its alignment with the company's purpose and values, the distinction between diversity and inclusion, the positive outcomes of implementing DEI correctly, the importance of not missing opportunities both externally with customers and internally with talent, the significance of aligning diversity programs with business metrics and hiring to promote DEI, considerations for job advertisements that appeal to a diverse audience, and much more. Links mentioned in the show:McKinsey on Diversity and InclusionBrookings Piece on Mitigating Bias in DataAlgorithmic Justice LeagueEuropean Legislation on Data and DiversityCourse: AI EthicsRadar: Data & AI Literacy Edition

Sep 18, 202349 min

#154 Building Ethical Machines with Reid Blackman, Founder & CEO at Virtue Consultants

It's been a year since ChatGPT burst onto the scene. It has given many of us a sense of the power and potential that LLMs hold in revolutionizing the global economy. But the power that generative AI brings also comes with inherent risks that need to be mitigated. For those working in AI, the task at hand is monumental: to chart a safe and ethical course for the deployment and use of artificial intelligence. This isn't just a challenge; it's potentially one of the most important collective efforts of this decade. The stakes are high, involving not just technical and business considerations, but ethical and societal ones as well. How do we ensure that AI systems are designed responsibly? How do we mitigate risks such as bias, privacy violations, and the potential for misuse? How do we assemble the right multidisciplinary mindset and expertise for addressing AI safety? Reid Blackman, Ph.D., is the author of “Ethical Machines” (Harvard Business Review Press), creator and host of the podcast “Ethical Machines,” and Founder and CEO of Virtue, a digital ethical risk consultancy. He is also an advisor to the Canadian government on their federal AI regulations, was a founding member of EY’s AI Advisory Board, and a Senior Advisor to the Deloitte AI Institute. His work, which includes advising and speaking to organizations including AWS, US Bank, the FBI, NASA, and the World Economic Forum, has been profiled by The Wall Street Journal, the BBC, and Forbes. His written work appears in The Harvard Business Review and The New York Times. Prior to founding Virtue, Reid was a professor of philosophy at Colgate University and UNC-Chapel Hill.In the episode, Reid and Richie discuss the dominant concerns in AI ethics, from biased AI and privacy violations to the challenges introduced by generative AI, such as manipulative agents and IP issues. They delve into the existential threats posed by AI, including shifts in the job market and disinformation. Reid also shares examples where unethical AI has led to AI projects being scrapped, the difficulty in mitigating bias, preemptive measures for ethical AI and much more. Links mentioned in the show:Ethical Machines by Reid BlackmanVirtue Ethics ConsultancyAmazon’s Scrapped AI Recruiting ToolNIST AI Risk Management FrameworkCourse: AI EthicsDataCamp Radar: Data & AI Literacy

Sep 11, 202358 min

#153 From Data Literacy to AI Literacy with Cindi Howson, Chief Data Strategy Officer at ThoughtSpot

For the past few years, we've seen the importance of data literacy and why organizations must invest in a data-driven culture, mindset, and skillset. However, as generative AI tools like ChatGPT have risen to prominence in the past year, AI literacy has never been more important. But how do we begin to approach AI literacy? Is it an extension of data literacy, a complement, or a new paradigm altogether? How should you get started on your AI literacy ambitions? Cindi Howson is the Chief Data Strategy Officer at ThoughtSpot and host of The Data Chief podcast. Cindi is a data analytics, AI, and BI thought leader and an expert with a flair for bridging business needs with technology. As Chief Data Strategy Officer at ThoughtSpot, she advises top clients on data strategy and best practices to become data-driven, speaks internationally on top trends such as AI ethics, and influences ThoughtSpot’s product strategy.Cindi was previously a Gartner Research Vice President, the lead author for the data and analytics maturity model and analytics and BI Magic Quadrant, and a popular keynote speaker. She introduced new research in data and AI for good, NLP/BI Search, and augmented analytics, bringing both BI bake-offs and innovation panels to Gartner globally. She’s frequently quoted in MIT, Harvard Business Review, and Information Week. She is rated a top 12 influencer in big data and analytics by Analytics Insight, Onalytca, Solutions Review, and Humans of Data.In the episode, Cindi and Adel discuss how generative AI accelerates an organization’s data literacy, how leaders can think beyond data literacy and start to think about AI literacy, the importance of responsible use of AI, how to best communicate the value of AI within your organization, what generative AI means for data teams, AI use-cases in the data space, the psychological barriers blocking AI adoption, and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show:The Data Chief Podcast ThoughtSpot Sage BloombergGPT Radar: Data & AI LiteracyCourse: AI Ethics Course: Generative AI ConceptsCourse: Implementing AI Solutions in Business 

