In this episode of The Data T podcast, Armon Petrossian and Satish Jayanthi talk with Nicho Mann, founder and CEO of Stratos Consulting, about the emotional and operational challenges facing data professionals today. Nicho introduces the idea of “data therapy” — a way to talk about the mounting pressure, backlog, and burnout that teams are experiencing as AI hype accelerates. With firsthand stories from the biotech and pharmaceutical space, he explains how many companies are overwhelmed, under-resourced, and unsure how to move forward. The conversation digs into how to focus on what matters, where AI is genuinely helping, and why a more agile, empathetic approach to data work is urgently needed.

Main topics:

• “Data therapy” concept
• AI: hype and expectations vs. reality
• Overwhelmed data teams
• Executive pressure to innovate
• Automating manual, repetitive tasks
• Optimizing data frameworks for AI
• The importance of subject matter expertise
• How to stay grounded in fast change

Resources:

About Stratos Consulting: https://stratosconsulting.com/

About Coalesce: https://coalesce.io/about/

The Data T archive: https://coalesce.io/podcast/