Mark Rittman is joined in this episode by Ethan Aaron, Founder & CEO of Portable, to talk about what you should do if you’re the first data hire at a company, when and when not to hire a consultant, the founding story of Portable.io and the long tail (and economic model) of the data integration connectors market. Ethan Aaron LinkedIn Profile Portab…

Key Moments: Disappointment With Today’s AI Systems (4:00) Congressional Inaction And The Need for AI Regulation (9:00) The Seduction of AI Propaganda (15:00) The Misguided Hypothesis of "Scale is All You Need" (23:00) Don’t Be Fooled by the Masters of AI Hype (27:00) The Global AI Race and the Need for International Cooperation (33:00) Key Quotes:…

Key Moments: Jeremy Kahn The history of AI: the Turing Test and the Eliza Effect with Jeremy Khan (1:50) Jeremy’s view on how we can learn from lessons of the past (9:00) It starts with data and people: leveraging AI to increase productivity (16:00) Sol Rashidi Sol Rashidi on failing to succeed in AI (31:00) The need for rogue executives (37:00) So…

Mark Rittman is joined by returning guest David Jayatillake, VP of AI at Cube.dev, to talk about Delphi Labs’ journey from a standalone data analytics chatbot to now becoming the basis of Cube’s new AI features within its composable semantic model product. Drill to Detail Ep.102 'LLMs, Semantic Models and Bringing AI to the Modern Data Stack' with …

Key Moments: The road to entrepreneurship (1:00) Bringing transparency to the prescription drugs industry (4:30) Analyzing in-game sports data to shoot for new heights (20:00) Changing the world by making data and AI accessible to everyone (25:00) How LLMs can build curiosity for the next generation of tech talent (33:00) Key Quotes: “As with all t…

Key Moments: Why is the data wrong? (6:00) Our products are our data (11:00) The true size of the data quality problem (14:00) Clean your data before you prioritize shiny new tools (26:00) The next frontier: GenAI and unstructured data (31:00) Key Quotes: “The data estate has changed significantly. But the way in which we manage data and data quali…

Relativity Space’s CFO, Mo Shahzad, has been instrumental in shaping aerospace innovation, most significantly in helping build and launch Terran 1, the world’s first 3D-printed rocket. Mo's commitment to pushing the boundaries of what's possible in space exploration underscores his pivotal role in steering Relativity Space to the forefront of the i…

Key Moments: Leveraging data for good (2:00) Every leader is responsible for data management (13:00) New metrics to validate AI’s sustainability (21:00) Mitigating AI’s risks to society (23:00) The current shape of global AI regulation (28:00) The importance of diversity in mitigating data bias (37:00) Key Quotes: “Every leader must understand that…

Key Moments: A journey from intern to CEO (05:10) Encouraging a harmonized relationship between humans and AI (09:58) Why embracing stress can drive urgency and effective change (17:18) Generative AI’s impact on the skills landscape (30:39) Fostering a data-driven company culture (36:41) Embrace change, and quickly (40:25) Key Quotes: “AI does amaz…

Key Moments: The emotional temperature for change in analytics (5:06) There’s no playbook for change management (7:53) Why Generative AI success requires a melding of expertise (17:20) Measuring the success of LLMs (18:58) How do you embrace the new when you’re facing technical debt? (33:27) How to fine-tune your career in today’s data and AI lands…

Key Moments: Leveraging Generative AI for work? Start by asking the right questions (04:13) What’s in store for the future world of work (18:18) How Generative AI can expand humans’ divergent thinking (26:16) Taking people and culture along the Generative AI journey (31:20) The value of diversity in data (42:00) A tale of mentorship (44:20) Key Quo…

In the complex world of academia, corporate finance, and venture capital, few names resonate as powerfully as Ilya Strebulaev’s. As a Professor of Finance at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Ilya has cemented his reputation as a leading authority in corporate finance, financial decision-making, and private company valuation. Ilya’s academi…

Key Moments: The voyage to a data-driven US Coast Guard (5:21) Navigating data-driven approaches to US Coast Guard operations (20:28) Balancing experience-based decision making with data-informed decision making (25:34) In whose data do you trust? (30:10) Measuring the value of data (33:80) Should an AI ethicist be part of the team or should everyo…

Tune in to learn: Make your business strategy a data strategy (3:10) ‘Cover my back’ approaches (09:00) Straddling risks in data and business (11:28) Learnings from implementing myGPT (16:18) Activating your organization’s collective genius (24:05) Creating the right processes and culture to breed AI success (31:00) The current state of AI regulati…

People are only as healthy as the communities they live in. In this episode, discover how Elevance Health is reimagining the healthcare system, and strengthening our communities in the process with a data-driven strategy. Learn how Elevance Health leverages community data to paint a more complete picture of an individual’s health, making healthcare…

Fanatics has rapidly emerged as a juggernaut in the world of licensed sports merchandise, collectibles, and online betting. What started as an online retailer in the late 1990s has transformed into a multi-billion dollar operation serving as the official e-commerce partner for major professional sports leagues like the NFL, NBA, MLB, NASCAR, as wel…