Sep 4, 202339 min

Introducing Data & AI Literacy Month

With September and International Literacy Day (September 8th) upon us, we’re dedicating the entire month to cover the ins and outs of data & AI literacy. Make sure to sign up for the events we have in store, and to tune in for this month’s episodes.Data & AI Literacy MonthDataCamp Radar: Data & AI Literacy Edition

Sep 1, 20232 min

#152 How Data can Enable Effective Leadership with Dr. Constance Dierickx, The Decision Doctor

The mainstreaming of data & AI is fundamentally altering the way we work and operate. But with rising innovation, comes rising ambiguity and complexity. How can leaders effectively navigate the path ahead? How can leaders adopt data-driven decision-making and learn from their mistakes? How can leaders use data to look inward, and become what today’s guest describes as “meta-leaders”? Constance Dierickx is an internationally recognized expert in high-stakes decision-making who has advised leaders and delivered speeches in more than 20 countries. Founder and president of CD Consulting Group, her clients include Fortune 20 companies, private equity firms, and large not-for-profits around the globe. She is a contributor to Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Chief Executive, and others, and has taught strategic decision-making at Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology in Moscow, Russia. In the episode, Richie and Constance delve into what meta-leadership is, the nuances of meta-leadership, the pivotal role of data in leadership, the importance of recognizing subtle behavioral cues, the implications of cognitive biases (particularly overconfidence), and the essence of wisdom in decision-making. Constance also shares insights from her clinical psychology background, highlighting the application of biofeedback mechanisms in managing chronic pain and much more. Links From the Show:Meta-Leadership by Constance DierickxHigh-Stakes Leadership by Constance DierickxThe Merger Mindset by Constance DierickxDesign the Life You Love: A Step-by-Step Guide to Building a Meaningful FutureBook by Ayse BirselIntroducing The State of Data Literacy Report 2023Data-Driven Decision Making for Business

Aug 28, 202356 min

#151 How Data Science Can Sustain Small Businesses with Kendra Vant, Executive GM Data & AI Products at Xero

Throughout history, small businesses have consistently played a pivotal role in the global economy, serving as its foundational backbone. As we navigate the digital age, the emergence of large corporations and rapid technological advancements present new challenges. Now, more than ever, it's imperative for small businesses to adapt, embracing a data-driven approach to remain competitive and sustainable. In this evolving landscape, we need champions dedicated to guiding these businesses, ensuring they harness the full potential of modern tools and insights to ensure a fair and varied marketplace of goods and services for all. Dr Kendra Vant, Executive General Manager of Data & AI Products at Xero, is an industry leader in building data-driven products that harness AI and machine learning to solve complex problems for the small-business economy. Working across Australia, Asia and the US, Kendra has led data and technology teams at companies such as Seek, Telstra, Deloitte and now Xero where she leads the company's global efforts using emerging practices and technologies to help small businesses and their advisors benefit from the power of data and insights. Starting with doctoral research in experimental quantum physics at MIT and a stint building quantum computers at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Kendra has made a career of solving hard problems and pushing the boundaries of what's possible.In the episode, Kendra and Richie delve into the transformative impact of data science on small businesses, use-cases of data science for small businesses, how Xero has supported numerous small businesses with data science. They also cover the integration of AI in product development, the unexpected depth of data in seemingly low-tech sectors, the pivotal role of software platforms in data analysis and much more. Links Mentioned in The Show:XeroAnalyzing Business Data in SQLFinancial Modeling in SpreadsheetsImplementing AI Solutions in BusinessGenerative AI Concepts

