The Data Binge

By Derek Russell

Technology Education Business Management & Marketing Educational Technology Software How-To

What's The Data Binge about?

Welcome to the Data Binge Podcast, hosted by Derek Russell, a digital strategist in big tech helping enterprise businesses become empowered through data. This podcast focuses on providing perspectives on how Microsoft is positioning its cloud, AI, machine learning, and other data driven tech, across various industry verticals.

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The Data Binge episodes:

05.25.2023
78 | Data Democratization - The Future of Data Driven Organizations
Rikin Shah, is the CEO of Slower, a major disruptor in the monolithic consulting services industry. Slower drives value for its customers and partners by investing in new and future stack technology companies well ahead of the curve to help...
04.01.2022
77 | Net New to NFT’s | Learning & Leading in a New Digital World
Just 6 months ago, who would have known that words like "NFT", "metaverse", and "web 3.0" would be high interest topics of discussion amongst friends, text threads and corporate brand strategies. At an estimated $23B market size, NFT's could change the...
02.24.2022
76 | The Ultimate Guide to Partnering | Principles that Help Tech Businesses Thrive
As the technology industry continues to hasten its evolution through continually changing global macro events, accelerating technical advances, and changes in the social constructs of how and why we work, building successful partnerships has never been so important. Vince Menzione has...
02.02.2022
75 | GAMING | Re-imagining Social Accessibility & Closing the Digital Divide
How can gaming, benefit our communities? Albert Dankwa III, content developer on the Microsoft Xbox team, joins this LIVE episode of The Data Binge Podcast to talk about how gaming, and the tangible benefits of immersive and...
12.20.2021
74 | Improving the Lives of Mothers Caring for Children with Rare Disease
ANGEL AID is a non-profit that provides mental health and wellness services for mothers of children with rare diseases. A rare disease is defined as one that affects fewer than 200,000 people. Even amongst accelerating scientific advancement, over 7000 rare...
11.14.2021
73 | Sleep Score Labs: “Changing the World, by Changing the Way We Sleep”
Have you ever thought about how many people are struggling with the same sleep issues as you? Many of us struggle with getting enough sleep. Even as the market continues to fill with everything from nose strips, to connected wearables...
10.31.2021
72 | Leadership in Sustainability – Adoption, Business Transformation, & Equity
Sustainability is good for both business, and for the planet. Dawn James, Microsoft US Director of Sustainability and Environmental Sciences, and Alex Robart, Microsoft Worldwide Strategy Leader for Energy & Sustainability, connect with us to share learning and...
10.17.2021
71 | Innovating with Data: Changing the Game of Sports Fan Engagement
Edson Crevecoeur, Miami Heat's VP of Strategy & Data Analytics, and the Chief Data Officer for 601 Analytics, is joining this LIVE episode of the Data Binge Podcast, to talk through how he is helping to change the...
08.25.2021
70 | Capturing, Creating, & Accelerating New Business Value with Open Innovation
We hear about innovation so much nowadays in the business world - we hear it in company earnings releases, we hear it internally in place of work, and we see it in peoples titles on LinkedIn, but what exactly is...
06.22.2021
69 | Empowering Business Outcomes with Cloud Computing
Today is a fun discussion for those of you interested in the business implications of the cloud, specifically Azure, and some experiences I have to share about my time at Microsoft working with some of the largest businesses in the...
06.02.2021
68 | Accelerating Business Ecosystems | High Tech, Venture Capital, and Unicorns
Today's episode is a Simply Tech LIVE interview recorded May 6th, of this year 2021, featuring my co-host, Ali Mazaheri, and our special guests, coming to us from Microsoft's High Tech Pursuits Unicorn Team - a special team focused on...
05.16.2021
67 | The Virtual Work Movement - Social Influence & Virtual Selling
Today's discussion is a recording of a session hosted by my friend and colleague, Andy Winskill, a Sr. Digital Advisor at Microsoft, who also leads a community of approximately 2700 employees at Microsoft, called the "Virtual Work Learning Group". The...
