Straight Data Talk

Jess Kyle, a Data Engineering Leader with 13 years of experience across startups and enterprises, joined Yuliia to share her mission of making data work more enjoyable for everyone involved. As a leader of a data engineering team at a sports betting company, Jess shared how transparent communication can transform team dynamics and stakeholder relationships. In her work she challenges the common notion of "soft skills" in data, emphasizing that communication is a hard skill that should be screened for in interviews. Jess provides practical insights on managing overwhelm, delivering difficult feedback, and emphasizes why empathy and humility are the two most crucial qualities for data leaders - even though they're often undervalued in the tech industry.

Jess's linkedin page - linkedin.com/in/jesskyle

Deepti Srivastava, Founder of Snow Leopard AI and former Spanner Product Lead at Google Cloud, joined Yuliia to chat what's wrong with current approaches to AI integration. Deepti introduces a paradigm shift away from ETL pipelines towards federated, real-time data access for AI applications. She explains how Snow Leopard's intelligent data retrieval platform enables enterprises to connect AI systems directly to operational data sources without compromising security or freshness. Through practical examples Deepti explains why conventional RAG approaches with vector stores are not good enough for business-critical AI applications, and how a systems thinking approach to AI infrastructure can unlock greater value while reducing unnecessary data movement.

Deepti's linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/thedeepti/
Snowleopard.ai - http://snowleopard.ai/

Bogdan Banu, Data Engineering Manager at Veed.io, joined Yuliia to share his journey of building a data platform from scratch at a fast-growing startup. As Veed's first data hire, Bogdan discusses how he established a modern data stack while maintaining strong governance principles and cost consciousness. Bogdan covered insights on implementing consent-based video data processing for AI initiatives, approaches to data democratization, and how his data team balancs velocity with security. Bogdan shared his perspectives on making strategic vendor choices, measuring business value, and fostering a culture of intelligent experimentation in startup environments.

Bogdan's Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bogdan-banu-a68a237/

Jason Touleyrou, Data Engineering Manager at Corewell Health joined Yuliia to discuss why most organizations struggle with data governance. He argues that data teams should focus on building trust through flexible systems rather than rigid controls. Challenging traditional data quality approaches, Jason suggests starting with basic freshness checks and evolving governance gradually. Drawing from his experience across healthcare and marketing analytics, he shares practical strategies for implementing governance during migrations and measuring data team value beyond conventional metrics.

Jason's linkedin page - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasontouleyrou/

Richard He, Founder at Fundamenta – Data Consultancy, former Engineering Director at Virgin Media O2  and creator of Practical GCP YouTube channel, joined Yuliia to discuss the critical concept of "cost of inaction" in data infrastructure modernization. Based on his two decades of experience, including several successful migrations, Richard emphasized the importance of proactive platform evolution over reactive large-scale migrations. He shared valuable insights on measuring ROI for platform teams, and bridging the gap between technical execution and business strategy.

Richard's Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shenghuahe/

Paolo Platter, CTO and co-founder of Agile Lab and Witboost, joined Yuliia to share how his 10 years of building custom data solutions for clients led to creating Witboost - a platform that helps big companies manage their data products at scale. One of their customers used Witboost to build over 250 data products in just 18 months, showing how well the platform works at scale. Paolo explained why setting rules for data teams becomes harder as companies grow, and shared how he shifted from saying "yes" to every client request as a consultant to building a product that works for many companies.

Paolo Platter - https://www.linkedin.com/in/paoloplatter/

Amy Raygada, data consultant and founder of Cosmodata, recently joined the Thoughtworks team. Together with Yuliia, she unpacks what it’s like to work as a data consultant in today’s world, where AI challenges every organization. Amy shared her journey from individual contributor to consultant, offering insights on navigating organizational silos, the similarities between being an individual contributor and a consultant, and how to advise big organizations while making a meaningful impact.

Amy Raygada linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-raygada/

Danilo Sato, AI Platform & Engineering Portfolio Leader at ThoughtWorks (16+ years), joined Yuliia and Scott to discuss enterprise AI readiness assessment and how implementation is progressing. Danilo shared a fascinating case study about how technical solutions often face non-technical barriers. He shared his views on data mesh principles intersecting with AI solutions and treating AI models as specialized data products.

Danilo's Linkedin Page: linkedin.com/in/danilosato

Martin Fiser, Field CTO at Keboola with 8 years at Google, joined Yuliia and Scott to challenge modern data stack complexity and costs. He advocates for all-in-one platforms over fragmented solutions, highlighting how companies waste up to 40% of time on tool integration. Martin shared insights on US-European cultural differences in data approaches and warned against "development by resume" culture where engineers prioritize trendy tools over business outcomes.

Scott Hirleman, founder of Data Mesh Radio, has a very diverse career, including a role as FinOps Manager. In this podcast, we sit down together to discuss his FinOps philosophy: cost containment, cost attribution, and cost forecasting. It's an insightful conversation on how to balance costs for data teams with both data and business considerations in mind.