Making Data Simple

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When there’s a need to re-center, stay grounded, and remember that growth is accessible to all of us, this is the episode to revisit. The Mindful Response with Estela Zuheros, Corporate Social Responsibility leader at IBM, explores how social impact, reskilling, and mindfulness come together to create a better, more inclusive world. Come for the global perspective on reskilling, stay for practical reflections on slowing down, being kind to yourself, and avoiding burnout along the way.

• · 02:06 Meet Estela Zuheros
•  · 05:21 Your personal why?
•  · 07:16 Reskilling
•  · 11:41 The skills problem to solve
•  · 18:44 Measuring success
•  · 20:07 Primary areas of reskilling
•  · 23:02 Program selection criteria
•  · 26:31 The Mindful Response
•  · 37:30 Avoiding burnout

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/estelaquesadazuheros/​
Website: https://estelaquesadazuheros.com/

Want to be featured as a guest on Making Data Simple?  Reach out to us at [email protected] and tell us why you should be next.  The Making Data Simple Podcast is hosted by Al Martin, WW VP Technical Sales, IBM, where we explore trending technologies, business innovation, and leadership ... while keeping it simple & fun. 

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Are your teams struggling with disengagement and declining performance? What if the real problem isn’t talent or strategy, but a hidden “buy-in” gap quietly draining energy, innovation, and results? Joining us is Dave Garrison, a seasoned leadership strategist who has seen firsthand how a lack of buy-in fuels these issues – costing businesses billions every year. Dave unpacks the seven critical ingredients for real engagement and shows how to build a truly high-performing organization, starting with simple data and practical, repeatable leadership habits.

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• 01:19 Meet Dave Garrison - Again
•  02:11 The Buy-in Advantage
•  04:50 Following Your Passions
•  05:59 The Pandemic's Impact
•  07:15 A Buy-in Crisis
•  09:30 Seven Critical Ingredients for Buy-in
•  17:45 Three Pillars of High Performing Organizations
•  21:11 A "Yes" Culture
•  26:05 Prioritization and Focus
•  31:15 Recognition and Rewards
•  34:49 Pushback
•  39:35 Scaling
•  41:00 Case Studies
• 44:22 The Collective Genius

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-garrison-growth/​
Website: https://www.buyinbook.com​

#makingdatasimplepodcast #Leadership #EmployeeEngagement #BuyInAdvantage #HighPerformance #WorkplaceCulture #PeopleAnalytics #TeamPerformance #BusinessGrowth #DaveGarrison

Want to be featured as a guest on Making Data Simple?  Reach out to us at [email protected] and tell us why you should be next.  The Making Data Simple Podcast is hosted by Al Martin, WW VP Technical Sales, IBM, where we explore trending technologies, business innovation, and leadership ... while keeping it simple & fun. 

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On this replay of Making Data Simple, Manav Gupta, VP and CTO of IBM Canada, jumps straight into the world of large language models and what they really mean for businesses trying to scale AI. From how today’s models are built and tuned, to where the next generation is headed, Manav translates complex AI concepts into practical guidance for leaders, practitioners, and anyone trying to cut through the hype.

The discussion spans everything from model architectures and IBM’s Granite family, to how to pick the right model for your use case, balance innovation with governance, and build the skills needed to stay relevant in an AI-first world. If you want a clear, no-nonsense guide to “all things AI models” from someone advising enterprise clients every day, this replay is for you.

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• 02:04 Jumping Right into AI!
•  02:59 Meet Manav Gupta
•  08:17 Let's Talk All Things Models
•  27:20 How to Choose the Right Models
•  31:48 Where are the Models Going???
•  46:01 How to Learn AI

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mgupta76/
IBM Granite Models: https://www.ibm.com/granite

Want to be featured as a guest on Making Data Simple? Reach out to [email protected] and share why you should be next.

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#makingdatasimplepodcast #MakingDataSimple #AI #LargeLanguageModels #AIModels #ArtificialIntelligence #IBMCanada #ManavGupta #AIInnovation #TechLeadership #TechPodcast #IBMGranite #LearnAI

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Want to be featured as a guest on Making Data Simple?  Reach out to us at [email protected] and tell us why you should be next.  The Making Data Simple Podcast is hosted by Al Martin, WW VP Technical Sales, IBM, where we explore trending technologies, business innovation, and leadership ... while keeping it simple & fun. 

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Hit replay on this high-energy conversation with Ben Lowe, Founder and CEO of Lighthouse Technology, as he breaks down what it really takes to build something from scratch in a fast-changing AI world. From finding the right co‑founder and stepping into the CEO role, to navigating the toughest challenges of entrepreneurship, Ben shares practical lessons and hard‑won insights for builders at every stage.

Ben also lifts the curtain on Lighthouse Technology’s mission at the intersection of cloud modernisation, cost optimisation, and Agentic AI, and how enterprises can turn AI hype into outcomes with the right GTM motion and architecture. If you care about innovation, AI for the enterprise, or your own startup journey, this replay is packed with career gold, strategic perspective, and a candid look at what’s next.