05.02.2021
66 | Leadership Through Adversity | Encouragement, Gratitude, & Uplifting Others
Today's episode is a Simply Tech LIVE interview recorded February 25th, 2021, featuring my co-host Ali Mazaheri, and our very special guest, Katy Brown, Vice President of US Enterprise for the West Region, at Microsoft. Both Ali and I have...
04.18.2021
65 | Future Crunch | Understanding Basic Principles for the Future of Technology
Today's discussion is a LinkedIn LIVE recording of the Data Binge Podcast featuring Dr. Angus Hervey, Political Economist and co-founder of Future Crunch. Future Crunch, based out of Australia, is a think-tank focused on fostering intelligent and optimistic thinking, inspiring enthusiasm...
04.07.2021
64 | The Evolution of the Supply Chain | Technology, Talent, and Intelligence
Today's episode is a Simply Tech LIVE interview recorded October 29th, of 2020 - pulled out of the vault to serve to you at this very relevant time - produced by my co-host, Ali Mazaheri, and featuring special guests Ross...
03.21.2021
63 | Women as Highly Empowered Technical Leaders
Today's episode is a Simply Tech LIVE interview recorded July 27th, 2020, featuring my co-host, Ali Mazaheri, and our special guest, CAT Susch. CAT is a Principal Technical Architect at the Microsoft Technology Center in New York, and is sharing...
03.08.2021
62 | Technology for Good: Leadership, Community, and Culture Transformation
Today's episode is a special "Black History Month" Simply Tech LIVE interview, produced this time, by my co-host, Ali Mazaheri, and featuring our guests, Sonya Weaver-Johnson: Director of Sales for Healthcare and Life Sciences at Microsoft, and Celeste Alleyne, Director...
02.21.2021
61 | Refactoring the Mass Incarceration System | Hope, Transparency, Technology
This discussion is a LinkedIn LIVE recording of the Data Binge Podcast featuring Chris Redlitz and Jason Jones, of The Last Mile, a non-profit breaking the mass incarceration cycle by combating recidivism through in-person education and post-release mentorship focused on...
02.08.2021
60 | Inclusive Tech Innovation and Adoption Across Cultures & Communities
Joseph Akoni is a Product Manager at LinkedIn, and joins this LIVE recording of the Data Binge Podcast to discuss how different cultures and communities develop and consume technology. Joseph's first product release as a LinkedIn Product Manager was highlighted...
01.24.2021
59 | Applied & Collaborative AI | Transforming Energy & Utility Safety & Inspection
Today's episode is a Simply Tech LIVE interview featuring my co-host, Ali Mazaheri, and our special guest, Erik Åsberg. Erik is the Chief Technology Officer of eSmart Systems -- an applied AI solution that is transforming the...
01.10.2021
58 | Identifying Opportunities for AI - Advocacy, Execution, and Culture Change | Chat Mode Insights Series
Today's discussion features a LIVE interview hosted by Chat Mode, a system integrator focused on implementing conversational AI, located in Bellevue Washington. This particular LIVE discussion is part of a multi segment series, the Chat Mode Insight Series - a...
12.27.2020
57 | A Culture of Creating Hope, Strength, and Joy | The Feedback Loop of Gratitude
Today's episode features Joe Forline. Joe is a Sr. Manager of Chapter Advancement at Make-a-wish America. Make-a-wish creates life changing experiences for children with critical illnesses. Founded in 1980, Make-a-wish has granted over 330,000 wishes for children with critical illnesses...
12.13.2020
56 | The New Culture of Work | Bridging the Digital Divide
Today's episode is a Simply Tech LIVE interview featuring my co-host, Ali Mazaheri, and our special guest, Gina Loften. Gina is the Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft US, where she connects business leaders to unique perspectives that inspire them...
11.30.2020
55 | Robotics, Machine Intelligence, and the New Era of Learning
Today's episode features Brandon Rohrer, Principal Data Scientist at iRobot. iRobot is an American robotics company that designs and builds consumer robots, including the Roomba, an AI powered autonomous robotic vacuum cleaner. Brandon is also the founder and lead instructor...
11.15.2020
54 | Personalized Learning for Every Child | Modernizations in Education with AI
Today's episode is a Simply Tech LIVE interview featuring my co-host, Ali Mazaheri, and our special guest, Elnaz Sarraf. Elnaz is the Founder & CEO of ROYBI, an investor-backed EdTech company that raised $4.2 million in its seed round, focusing...