In developed nations, corporations often rollup and eat independent mom and pop shops into big box retail or big .coms that centralize supply chains and logistics. Meanwhile, independent sellers are the backbone of emerging markets. But a collision is starting to occur and it’s happening fast. Big corporations want to bring the same strategy to the…

Join Dallas Clement, President and Chief Financial Officer of legendary Cox Enterprises, as he shares invaluable insights into his career journey, financial leadership, and how Cox's foundational values have been a beacon of success for 125+ years. With over three decades of experience, Dallas emphasizes the importance of balancing culture, learnin…

Description: Cindi Howson is joined by Valerie A. Logan, CEO and founder of the DataLodge and Chief Strategy Officer at DATA SOCIETY GROUP, and Jason Beyer, Vice President of Data and Analytics at Bridgestone Americas. They delve into the vital concepts of data literacy and AI literacy, sharing their insights and experiences in fostering a data-dri…

Description: In this episode, Chris Stephens, Field CTO at Appen, dives into how CDO’s are navigating the world of generative AI. From setting clear expectations to driving adoption within organizations, Chris and Cindi explore the challenges and opportunities in this evolving landscape. Chris shares Appen's innovative approach to integrating human…

In this episode of The Modern CFO, Lauren StClair, CFO of NerdWallet, shares her unique career journey spanning across startups and large corporations like PayPal, eBay, and StubHub. She delves into the valuable lessons she's learned along the way, offering key takeaways for professionals in the finance and technology industries. Lauren's journey b…

Description: Michael Jordan once said that players win games, and teams win championships. In this episode, Cindi interviews Alfredo Colas, Senior Vice President of Data and Analytics at Procter & Gamble. Together, they explore the importance of fostering a data-driven culture and digital fluency, while delving into strategies for overcoming challe…

Giving ABC’s more meaning, in this episode of The Data Chief host Cindi Howson, engages in a captivating conversation with Nisha Paliwal, the managing VP of Enterprise Data Technology at Capital One. Nisha dives into her multifaceted role as a tech leader, visionary, and advocate for STEM education. The discussion traverses topics ranging from the …

On this episode of The Data Chief, Katie Russell, Data Director at OVO Energy shares OVO’s transformative journey to become a sustainable energy leader, emphasizing the shift to Google Cloud Platform and a data mesh strategy. The discussion covers OVO's innovative use of generative AI, measuring success through customer savings, and the ongoing cha…

"Am I continuing to learn? Am I continuing to create value?” These questions act as pillars for Eric Muhlheim, propelling his expansive career from studying mathematics to leading finance teams at one of the most dynamic tech organizations today. In our first episode of 2024, Eric and host of The Modern CFO, Andrew Seski, explore Eric's formative e…

You’ve heard the term data science, but have you heard about decision science? Juergen Kallinger, VP of Data and Insights at HP, shares valuable insights and reflections from his 22-year journey at HP. In this episode, Juergen dives into HP’s pivotal shift from solely reporting, to the dynamic realm of decision science and how it’s aligned their da…

Gen-AI, Gen-AI, Gen-AI. The transformative technology has captured the imagination of everyone in the tech industry. Industries are shifting before our eyes, and the roles and responsibilities of data practitioners everywhere are going to shift again. The question is not whether an impact will be made, but what will the impact be? In this episode, …

From investor to public company CFO, BLADE's Will Heyburn shares his path to the selective role of leading a finance team from the private markets through an IPO and beyond. In this episode of The Modern CFO, Will unpacks BLADE's unique evolution from passenger transportation to a leading medical organ transport provider and why they continue to fo…

The world's top data and analytics leaders share their stories on the The Data Chief. New episodes return in January 2024. Until then, take a look at some of the previous episodes and hear case studies, industry insights, and personal lessons from the executives leading the data revolution. Hear more from Cindi Howson here. Sponsored by ThoughtSpot…

In today's fast-paced marketplace, distinguishing what is important and impactful is a challenging task, and when a crisis unfolds rapidly, the stakes reach unprecedented heights. Steven Kelly, Associate Director of Research at the Yale Program on Financial Stability, joins us to discuss how navigating the choppy financial waters requires CFOs to p…

Description: On this episode, Benn Stancil, Co-Founder of Mode Analytics and current Field CTO at Thoughtspot shares his thoughts on who wants to use data to solve problems, and who just wants data to validate an opinion. He brings unique perspectives to how data excellence can be proliferated through an organization, whether shadow IT is a nuisanc…

Diana Schildhouse, Chief Analytics and Insights Officer at Colgate-Palmolive, discusses driving business value through analytics, ensuring executives are data fluent, innovating with AI, and her career path through iconic brands like Mattel and Disney. Key Moments Listening Tours: How 100’s of one-on-one conversations helped to narrow in on which b…

In this episode, Mark Wilson, former CFO of iconic automotive brands McLaren and Aston Martin, reveals the keys to enduring success in an ever-changing industry. Now CFO at Verge, an electric motorbike company, he shares with us his strategy to marry cutting-edge performance innovations with an authentic human experience. We discuss the fundamental…

