Data & AI Culture Podcast

Rising AI costs, new model risks, and geopolitical dependencies are turning data and AI sovereignty into a strategic business topic. Carsten Bange speaks with Dr. Maja Himmer from T-Systems about why open models, multi-cloud, European infrastructure, and “Sovereignty by Design” are becoming more important for enterprises — and which questions decision-makers should ask now.

Dr. Maja Himmer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maja-olivia-himmer/

Only 29% of organizations really know where their unstructured data lives – while 79% are confident they can extract value from it. Kyle DuPont (Ohalo) and Carsten Bange discuss BARC's latest report on unstructured data: why classification, metadata and AI readiness are the foundation, how to govern data across on-prem, hybrid and multi-cloud, why agentic AI removes the RAG curation burden, and which criteria really matter in tool selection.

Read the report for free: https://barc.com/webinare/unstructured-data/

Kyle DuPont on LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/urhzc8ds

Digitale Souveränität ist mehr als Compliance: In dieser Folge erklärt Eric Trabold, CCO von Exasol und früher bei AWS, nach welchen Kriterien Unternehmen ihre Daten, Workloads und KI-Modelle bewerten sollten, um Kontrolle, Flexibilität und Resilienz zu sichern. Carsten Bange spricht mit ihm über Cloud-Abhängigkeiten, Exit-Pfade, Verschlüsselung, Open-Source-Modelle, Kostenkontrolle und europäische Alternativen für eine handlungsfähige Datenstrategie.

Hier findet ihr unsere aktuelle Studie zum Thema: https://tinyurl.com/4j25vd8f

Eric Trabold auf LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/46k27dry

Carsten and Telmo Silva (ClicData) discuss why a solid data foundation determines the success of AI and analytics. The conversation covers the semantic layer as the central metadata layer, the deliberate “embrace” of data silos instead of rigid centralization, and the balance between governance and agility. Plus: how AI helps build connectors, data flows, and dashboards – and where its limits still lie today.

Telmo Silva on LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/44adtbe8

In 199 Folgen des Data Culture Podcast habe ich mit führenden Data Leadern über Datenkultur gesprochen. Die 200. Episode nehme ich zum Anlass für eine Reise durch die Highlights der letzten 4,5 Jahre.

In dieser Jubiläumsfolge geht es nicht nur um Rückblicke, Trends und besondere Momente, sondern um die zentrale Frage, die sich durch viele Gespräche zieht: Wie können Menschen in Unternehmen die Kultur rund um Daten, Analytics und AI tatsächlich verändern?

Datensouveränität ist 2026 so relevant wie nie: 89 % der Unternehmen halten das Thema für wichtig. In dieser Folge sprechen Carsten Bange und Timm Grosser über die Ergebnisse der neuen BARC-Studie "Data Sovereignty 2026: Reality, Relevance, Roadmap". Es geht um die wahren Treiber (Regulatorik, Politik, Cybersecurity und KI), um Hybrid- und On-Premises-Strategien, um das Konzept Minimum Viable Sovereignty und darum, warum viele Unternehmen trotz vorhandenem Risikobewusstsein noch nicht in die Umsetzung kommen.

Hier findet ihr die Studie: https://tinyurl.com/4j25vd8f

Timm Grosser auf LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/mpcjtucs

Guillaume Blaquiere from Carrefour shares his journey of scaling agentic AI in the enterprise: choosing the right use cases, enabling decentralized adoption, building governance and observability, and understanding how GenAI changes development work. In his conversation with Carsten Bange and Florian Bigelmaier, he highlights practical patterns, limits, and success factors for AI agents in large organizations.

Guillaume Blaquiere on LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/5f5uzfm6

“Everybody wants to have the numbers from other areas, but nobody really wants to share their own numbers.”

How do you turn a fragmented, siloed data landscape into real cross-functional synergies? Boyana Todorova and Stefanie Bayer of BSH share how they aligned business and central IT around shared KPIs, a common data platform, and a culture of collaboration. Learn why AI is forcing standardization, how a grassroots “coalition of the willing” became a mandated reporting & analytics group, and why defining a shared purpose was the real game changer.

Boyana Todorova on LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/3k68yee3

In this quarterly market update, Carsten Bange and Shawn Rogers once again take a critical look at the state of the data, analytics, and AI market in Q2/2026. They discuss how semantic layers and metadata are becoming the foundation for AI agents, the shift to GenAI and agentic interfaces, new consumption- vs. capacity-based pricing models, AI governance and runaway token costs, data sovereignty, the "SaaSpocalypse", and the latest M&A and investment moves across the market.

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BARC on LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/4j96bfnf

Claire Pfeil and Frank Fischer (ING) join Carsten Bange and Florian Bigelmaier to discuss how GenAI and agentic AI move from experimentation into production in a highly regulated bank. They cover operating models (central vs local), governance and guardrails, monitoring and evaluation (“LLM as a judge”), explainability pressures (incl. the EU AI Act), and the change management needed to scale adoption.

This episode is part of our DATA Festival series, featuring speakers from our upcoming event in Munich. Stay tuned for more exciting insights from industry leaders sharing their cutting-edge projects and innovations.

Learn more about INGs data journey on stage at the DATA Festival Munich in June – one of Europe's leading events for data, AI, and technology leaders.

👉 Save your spot now: https://hubs.li/Q044Z4qG0

Claire Pfeil on LinkedIn: https://tinyurl.com/26u8pbfc