11.01.2020
53 | Leadership, Navigating Fear, Finding Empathy | My Top 10 Learnings from 3 Years at Microsoft
Today's episode is a solo discussion, culminating the top 10 learnings I've pulled away from a little over 3 years working at Microsoft US. These learnings were the outcome of numerous collaborations with amazing colleagues, mentors, and leaders within the...
10.18.2020
52 | Hire for Character, Train for Skill | What Organizations Can Learn from Special Operations Forces
Today's episode is a LIVE recording of The Data Binge podcast, hosted on LinkedIn, featuring Mike Sarraille, and George Randle. the co-authors of "The Talent War: How Special Operations and Great Organizations Win on Talent". The Talent War is available...
10.04.2020
51 | Leadership, Sustainability, and Solutions for Transformations in Manufacturing
Today's episode is a Simply Tech LIVE interview, capturing a new mini-series the program is doing on Transformations in Industry, Manufacturing. The episode features our guest co-host, Greg Vigil, Industry Director for Manufacturing at Microsoft - who is Microsoft’s in-vertical...
09.20.2020
50 | Empathy - The Most Effective Journey to Innovations in AI
Today's episode is a Simply Tech LIVE interview featuring my co-host, Ali Mazaheri, and our guest, Ed Essey. Ed is the Director of Intrapreneurship & Incubation in the Microsoft Garage, a program that delivers and drives a culture of innovation,...
09.06.2020
49 | Advancing the Careers of Diverse Leaders | Management Leadership for Tomorrow
Today's episode features a dialogue with Kendra Crook, Sr. MBA Prep Coach at Management for Leadership for Tomorrow or (MLT). MLT is a non-profit organization specifically focused on changing the face of leadership in the private and social sectors, by...
08.23.2020
48 | "Data Science for All - Feeding the AI Economy
Andrew Strong is the Head of Business Operations at Correlation One, an organization headquartered in New York, focused on building technologies, programs, and frameworks that help companies find, evaluate, and train the world's best data science and analytics talent. Andrew...
08.09.2020
47 | Authentic CEO Communications - Developing an Acute Understanding of the Multi-constituent World
Today's show is a Simply Tech LIVE interview featuring my co-host, Ali Mazaheri, and our guest, Caitlin McCabe. Caitlin has been at Microsoft for almost 11 years, and is currently the Sr. Director of CEO Communications in the office of...
07.26.2020
46 | The "Why" of Creating a Show - A Starter Discussion to Podcasting & LIVE Streaming
Today's episode is a recording of a LIVE interview discussion, hosted on LinkedIn LIVE, featuring a program called "The Example Show" produced by Ryan Swanstrom. Ryan is a heavily credentialed Software Engineer, with a Masters in Math from Iowa State...
07.13.2020
45 | Re-imagining the K-12 Education Experience - Innovation, Tech, & Capital
Today's discussion features Ian Connell. Ian is an Investment Principal at Charter School Growth Fund, a non-profit focusing on making multi-year philanthropic investments in public charter school networks. Charter School Growth Fund supports nearly 480,000 students, around 90% are students...
06.28.2020
44 | Exploring the Realities of Racism Through Virtual Reality (VR)
Today's discussion features Courtney D. Cogburn and Jeremy Bailenson. Courtney is an Associate Professor of Social Work at Columbia University, Courtney is on the faculty of the Columbia Population Research Center and a faculty affiliate of the Center on African...
06.19.2020
43 | **Happy Juneteenth** - Celebrating Freedom in 2020
This episode is recognizing today, Friday, June 19th, 2020, Juneteenth or otherwise known as Freedom Day. This State holiday, which is now observed by 46 states, originated from June 19, 1865, commemorating the day the remaining black slaves in the...
06.14.2020
42 | Anchoring Humanity in Compassionate Conversation
Rodney Campbell and Keith Richardson are hosts of the More in Common Podcast, where their work around guest discussions, focuses on amplifying voices, and abstracting stories that leverage real human experiences. Keith and Rodney are professional conversationalists, but in the...
05.31.2020
41 | Building AI to Reflect Our Diverse World
Noelle Silver is the VP of Digital Technology at National Public Radio (NPR), where she leads the engineering organization across initiatives ranging from the Alexa skills platform to mobile application development. Noelle has over 20 years of experience in tech....