Description As the world’s seventh largest retailer, Carrefour is using advanced analytics to transform operations, better serve customers, and pioneer the future of retail. Chief Data & Analytics Officer Sebastien Rozanes explains how the company is leveraging data and generative AI to drive measurable business value across merchandising, supply c…

In a world where data reigns supreme, today's leaders need to balance the quantitative with the qualitative to lead, create, and inspire the next generation of CFOs. In his role as CFO at ThoughtSpot, Mohit Daswani leverages his extensive background gained from notable positions at JPMorgan, PayPal, and Square. He passionately champions the company…

It’s that time of year again. On this episode of The Data Chief, Cindi dives into three of the hottest book recommendations for data and analytics leaders and sits down with Dr. Barb Wixom, author of Data is Everybody’s Business, Vin Vashishta, author of From Data to Profit, and Asha Saxena, author of The AI Factor. Key Moments: Introducing Dr. Bar…

Mark Rittman is joined in this final episode of the current series of Drill to Detail by returning guest Jordan Tigani, Co-Founder & CEO at Motherduck to talk about the journey from big data to small data and bringing hybrid cloud execution to DuckDB. Big Data is Dead Teach Your Duckdb To Fly Announcing Motherduck: Hybrid Execution Scales Duckdb Fr…

Not many CDOs get to enter a new role with a clean slate. But Geraldine Wong, CDO for GXS Bank in Singapore did just that. In this episode of The Data Chief, she explains how the bank has built a foundation of data literacy by providing employees the right tools, access, and knowledge to put data at the forefront of their workflow. This culture of …

In this episode of The Data Chief, hosts Cindi Howson and Sonny Rivera interview Sumathi Thiyagarajan, the VP of Business Strategy and Analytics for the Milwaukee Bucks and Fiserv Forum. Sumathi discusses being a data leader in professional sports, building a data team from the ground up, and leveraging insights to continually provide the best fan …

Mark Rittman is joined in this special episode by previous Looker founder and inventor of the LookML language Lloyd Tabb together with Carlin Eng, Product Manager at Google Cloud to talk about Malloy, a new query language to replace SQL for analytics. Drill to Detail Ep.60 'A Deeper Look Into Looker' With Special Guest Lloyd Tabb Malloy : An experi…

Mark Rittman is joined in this episode by returning guest and Elementl Founder Nick Shrock to talk about Dagster's role in the modern data stack ecosystem and software defined assets, a new, declarative approach to managing data and orchestrating its maintenance. Introducing Software-Defined Assets Rethinking Orchestration as Reconciliation: Softwa…

Have you ever wondered what the future of car-sharing looks like? Turo CFO Chuck Fisher unpacks this with host Andrew Seski on this episode of The Modern CFO Podcast. Chuck also shares his perspective on the role of trust in car-sharing technology, the economic value created on Turo's platform, and how Turo is bridging the gap in transport insecuri…

Alex Viana, VP of Data at Vercel, has had a truly unique career. Starting with a role at the Hubble Space Telescope, Alex found his way into the data space by way of data security and searching for leaked data assets. Today, he leads the data organization at Vercel, where he views building – teams, technology processes, and metrics – as his primary…

Mark Rittman is joined in this special episode of Drill to Detail by Benn Stancil, CTO and Founder at Mode to talk about their recent acquisition by ThoughtSpot, the economics of the modern data stack and how AI and LLMs could likely become our industry’s next discontinuity. We don’t need another SQL chatbot The new philosophers ThoughtSpot acquire…

Each day, valuable patient data collected by healthcare systems. When used properly as part of healthcare analytics, this can help drive better outcomes for both patients and providers. However, when data management is not effectively implemented, organizations lose out on these benefits. Terry Myerson, CEO of Truveta, saw the need to unlock data’s…

Mark Rittman is joined in this episode by Artyom Keydunov, Founder at Cube to talk about embedded analytics and Cube's origin story, headless BI, query acceleration and how Cube and Delphi enable an AI-powered conversational interface for the semantic layer. Empower uniquely insightful AI & LLM data experiences AI-powered conversational interface f…

It’s one thing for a company to invest in new technology. It’s another for a company to become invested in technology. In this episode, Yao Morin, CTO of JLL explains how she isn’t just adding data to the company workflow, but is instead fostering a culture of innovation and data-driven mindsets across the 240-year-old company through education, an…

Jessica Holscott didn’t always have a clear route to a public-facing C-suite role. She had spent many years in different industries — from lighting to vehicle manufacturing — transitioning through a variety of positions to become the well-rounded businesswoman she is today. Most recently, she served as executive vice president (EVP) and chief finan…

Hightouch co-Founder and co-CEO Tejas Manohar returns as special guest to talk with Mark Rittman about the reverse ETL market today, the evolution of the composable customer data platform and new featured in Hightouch to enrich customer profiles and drive personalization across marketing campaigns. Reverse ETL is Dead (Ethan Aaron LinkedIn Post) Cu…

The role of data teams continues to evolve across industries. But in mission-driven fields such as healthcare, data creates efficiencies that could potentially save lives. In this episode of The Data Chief, Cindi is joined by Jeremy Forman of Seagen to discuss the pivotal role his data team plays in driving insights-informed decision-making, and ho…