Aug 21, 202351 min

#150 Unlocking the Power of Data Science in the Cloud

As companies scale and become more successful, new horizons open, but with them come unexpected challenges. The influx of revenue and expansion of operations often reveal hidden complexities that can hinder efficiency and inflate costs. In this tricky situation, data teams can find themselves entangled in a web of obstacles that slow down their ability to innovate and respond to ever-changing business needs. Enter cloud analytics—a transformative solution that promises to break down barriers and unleash potential. By migrating analytics to the cloud, organizations can navigate the growing pains of success, cutting costs, enhancing flexibility, and empowering data teams to work with agility and precision. John Knieriemen is the Regional Business Lead for North America at Exasol, the market-leading high-performance analytics database. Prior to joining Exasol, he served as Vice President and General Manager at Teradata during an 11-year tenure with the company. John is responsible for strategically scaling Exasol’s North America business presence across industries and expanding the organization’s partner network. Solongo Erdenekhuyag is the former Customer Success and Data Strategy Leader at Exasol. Solongo is skilled in strategy, business development, program management, leadership, strategic partnerships, and management.In the episode, Richie, Solongo, and John cover the motivation for moving analytics to the cloud, economic triggers for migration, success stories from organizations who have migrated to the cloud, the challenges and potential roadblocks in migration, the importance of flexibility and open-mindedness and much more. Links from the ShowExasolAmazon S3Azure Blob StorageGoogle Cloud StorageBigQueryAmazon RedshiftSnowflake[Course] Understanding Cloud Computing[Course] AWS Cloud Concepts

Aug 14, 202340 min

#149 Expanding the Scope of Generative AI in the Enterprise with Bal Heroor, CEO and Principal at Mactores

Generative AI is here to stay—even in the 8 months since the public release of ChatGPT, there are an abundance of AI tools to help make us more productive at work and ease the stress of planning and execution of our daily lives among other things. Already, many of us are wondering what is to come in the next 8 months, the next year, and the next decade of AI’s evolution. In the grand scheme of things, this really is just the beginning. But what should we expect in this Cambrian explosion of technology? What are the use cases being developed behind the scenes? What do we need to be mindful of when training the next generations of AI? Can we combine multiple LLMs to get better results?Bal Heroor is CEO and Principal at Mactores and has led over 150 business transformations driven by analytics and cutting-edge technology. His team at Mactores are researching and building AI, AR/VR, and Quantum computing solutions for business to gain a competitive advantage. Bal is also the Co-Founder of Aedeon—the first hyper-scale Marketplace for Data Analytics and AI talent.In the episode, Richie and Bal explore common use cases for generative AI, how it's evolving to solve enterprise problems, challenges of data governance and the importance of explainable AI, the challenges of tracking the lineage of AI and data in large organizations. Bal also touches on the shift from general-purpose generative AI models to more specialized models, fascinating use cases in the manufacturing industry, what to consider when adopting AI solutions in business, and much more.Links mentioned in the show:PulsarTrifactaAWS Clarify[Course] Introduction to ChatGPT[Course] Implementing AI Solutions in Business[Course] Generative AI Concepts

Aug 7, 20231h 0m

#148 Why AI is Eating the World with Daniel Jeffries, Managing Director at AI Infrastructure Alliance