05.17.2020
40 | The (2) Most Important Financial Decisions of Your Life - Spend Less than You Earn & Invest Early & Often
Today's discussion, features, Jeremy Schneider, self-made multi-millionaire, retiree at 34 years old, and now founder of Personal Finance Club (@personalfinanceclub on Instagram), an organization built with the sole purpose of spreading the word that living below your means and investing...
05.05.2020
39 | Enhancing the Virtual Meeting: Why Technology Is Not the Answer to Better Collaborations
Today's discussion features Matt Homann, CEO and Founder of Filament, an organization that designs, facilitates, and hosts collaborative meetings, conferences, off-sites and any type of human collaboration environment, with the objective of enabling meetings to produce measurable results that move...
04.20.2020
38 | Video is the New Executive Messaging: Creating Immersive Experiences for Authentic Communication and Cultural Transformation
David Moricca has been the CEO and Founder of what is now Socialive for over the past 10 years, as it has pivoted and evolved with changes and trending in digital media, live streaming, and now the emergence of video...
04.11.2020
37 | Simply Tech LIVE #5 | The Crisis Management App for Emergency Response - Organizational Communication for Preventative Measures and Minimal Exposure
Today's episode features the recording of a LinkedIn LIVE broadcast via Simply Tech LIVE, a program that Ali Mazaheri and I are hosting now on a weekly basis to showcase as much relevant technology and innovation as possible, as it...
03.29.2020
36 | Simply Tech LIVE #4 | Solutions for Enabling Remote Working Environments, Leveraging the Hyper-scale Cloud
Today's discussion features Uthappa Kattera Chengappa, a Principal Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft, and his job in the organization from a day to day perspective is to help large organizations, many of which logos that you use or are familiar...
03.22.2020
35 | Simply Tech LIVE #3 | IoT Connected HAND SANITIZER - Quantifying Behavior, to Augment Behavior
Today's episode features an audio recording of a LinkedIn Live Video Broadcast of a LIVE show, Simply Tech LIVE , that my co-host Ali Mazaheri, and I host at the Microsoft Technology Center in Irvine, and now virtually for the...
03.01.2020
34 | "Anything We do in AI, Should Connect People for the Better"
Today's episode features Philippe Brissaud, a Principal Program Lead for the Power Virtual Agents platform at Microsoft - if you aren't familiar, Power Virtual Agents is a low code no code AI driven customer engagement platform (under Microsoft's Business Applications...
02.05.2020
33 | Live at Microsoft Envision 2019 - Technology Brings Modern Business Forward
Microsoft Envision is an annual multi-city tour, with intimate conference style innovation and industry collaborations focused on helping business leaders modernize their business with the use of technology, across the digital veins of Microsoft's stack. The majority of the presentations...
01.19.2020
32 | The Learning Algorithm - Simple Truths of Data Science & Education
Today's episode features Brig Lamoreaux, a Sr. Advanced Analytics and AI Solution Architect at Microsoft, and Brig's been with the company for about 4 years. Brig has roughly 20 years of software development and engineering experience. Before Microsoft Brig worked...
12.21.2019
31 | Data Science - The Good, the Bad, and the UGLY
Alain Briancon is currently the Chief Technology Officer and VP of Data Science at Cerebri AI. Cerebri AI is a SaaS Startup that focuses on helping enterprise businesses understand what their customers are thinking, by predicting the next best action...
12.08.2019
30 | Simply Tech LIVE | Invincible Expresso - A Connected Experience with Azure Sphere
Today's episode features a new collaboration project, the audio recording of a LinkedIn Live Video Broadcast that a colleague and I created, co-host Ali Mazaheri, the director of the Microsoft Technology Center in Irvine. Simply Tech Live is a LIVE...
11.09.2019
29 | How to Work in 3D - Preparing the Next Generation for Highly Skilled Work
Charla Pereira is the lead designer for all authoring on Dynamics 365 Guides. Dynamics 365 Guides, or what Charla will refer to as "guides" is a mixed reality application for the Microsoft HoloLens, that allows an enhanced learning ecosystem by...

