Making Data Simple

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Most companies have bought the AI tools. Far fewer have changed how the work actually gets done. Ashley Gross, Founder & CEO of the AI Workforce Alliance and author of The AI Workweek, joins Al Martin to close that gap.

Ashley used AI to cut her own workweek from 40 hours to 15. Her AI Impact Alignment™ framework shows teams how to get there too: decide what to automate first, build a "digital staff" of agents, and give those agents the information they need to do real work. She and Al dig into what token costs and orchestration mean for your budget, when agents are ready to run on their own, and why data capture is largely solved while adoption is not.

If you've been told to "do AI" and aren't sure where to begin, jump to 38:58 for the workflows Ashley recommends starting with.

* 00:52 Introducing Ashley Gross
* 01:52 The Book: The AI Workweek
* 06:34 What to Automate First
* 09:06 The Digital Staff
* 12:06 Sharing of Info to Agents
* 17:58 Token Affordability & Orchestration
* 20:42 Autonomous Agents
* 23:12 Engagement with Ashley
* 27:58 Data Capture Solved, Adoption Not
* 30:30 Differentiation via Outcomes
* 38:58 Workflows to Start
* 40:38 Reaching Ashley

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

Website: https://www.aiworkforcealliance.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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Unlock your full potential with Kate Mayne, Executive Coach and data expert! In this episode, Kate dives into the surprising ways our behaviors impact our data, offering actionable strategies for clarity and growth – insights you can put into practice today. Learn how to leverage your data for authentic leadership and strategic decision-making – explore more at www.experttoexec.com.

00:57 Meet Kate Mayne

01:55 Why and Exec Coach?

05:17 Why Pay for a Coach?

09:10 Certifications

12:10 Natural & Adaptive Behaviors

14:47 Top Coaching Tricks

32:18 Compromising Who You Are

35:24 Coaching Tricks

41:57 Recommended Books https://experttoexec.com/reading-list 

42:12 AI in Coaching

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

Website: www.experttoexec.com

Book report: 

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

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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Want to cut through the noise and understand *real* consumer

behavior? Lev Mazin, CEO of aytm—Ask Your Target Market—is here

to challenge the hype around AI and big data. Lev’s spent over a

decade connecting with 100 million consumers, revealing why

human insight is more valuable than ever in a world racing towards

synthetic data.

01:10 Lev Mazin

04:55 AYTM

06:52 AYTM's Differentiator

09:06 Consumer Insights Automation

12:28 Why Do Surveys Still Exist

17:50 Panels of 100M Clients

19:17 Data Quality, an Existential Crisis

24:41 Synthetic Data

27:11 Extracting Noise from Data

29:45 Big Data to Human Insights

30:58 Do ISO Certification Matter?

37:03 Irrational Behavior

41:20 Rapid Fire

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/levmazin

Website: https://aytm.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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ICYMI — revisiting one of our most useful conversations on what AI actually does to the shape of an organization.

How do we make organizations not just run — but run intelligently?

Phanish Puranam, the Roland Berger Chaired Professor of Strategy and Organisation Design at INSEAD, joins Al Martin to explore where organizational science meets artificial intelligence. Phanish studies how intelligent algorithms show up inside organizations in three distinct roles — as tools, as teammates, and as templates for organizing itself — and what actually changes when they do.

We get into the research, real use cases, the pitfalls most companies walk straight into, and a contrarian argument that generating bad ideas fast may be one of the most underrated engines of innovation.

Since this conversation aired, Phanish published re-Humanize: How to Build Human-Centric Organizations in the Age of Algorithms — the natural next step if this episode lands for you.

Chapters

• 01:50 – Meet Phanish Puranam
• 03:36 – Organizational Design
• 08:39 – Where is Org Design Today
• 12:41 – A Research Example
• 15:59 – Technologies as Tools & Teammates
• 17:54 – A Real Use Case Example
• 20:30 – The Metaverse, Eliminate Bad Ideas Fast
• 21:28 – Pitfalls
• 23:30 – Use Case Deep Dive
• 30:06 – The Power Structure

Connect with Phanish Puranam

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/phanishpuranam
• INSEAD Profile: insead.edu/faculty/phanish-puranam
• Book: re-Humanize: How to Build Human-Centric Organizations in the Age of Algorithms

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 dive into the surprising wisdom of retail with Ron Johnson — creator of the original Apple Store, founder of Enjoy Technology, and author of Shop Different. Johnson challenges conventional thinking about the future of physical spaces, arguing that the human element — and the power of design — will always be crucial. AND, "The most important person is in front of you," a life lesson.

• 02:31 Ron Johnson!
•  05:42 The Apple Store
•  08:39 MSFT vs Apple
•  10:39 The Design
•  14:37 The Restart
•  20:15 Kindness
•  24:18 The Genius Bar
•  27:37 What If?
•  31:36 Why a Physical Store?
•  35:17 Client Service
•  38:50 JCPenney Coupons
•  41:32 Retail in the Future
•  43:40 Shop Different

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shopdifferent
Website: https://ronjohnsonshopsdifferent.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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Phillip Swan is a dynamic, forward-thinking leader renowned for turning complex challenges into strategic opportunities. As Chief Product and Go-to-Market (GTM) Officer at The AI Solution Group, Phillip blends customer-centric go-to-market strategies with cutting-edge product development, leadership, and partnerships.

• 01:19 Meet Phillip Swan
•  03:33 Wind River Systems
•  07:30 Responsible AI Solutions
•  08:25 3 Key Areas: Manufacturing, Financial, Pharma
•  10:22 AI on Quicksand
•  11:30 AGI in 6 Months. Seriously?
•  13:08 The Definition of AGI
•  14:32 A Responsible AI Culture
•  19:51 Is Regulation the Catalyst?
•  21:57 AI Change Management
•  24:24 Phillip and the AI Group
•  25:33 AI Solution Group
•  29:16 Achieving Responsible AI
•  30:36 Clean Data
•  36:16 What Scares the Responsible AI Guy
•  39:36 Shadow AI
•  40:54 A Summary

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phillip-swan/
Website: https://www.theaisolutiongroup.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 episode unpacks IBM's ambitious AI Operating Model. We dig into everything from sales training strategies to architecture advantage, drawing on insights gathered through instrumented training programs. 

• 01:44 Meeting The Team
•  04:17 Architecture Advantage
•  13:06 Death by PowerPoint
•  17:08 Behavioral Economics
•  24:28 Your Biggest Competitor
•  26:04 Statistics You Should Know
•  28:28 The AI Operating Model
•  29:50 Breaking Down the Op Model
•  35:01 IBM Differentiation
•  38:20 Sales Training Advice
•  42:30 Rapid Fire

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-hintermeister/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dirkderoos/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cwkirby/

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

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. 

Send us Fan Mail

Rob May, Co-Founder & CEO of NeuroMetric AI, who’s revolutionizing how multi-model systems think and run, dramatically reducing expenses while boosting performance. Rob brings decades of experience as a founder, investor, and the creator of the popular ‘Investing in AI’ newsletter.

• 01:05 Meeting Rob May
• 04:22 The Investing in AI Newsletter
• 06:50 Starting Neurometric
• 11:39 Inferencing Defined
• 16:12 Future Investing in AI
• 20:24 Model Thinking w/ Guidance
• 23:40 Neurometric, a Token Engineering Platform
• 29:07 Data Center Investments
• 30:42 Real AI ROI
• 33:48 Where is the Smart Money Going?
• 35:37 What AI Leaders Must Get Right
• 39:09 Stock Picks
• 40:32 Rapid Fire

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.