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'Software is eating the world’ is a truism coined by Mark Andreesen, General Partner at Andreesen Horowitz. This was especially evident during the shift from analog mediums to digital at the turn of the century. Software companies have essentially usurped and replaced their non-digital predecessors. Amazon was the largest bookseller, Netflix was the largest movie "rental" service, Spotify or Apple were the largest music providers.Today, AI is starting to eat the world. However, we are still at the early start of the AI revolution, with AI set to become embedded in almost every piece of software we interact with. An AI ecosystem that touches every aspect of our lives is what today’s guest describes as ‘Ambient AI’. But what can we expect from this ramp up to Ambient AI? How will it change the way we work? What do we need to be mindful of as we develop this technology?Daniel Jeffries is the Managing Director of the AI Infrastructure Alliance and former CIO at Stability AI, the company responsible for Stable Diffusion, the popular open-source image generation model. He’s also an author, engineer, futurist, pro blogger and he’s given talks all over the world on AI and cryptographic platforms.In the episode, Adel and Daniel discuss how to define ambient AI, how our relationship with work will evolve as we become more reliant on AI, what the AI ecosystem is missing to rapidly scale adoption, why we need to accelerate the maturity of the open source AI ecosystem, how AI existential risk discourse takes away focus from real AI risk, and a lot lot more.Links Mentioned in the ShowDaniel’s Writing on MediumDaniel’s SubstackAI Infrastructure AllianceStability AIFrancois CholletRed Pajama DatasetRun AIWill Superintelligent AI End the World? By Eliezer Yudkowsky Nick Bostrom’s Paper Clip MaximizerThe pessimist archive [Course] Introduction to ChatGPT[Course] Implementing AI Solutions in Business

Jul 31, 20231h 0m

#147 The Past, Present & Future of Generative AI—With Joanne Chen, General Partner at Foundation Capital

In a time when AI is evolving at breakneck speeds, taking a step back and gaining a bird's-eye view of the evolving AI ecosystem is paramount to understanding where the field is headed.With this bird's-eye view come a series of questions. Which trends will dominate generative AI in the foreseeable future? What are the truly transformative use-cases that will reshape our business landscape? What does the skills economy look like in an age of hyper intelligence?Enter Joanne Chen, General Partner at Foundation Capital. Joanne invests in early-stage AI-first B2B applications and data platforms that are the building blocks of the automated enterprise. She has shared her learnings as a featured speaker at conferences, including CES, SXSW, WebSummit, and has spoken about the impact of AI on society in her TED talk titled "Confessions of an AI Investor." Joanne began her career as an engineer at Cisco Systems and later co-founded a mobile gaming company. She also spent many years working on Wall Street at Jefferies & Company, helping tech companies go through the IPO and M&A processes, and at Probitas Partners, advising venture firms on their fundraising process.Throughout the episode, Richie and Joanne cover emerging trends in generative AI, business use cases that have emerged in the past year since the advent of tools like ChatGPT, the role of AI in augmenting work, the ever-changing job market and AI's impact on it, as well as actionable insights for individuals and organizations wanting to adopt AI.Links mentioned in the show:JasperAIAnyScaleCerebras[Course] Introduction to ChatGPT[Course] Implementing AI Solutions in Business[Course] Generative AI Concepts

Jul 24, 202337 min

#146 Do Spreadsheets Need a Rethink? With Hjalmar Gislason, CEO of GRID

Spreadsheets have been the unsung heroes of the data world for many decades now. Yet, despite their ubiquity and importance, they've seen little disruption or evolution. The grid of cells we interact with today isn't far removed from the ones our predecessors used in the 1980s.However, the winds of change have started to blow. As we stand on the cusp of a new era in data and AI, the humble spreadsheet is poised for transformation. The coming changes could redefine how we interact with data, derive insights, and how we make decisions. The implications are vast given the popularity and dependence we have on spreadsheets, and the potential impacts could ripple through every corner of the professional world. Hjalmar Gislason is the founder and CEO of GRID, with their main product being a smart spreadsheet with an interactive data visualization layer and integrated AI assistance. Hjalmar previously served as VP of Product Management at Qlik. He was the founder and CEO of DataMarket, founded in 2008 and sold to Qlik in 2014. A career data nerd and entrepreneur, GRID is Hjalmar’s fifth software startup as a founder. In the episode, Richie and Hjalmar explore the integral role of spreadsheets in today's data-driven world, the limitations of traditional Business Intelligence tools, and the transformative potential of generative AI in the realm of spreadsheets.

