Insane Data Podcast

Maxime Beauchemin is the creator of Apache Airflow and Apache Superset — two of the most widely used open source tools in data engineering today. Former data engineer at Yahoo, Facebook, Airbnb, and Lyft, and founder of Preset, Maxime has spent two decades at the very foundation of the modern data stack.

In this conversation with Giuliano Giannetti, Maxime talks about what happens when the tools you built start to be challenged by the next wave. They go deep on how AI is reshaping data teams, why open source is accelerating, how agents are replacing entire workflows, whether the premise of the data warehouse is crumbling — and what it actually takes to stay relevant in data today. Maxime also shares what he's building next with Agor, a command center for AI agent orchestration.

🎙️ Follow Insane Data — because the foundation is shifting, and you'll want to know what's replacing it.

This episode of Insane Data is a bit different — but absolutely worth your time. Giuliano Giannetti sits down with Dr. Everett C. Dolman — former NSA intelligence analyst, CIA award winner, Professor of Strategy at the US Air Force Air War College, and the author of Astropolitik — the foundational text on space geopolitics.

They go deep into why whoever controls low Earth orbit controls everything, how corporations like SpaceX now hold more space power than most governments, China's quiet Moon strategy, AI replacing humans in missile defense, and why we might not be able to fix Earth without space.

A conversation that starts in orbit — and lands right back on Earth. 

🎙️ Follow Insane Data — the most unexpected episode yet.

In this episode, Giuliano Giannetti sits down with Bill Inmon — the father of the data warehouse — to talk about how modern data thinking actually began, and why its original ideas still matter today.

Bill reflects on a time when data was used only for transaction processing, why his ideas were once considered heresy, and how business — not IT — pushed the data warehouse into existence. Along the way, he shares his own path: from mathematician and outspoken critic of IT culture to reluctant entrepreneur, learning the hard way what it takes to stand by your ideas.

👉 Hit play and follow Insane Data Podcast.

This episode features Serge Gershkovich author of Data Modeling with Snowflake and product success leader at SQLDBM.

Serge shares the story behind his book, shaped by years of hearing recurring pain points from data architects and engineers. He talks about his transition from the SAP ecosystem to Snowflake, the dramatic shift modern cloud platforms bring, and why strong fundamentals—not tools alone—lead to effective data architecture. The conversation dives into practical modeling guidance, how to bridge business and technical teams, and how writing publicly reshaped Serge’s career.

🎙️ Tune in to learn the principles, pitfalls, and real-world lessons every data practitioner should know — and don’t forget to follow the show for more conversations like this.

In this episode of Insane Data, Giuliano sits down with Lukas Schulte — former Microsoft developer, co-founder of the recently acquired SDF Labs, and now Director of Engineering at dbt Labs.

They dive into the story behind dbt Fusion, what it means to bring Rust into data engineering, and how adding type systems to SQL can transform development. Lukas explains why reusability and better developer tooling are the future of analytics, and how Fusion is changing orchestration and cost efficiency on platforms like Snowflake and BigQuery.

The conversation also looks beyond the technical: Lukas reflects on the balance between open source and enterprise, the evolving role of analysts in the AI era, and where the data ecosystem is heading as companies like Snowflake, Databricks, and 5Tran reshape the landscape.

Whether you’re a data engineer, analyst, or just curious about the next big shifts in the modern data stack, this episode offers a unique inside look at the future of dbt and beyond.

In this episode of Insane Data, Giuliano Giannetti talks with Andrew Foad, creator of the Hook methodology.

Frustrated with the pitfalls of Data Vault, Andrew designed Hook as a lightweight, flexible way to extend the shelf life of data warehouses by separating ingestion from modeling and simplifying business keys. He explains how it works in practice, why “less modeling is often better,” and where Hook could fit alongside other modern approaches like the Unified Star Schema.

👉 Tune in to discover whether Hook could change the way you think about data modeling.

🎙 This episode of Insane Data is a bit different – but absolutely worth your time.

Giuliano Giannetti takes over the studio, and together with Jakub Stopel – the mind behind the YouTube channel Kaiser Bauch – they explore a topic that’s quietly shaping the future of our world: the global population crisis.

For the first time ever, Jakub speaks publicly and walks us through the dramatic shifts in global population trends. From the silent collapse of Southern Europe’s birth rates, to why countries like South Korea may be headed for demographic extinction, to how population pyramids reveal our economic future – this episode is packed with powerful data, surprising insights, and long-term consequences.

🧠 A data-heavy, eye-opening conversation that might change how you see the future.
👀 Want the full experience? Watch the video – the visuals take it to a whole new level.

🎧 In this episode of Insane Data, Giuliano sits down with a true legend in the field of process mining – Prof. Wil van der Aalst, the founder of the discipline.

Together, they unpack how data and event logs from IT systems can be used to understand and improve business processes. Wil explains the difference between classical and object-centric process mining and shares why workflow systems failed in the 90s – and how that failure sparked a whole new field.

You’ll hear why poor data quality and lack of executive support are the biggest barriers to adoption, and how organizations like Lufthansa use process mining to minimize turnaround delays at airports. Wil also reflects on how governments could benefit massively from process mining – if only they were willing to confront inefficiencies.

Finally, for those ready to start, Wil shares practical advice: open-source tools, simple data requirements, and free online courses. A must-listen for anyone who wants to truly understand what’s happening inside their organization.

More_episodes

Alexey Grigorev is a data scientist, author, and founder of DataTalks.Club. As a Insane Data Podcast host, he brought clear thinking and practical insight to every conversation. Alexey’s teaching style is hands-on—learn by building, not by reading. That approach runs through his books, courses, and the communities he’s helped grow. Whether he’s answering career questions on Slack or breaking down machine learning deployment, Alexey focuses on what actually works—and helping others do the same.

Dan Linstedt, creator of the Data Vault and CEO of the Data Vault Alliance, joins us to talk about why so many data warehouse projects fail—and what can be done differently.

From his days at Lockheed Martin, where he and a tiny team integrated 125 source systems in six months, to the core ideas behind Data Vault like raw data storage, version control, and divide-and-conquer thinking, Dan shares hard-earned lessons and clears up common misconceptions. If your company keeps rebuilding the same warehouse every few years, this episode might hit home.

🎙️ Follow and listen now—because doing the same thing over and over again won’t fix your data.