• 01:34 Finding a Entrepreneurial Partner
•  04:43 The Creation of Lighthouse
•  08:10 Becoming the CEO
•  09:34 The Biggest Challenge of Entrepreneurship
•  11:30 Lighthouse Technology
•  19:07 Agentic AI
•  20:16 The Lighthouse Trajectory
•  22:12 The GTM
•  31:39 Reseller versus Innovator
•  36:53 AI for the Enterprise
•  41:35 The 2-Min Pitch
•  43:30 What's True?

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lowebenjamin/?originalSubdomain=uk
Website: https://lighthousetechnology.ai/

#Entrepreneurship #AgenticAI #TechLeadership #Innovation #BusinessGrowth #CareerAdvice #AIForEnterprise #StartupJourney #MakingDataSimple #LighthouseTechnology #PodcastReplay

Want to be featured as a guest on Making Data Simple?  Reach out to us at [email protected] and tell us why you should be next.  The Making Data Simple Podcast is hosted by Al Martin, WW VP Technical Sales, IBM, where we explore trending technologies, business innovation, and leadership ... while keeping it simple & fun. 

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Hit replay on one of the most thought-provoking Agentic AI conversations on Making Data Simple. GTM Account Director Megan Gallagher makes the case for Agentic AI from the Maven AGI front lines, where AI agents stop following rigid decision trees and start acting with real autonomy over enterprise workflows.

“We’re still living like everything is deterministic,” Megan argues, “but this new generation of agents is inherently generative and predictive.” In this replay, she unpacks what that shift means for smaller specialized models, using real enterprise data, rethinking “assistant vs person,” and how to get started without boiling the ocean.

If you want to understand how Agentic AI moves from slideware to shipped value, this is the episode to queue up again.

• 01:30 All Great Podcasts start with Drinks
• 05:27 Maven AGI 09:13 Smaller Models! 10:50 Why Maven AGI
• 12:04 The Secret Sauce or Use Case
• 15:13 Typical Client Persona 20:31 Using Enterprise Data 26:19 But AGI, Really?
• 30:12 Assistant or Person?
• 39:06 What's Next?
• 40:28 My Thoughts on Getting Started?
• 46:30 The AI Example
• 49:30 The Maven AGI Pitch
• 53:23 Learning

Maven AGI: https://www.mavenagi.com/ 

Megan's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/megfgallagher/

Al's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/al-martin-ku/

#AgenticAI #FutureOfAI #MakingDataSimple #MavenAGI #AIAgents #EnterpriseAI #CustomerExperience #AIInProduction #PodcastReplay​

Want to be featured as a guest on Making Data Simple?  Reach out to us at [email protected] and tell us why you should be next.  The Making Data Simple Podcast is hosted by Al Martin, WW VP Technical Sales, IBM, where we explore trending technologies, business innovation, and leadership ... while keeping it simple & fun. 

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Dive into the powerful world of mainframes! Chief Product Officer of IBM Z and LinuxONE, Tina Tarquinio, reveals the truth behind those eight nines of uptime and explores how mainframes are evolving with AI, hybrid cloud, and future-proofing strategies for mission-critical business decisions. 

Discover the cutting-edge innovations transforming enterprise computing—from on-chip AIU and Spyre AI accelerators enabling real-time inferencing at transaction speed, to how LinuxONE is redefining hybrid cloud architecture.  Tina discusses DevOps integration, AI-powered code assistants revolutionizing mainframe development, compelling AI use cases, and shares her bold predictions for the mainframe’s next 100 years.  Plus, career advice from a tech leader and what she does for fun!

• 00:46 Tina Tarquinio
• 03:18 The Most Mainframe Surprise
• 09:12 What IS the Mainframe Really?  8 Nines!
• 14:40 On Chip AIU, Spyre Inferencing
• 18:11 Mainframes with Hybrid Cloud
• 19:11 The Linux One Pitch
• 19:59 Exciting Mainframe Innovations
• 22:09 DevOps
• 23:36 Code Assistants
• 26:03 AI Use Case
• 27:49 Future Proofing Decisions
• 37:17 Regulations
• 38:45 Bold Prediction
• 38:58 Mainframe 100
• 40:48 Career Advice
• 42:24 For Fun

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tina-tarquinio

Website: https://www.ibm.com/products/z

#MakingDataSimple #IBMz #Mainframe #LinuxONE #AIInferencing #SpyreAccelerator #HybridCloud #EnterpriseAI #DevOps #AICodeAssistant #EightNines #TinaTarquinio #MainframeModernization #AIUChip #FutureProofing #TechLeadership #WatsonxCodeAssistant #CloudComputing #TelumII

Want to be featured as a guest on Making Data Simple?  Reach out to us at [email protected] and tell us why you should be next.  The Making Data Simple Podcast is hosted by Al Martin, WW VP Technical Sales, IBM, where we explore trending technologies, business innovation, and leadership ... while keeping it simple & fun. 