Jul 17, 202354 min

#145 Why AI will Change Everything—with Former Snowflake CEO, Bob Muglia

Data and AI are advancing at an unprecedented rate—and while the jury is still out on achieving superintelligent AI systems, the idea of artificial intelligence that can understand and learn anything—an “artificial general intelligence”—is becoming more likely. What does the rise of AI mean for the future of software and work as we know it? How will AI help reinvent most of the ways we interact with the digital and physical world?Bob Muglia is a data technology investor and business executive, former CEO of Snowflake, and past president of Microsoft's Server and Tools Division. As a leader in data & AI, Bob focuses on how innovation and ethical values can merge to shape the data economy's future in the era of AI. He serves as a board director for emerging companies that seek to maximize the power of data to help solve some of the world's most challenging problems.In the episode, Richie and Bob explore the current era of AI and what it means for the future of software. Throughout the episode, they discuss how to approach driving value with large language models, the main challenges organizations face when deploying AI systems, the risks, and rewards of fine-tuning LLMs for specific use cases, what the next 12 to 18 months hold for the burgeoning AI ecosystem, the likelihood of superintelligence within our lifetimes, and more. Links from the show:The Datapreneurs by Bob Muglia and Steve HammThe Singularity is Near by Ray KurzweilIsaac AsimovSnowflakePineconeDocugamiOpenAI/GPT-4The Modern Data Stack

Jul 10, 202354 min

#144 Intel CTO Steve Orrin on How Governments Can Navigate the Data & AI Revolution

Today's government agencies face unprecedented complexities, and when thinking about the role of government in driving positive change for society at large, data & AI stand out as key levers to empower government agencies to do more with less. However, the road to government data & AI transformation is fraught with risk, and is full with opportunity. So how can government data leaders succeed in their transformation endeavors? Steve Orrin is Intel’s Federal Chief Technology Officer. He leads Public Sector Solution Architecture, Strategy, and Technology Engagements and has held technology leadership positions at Intel where he has led cybersecurity programs, products, and strategy. Steve was previously CSO for Sarvega, CTO of Sanctum, CTO and co-founder of LockStar, and CTO at SynData Technologies. He was named one of InfoWorld's Top 25 CTO's, received Executive Mosaic’s Top CTO Executives Award, is a Washington Exec Top Chief Technology Officers to Watch in 2023, was the Vice-Chair of the NSITC/IDESG Security Committee and was a Guest Researcher at NIST’s National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE). He is a fellow at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies and the chair of the INSA Cyber Committee.Throughout the episode, we talked about the unique challenges government face when driving value with data & AI, how agencies need to align their data ambitions with their actual mission, the nuances between data privacy laws between the united states, Europe, and China, how to best approach launching pilot projects if you are in government, and a lot more.

Jul 3, 202349 min

#143 Fighting the Climate Crisis with Data

Every year we become increasingly aware of the urgency of the climate crisis, and with that, the need to usher in renewable energies and scale their adoption has never been more important. However, as we look at the ways to scale the adoption of renewable energy, data stands out as a key lever to accelerate a greener future. Today’s guest is Jean-Pierre Pélicier, CDO at ENGIE. ENGIE is one of the largest energy producers in the world and definitely one of the largest in Europe. They operate in more than 48 countries and have committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2045. Data plays a crucial part in these plans.In the episode, Jean-Pierre shares his unique perspective on how data is not just transforming the renewable energy industry but also redefining the way we approach the climate crisis. From harnessing the power of data to optimize energy production and distribution to leveraging advanced analytics to predict and mitigate environmental impacts, Jean-Pierre highlights the ways data continues to be an invaluable tool in our quest for a sustainable future.Also discussed in the episode are the challenges of data collection and quality in the energy sector, the importance of fostering a data culture within an organization, and aligning data strategy with a company's strategic objectives.

