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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.

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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.

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We're joined by Douwe Kiela, CEO of Contextual.ai and pioneer in RAG research. From deploying AI agents at Fortune 500 companies to shedding light on data privacy and security, Douwe shares his expertise and insights on how to make data simple, effective, and secure.

00:46 Introducing Douwe Kiela

01:37 RAG - Here to Stay or Go?

06:59 LLMs with Context

08:20 Making AI Successful

10:34 Why Contextual AI?

17:18 LLM versus SLMs

20:28 Speed over Perfection

22:07 Hallucinations

26:02 Making AI Easy to Consume

28:50 Defining an Agent

32:53 Reaching Contextual AI

33:14 The Contrarian View

34:37 The Risks of AI

36:53 For Fun

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/douwekiela

Website: https://contextual.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. 

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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This week, we’re rewinding one of our most talked-about episodes! Richmond Alake, Developer Advocate at MongoDB, joins us to explore how databases power the future of AI. From RAG best practices to the truth behind AGI hype, Richmond breaks down what it takes to build systems that scale — and think.

Show Notes

• 02:05 Meet Rich Alake
•  03:57 A Developer Advocate at MongoDB
•  05:57 Passions and Fate!
•  08:52 AI Hype
•  13:14 Oh No… AGI Again
•  17:30 What Makes an AI Database?
•  20:42 Use Cases
•  25:41 RAG Best Practices
•  27:40 The Role of Databases
•  30:05 Why MongoDB Does It Better
•  32:43 What’s Next
•  36:13 Advice on Continuous Learning
•  38:44 Where to Find Rich

Connect with Richmond:
🔗 LinkedIn

🌐 MongoDB Website

🧠 Register for MongoDB

🤖 AI Agents Article

💾 Best Repo for AI Developers

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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Replay Episode: Python, Anaconda, and the AI Frontier with Peter Wang

Peter Wang — Chief AI & Innovation Officer and Co-founder of Anaconda — is back on Making Data Simple! Known for shaping the open-source ecosystem and making Python a powerhouse, Peter dives into Anaconda’s new AI incubator, the future of GenAI, and why Python isn’t just “still a thing”… it’s the thing.

From branding and security to leadership and philosophy, this episode is a wild ride through the biggest opportunities (and risks) shaping AI today.

Timestamps:

•  01:27 Meet Peter Wang
•  05:10 Python or R?
•  05:51 Anaconda’s Differentiation
•  07:08 Why the Name Anaconda
•  08:24 The AI Incubator
•  11:40 GenAI
•  14:39 Enter Python
•  16:08 Anaconda Commercial Services
•  18:40 Security
•  20:57 Common Points of Failure
•  22:53 Branding
•  24:50 watsonx Partnership
•  28:40 AI Risks
•  34:13 Getting Philosophical
•  36:13 China
•  44:52 Leadership Style

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/pzwang
Website: https://www.linkedin.com/company/anacondainc/, https://www.anaconda.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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This week on Making Data Simple, join Ajay Kulkarni, CEO and co-founder of TigerData, as we dive into the rapidly evolving world of data. Ajay shares his front-row perspective on the challenges and opportunities of building and scaling time-series databases in an era of AI-driven automation.

From the mechanics of managing massive data streams to the bold bets shaping the future of IoT, this conversation goes deep into what’s breaking, what’s working, and what’s next. Whether you’re a data engineer, tech leader, or simply fascinated by the speed of AI innovation, this episode is packed with insights you won’t want to miss.

• 01:15 Meet AJ Kulkarni
• 04:29 TigerData
• 07:16 Timeseries 09:25 Use Cases 11:03 Why Progress? 11:58 Why TigerData
• 16:05 AI is Everything
• 21:06 The Fastest Postgres 
• 25:45 Advanced Features
• 28:53 Future of IOT
• 36:48 The Future of TigerData
• 38:03 San Francisco
• 38:26 A Big Bet
• 41:06 Good Books

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

Website:  https://tigerdata.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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What if AI could tap into live operational data — without ETL or RAG? In this episode, Deepti Srivastava, founder of Snow Leopard, reveals how her company is transforming enterprise data access with intelligent data retrieval, semantic intelligence, and a governance-first approach. Tune in for a fresh perspective on the future of AI and the startup journey behind it.

We explore how companies are revolutionizing their data access and AI strategies. Deepti Srivastava, founder of Snow Leopard, shares her insights on bridging the gap between live operational data and generative AI — and how it’s changing the game for enterprises worldwide.

We dive into Snow Leopard’s innovative approach to data retrieval, semantic intelligence, and governance-first architecture.

• 04:54 Meeting Deepti Srivastava
•  14:06 AI with No ETL, no RAG
•  17:11 Snow Leopard's Intelligent Data Fetching
•  19:00 Live Query Challenges
•  21:01 Snow Leopard's Secret Sauce
•  22:14 Latency
•  23:48 Schema Changes
•  25:02 Use Cases
•  26:06 Snow Leopard's Roadmap
•  29:16 Getting Started
•  33:30 The Startup Journey
•  34:12 A Woman in Technology
•  36:03 The Contrarian View

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thedeepti/

🔗 Website:  https://www.snowleopard.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.

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🎙️ This week on Making Data Simple: Fred Joyal — you may know him from the iconic 1-800-DENTIST commercials. Today, Fred takes us beyond marketing genius into the art of being BOLD.

Show Notes

• 02:20 – Brand Fred Joyal
• 19:20 – Monetization Strategy
• 20:58 – Boldness as a Superpower
• 23:18 – Just Show Up
• 26:15 – Step Up with Exercises
• 27:00 – Failures are Steps Up: Take Another Swing
• 38:50 – 5 Steps to Lowering Anxiety
• 41:50 – How to Better Network

💡 Boldness, resilience, and practical strategies you can use today — this episode is packed with insights that will help you step up in work, leadership, and life.

Find Fred Joyal @ https://fredjoyal.com/
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/fredjoyal
Twitter: fredjoyal 

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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Get ready for an insightful conversation on the future of data integration and real-time decision making with Dima Spivak, Director of Product Management at StreamSets.

We cover everything from the “why StreamSets” story to its secret sauce, how it plays in regulated industries, and what makes it a powerful player in data fabric, AI, and streaming use cases. If you’re passionate about the future of data pipelines, governance, and AI-driven insights, this one’s for you!

⏱️ Episode Guide:

• 02:02 | Meet Dima Spivak
• 04:19 | Why StreamSets?
• 06:00 | What is StreamSets?
• 09:48 | On-Demand Expense
• 11:34 | Regulated Industries
• 12:36 | The Secret Sauce
• 14:41 | A Competitive View
• 15:50 | Data Fabric + StreamSets
• 18:25 | StreamSets + AI
• 21:12 | Use Cases That Matter
• 24:02 | The Future of Streaming
• 25:48 | Quality + Testing
• 31:19 | For Fun 🎉

🔗 Connect with Dima:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dmitryspivak

Website: https://www.ibm.com/blog/announcement/ibm-acquires-streamSets/

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.