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Data’s everywhere, but so often it feels… stuck. Joining us today is Jure
Leskovec, Chief Scientist at Kumo and a Stanford Professor who's
fundamentally reshaped how we understand networks—from Pinterest's
recommendations to tracking the spread of disease. We’ll unpack why
structured data is lagging behind the AI revolution, exploring how
techniques like Graph Neural Networks are finally unlocking its potential,
and how this all plays out in real-world applications

• 00:57 Meet Jure Leskovec
• 02:31 Knowing When to Move On
• 04:01 Academia versus Industry
• 07:30 Learnings from Pinterest
• 10:28 The Kumo Pitch
• 17:57 The Secret Sauce
• 25:51 Monetization
• 27:12 Only the Enterprise?
• 29:49 The Sandbox to Try Before Buy
• 31:42 The Best Use Cases
• 35:00 Summarizing
• 37:38 Predicting AI
• 40:15 What's True and No One Agrees
• 41:19 Learning

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leskovec/
Website: https://kumo.ai/

Want to be featured as a guest on Making Data Simple?  Reach out to us at [email protected] and tell us why you should be next.  The Making Data Simple Podcast is hosted by Al Martin, WW VP Technical Sales, IBM, where we explore trending technologies, business innovation, and leadership ... while keeping it simple & fun. 

Send us Fan Mail

Guest: Kris Kluver, Founder of Life on Your Terms — speaker, facilitator, best-selling author, advisor, and coach helping leaders design fulfillment that matches their ambition.

Summary:
In this powerful replay, Kris Kluver flips the script on success. Too many high performers master their business but neglect their well-being — Kris shows how to align both. From defining what success really means to knowing when to say no, this conversation is about creating freedom, balance, and impact on your terms.

Timestamps:
02:39 Who is Kris Kluver, the coach?
05:33 Are A-type personalities ever truly satisfied?
06:23 The evolution of Kris’ brand
12:14 How to grow your business and yourself
20:37 Redefining success
26:09 One action to transform your life
29:59 Just because you can… should you?
31:49 The courage to change
37:39 The Life on Your Terms process
41:31 Rethinking failure
45:59 The offer that changes everything

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kriskluver/
Kris' Website: https://lifeon-yourterms.com/

Want to be featured as a guest on Making Data Simple?  Reach out to us at [email protected] and tell us why you should be next.  The Making Data Simple Podcast is hosted by Al Martin, WW VP Technical Sales, IBM, where we explore trending technologies, business innovation, and leadership ... while keeping it simple & fun. 

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Exploring the intersection of creativity and innovation, Geoff Thatcher, Founder and CCO Creative Principals, shares his insights on how AI is revolutionizing live experiences. From personalized exhibits to universal storytelling, Geoff delves into the possibilities and pitfalls of harnessing AI to elevate our connections with others. 

01:39 Introducing Geoff Thatcher
 02:48 Thinking about AI Differently
 13:47 What Does it Mean to "Create" Now? 19:32 Augmented Intelligence
 22:27 Death By PowerPoint
 23:57 Five Rules for Using AI
 24:47 Difference between Better and Easier? 30:16 Don't Let AI Steal Moments of Inspiration 33:18 Always Use the Most Reliable Source 34:57 Use AI to Tell Stories
 37:36 The Worry of Getting Lazy
 39:48 Humanizing AI! 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffthatcher/ 

Website: https://www.creativeprincipals.com/ 

Want to be featured as a guest on Making Data Simple?  Reach out to us at [email protected] and tell us why you should be next.  The Making Data Simple Podcast is hosted by Al Martin, WW VP Technical Sales, IBM, where we explore trending technologies, business innovation, and leadership ... while keeping it simple & fun. 

Send us Fan Mail

This is one of my favorite episodes - it's all about the story!

Part 2 of our conversation with Vinca LaFleur, Founding Partner of West Wing Writers. From the power of ideas to the art of delivery, Vinca shares what it takes to write words that resonate — and why every great message starts with meaning.

• 00:30 Tricks and tips to a presentation
• 04:14 Speech gotchas
• 07:29 Knowing when you have a hit
• 09:39 How much is delivery
• 11:53 GOAT speech
•  Bobby Kennedy in Indianapolis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2kWIa8wSC0
• 14:49 Gettysburg case study
• 17:11 ChatGPT?
• 20:26 Mental cups
• 26:55 West Wing Writers
• 31:51 Chief
• 34:30 Book recommended most

 Made to Stick: https://www.amazon.com/Made-Stick-Ideas-SurviveOthers/dp/1400064287

Want to be featured as a guest on Making Data Simple?  Reach out to us at [email protected] and tell us why you should be next.  The Making Data Simple Podcast is hosted by Al Martin, WW VP Technical Sales, IBM, where we explore trending technologies, business innovation, and leadership ... while keeping it simple & fun.