Jun 26, 202337 min

#142 Is Data Science Still the Sexiest Job of the 21st Century?

About 10 years ago, Thomas Davenport & DJ Patil published the article "Data Scientist: The Sexiest Job of the 21st Century" in the Harvard Business Review. In this piece, they described the bourgeoning role of the data scientist and what it will mean for organizations and individuals in the coming decade. As time has passed, data science has become increasingly institutionalized. Once seen as a luxury, it is now deemed a necessity in every modern boardroom. Moreover as technologies like AI and systems like ChatGPT keep astonishing us with their capabilities in handling data science tasks, it raises a pertinent question: Is Data Science Still the Sexiest Job of the 21st Century?In this episode, we invited Thomas Davenport on the show to share his perspective on where data science & AI are at today, and where they are headed. Thomas Davenport is the President’s Distinguished Professor of Information Technology and Management at Babson College, the co-founder of the International Institute for Analytics, a Fellow of the MIT Initiative for the Digital Economy, and a Senior Advisor to Deloitte Analytics. He has written or edited twenty books and over 250 print or digital articles for Harvard Business Review (HBR), Sloan Management Review, the Financial Times, and many other publications. One of HBR’s most frequently published authors, Thomas has been at the forefront of the Process Innovation, Knowledge Management, and Analytics and Big Data movements. He pioneered the concept of “competing on analytics” with his 2006 Harvard Business Review article and his 2007 book by the same name. Since then, he has continued to provide cutting-edge insights on how companies can use analytics and big data to their advantage, and then on artificial intelligence.Throughout the episode, we discuss how data science has changed since he first published his article, how it has become more institutionalized, how data leaders can drive value with data science, the importance of data culture, his views on AI and where he thinks its going, and a lot more. Links from the Show:Working with AI by Thomas DavenportThe AI Advantage: How to Put the Artificial Intelligence Revolution to Work by Thomas DavenportHarvard Business ReviewNew Vantage PartnersCCC Intelligent SolutionsRadar AI

Jun 19, 202347 min

#141 How Data Science is Transforming the NBA

Historically in elite team sports, there has often been a dynamic between players and their inherent abilities, and the vision of the coach. In many sports, we’ve seen coaching strategies influence the future of how the game is played. As the era of professionalism swept across many elite sports in the 90s, we saw the highest-level sports teams achieve a competitive edge by looking at the data, with sports fans often noticing a difference in the ‘feel’ of the way their team plays. In Basketball specifically, we have recently seen the rise of the 3-pointer, a riskier and much more difficult shot to accurately hit, even for professional players. But what has driven the rise of the 3-pointer? Is it another trend among coaches, or does the answer lie with data-based insights and the analysts producing these insights?Seth Partnow is the Director of North American Sports at StatsBomb, where he previously served as their Director of Basketball Analytics. Prior to joining StatsBomb in 2021, Seth was the Director of Basketball Research for the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team. Seth is also an accomplished Analyst and Author, having worked as an NBA Analyst for The Athletic since 2019 and having published his own book on basketball analytics, The Midrange Theory. Seth’s knowledge and insight bridges the gap between data analytics and elite US sport. In the episode, Seth and Richie look into the intricate dynamics of elite basketball. Seth explores the challenges of attributing individual contributions in a sport where the outcome is significantly influenced by the complex interplay between players.Drawing from his extensive experience in the field, Seth discusses the complexities of analyzing player performance, the nuances of determining why certain players get easier or harder shots, and the difficulty of attributing credit for defensive achievements to individual players.Seth provides a comprehensive overview of the various roles within sports analytics, from data engineers to analysts, and highlights the importance of finding one's niche within these roles, particularly in the context of elite basketball.Seth also shares his personal journey into basketball analytics, offering valuable insights and advice for those interested in pursuing a career in this field, stressing the importance of introspection and understanding the unique lifestyle associated with working for a sports team, while also offering industry-agnostic advice on how to approach analyzing and using data in any context.

Jun 12, 202349 min