What's The Data Binge about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

The Data Binge episodes:

78 | Data Democratization - The Future of Data Driven Organizations

77 | Net New to NFT’s | Learning & Leading in a New Digital World

76 | The Ultimate Guide to Partnering | Principles that Help Tech Businesses Thrive

75 | GAMING | Re-imagining Social Accessibility & Closing the Digital Divide

74 | Improving the Lives of Mothers Caring for Children with Rare Disease

73 | Sleep Score Labs: “Changing the World, by Changing the Way We Sleep”

72 | Leadership in Sustainability – Adoption, Business Transformation, & Equity

71 | Innovating with Data: Changing the Game of Sports Fan Engagement

70 | Capturing, Creating, & Accelerating New Business Value with Open Innovation

69 | Empowering Business Outcomes with Cloud Computing

68 | Accelerating Business Ecosystems | High Tech, Venture Capital, and Unicorns

67 | The Virtual Work Movement - Social Influence & Virtual Selling

66 | Leadership Through Adversity | Encouragement, Gratitude, & Uplifting Others

65 | Future Crunch | Understanding Basic Principles for the Future of Technology

64 | The Evolution of the Supply Chain | Technology, Talent, and Intelligence

63 | Women as Highly Empowered Technical Leaders

62 | Technology for Good: Leadership, Community, and Culture Transformation

61 | Refactoring the Mass Incarceration System | Hope, Transparency, Technology

60 | Inclusive Tech Innovation and Adoption Across Cultures & Communities

59 | Applied & Collaborative AI | Transforming Energy & Utility Safety & Inspection

58 | Identifying Opportunities for AI - Advocacy, Execution, and Culture Change | Chat Mode Insights Series

57 | A Culture of Creating Hope, Strength, and Joy | The Feedback Loop of Gratitude

56 | The New Culture of Work | Bridging the Digital Divide

55 | Robotics, Machine Intelligence, and the New Era of Learning

54 | Personalized Learning for Every Child | Modernizations in Education with AI

53 | Leadership, Navigating Fear, Finding Empathy | My Top 10 Learnings from 3 Years at Microsoft

52 | Hire for Character, Train for Skill | What Organizations Can Learn from Special Operations Forces

51 | Leadership, Sustainability, and Solutions for Transformations in Manufacturing

50 | Empathy - The Most Effective Journey to Innovations in AI

49 | Advancing the Careers of Diverse Leaders | Management Leadership for Tomorrow

48 | "Data Science for All - Feeding the AI Economy

47 | Authentic CEO Communications - Developing an Acute Understanding of the Multi-constituent World

46 | The "Why" of Creating a Show - A Starter Discussion to Podcasting & LIVE Streaming

45 | Re-imagining the K-12 Education Experience - Innovation, Tech, & Capital

44 | Exploring the Realities of Racism Through Virtual Reality (VR)

43 | **Happy Juneteenth** - Celebrating Freedom in 2020

42 | Anchoring Humanity in Compassionate Conversation

41 | Building AI to Reflect Our Diverse World

40 | The (2) Most Important Financial Decisions of Your Life - Spend Less than You Earn & Invest Early & Often

39 | Enhancing the Virtual Meeting: Why Technology Is Not the Answer to Better Collaborations

38 | Video is the New Executive Messaging: Creating Immersive Experiences for Authentic Communication and Cultural Transformation

37 | Simply Tech LIVE #5 | The Crisis Management App for Emergency Response - Organizational Communication for Preventative Measures and Minimal Exposure

36 | Simply Tech LIVE #4 | Solutions for Enabling Remote Working Environments, Leveraging the Hyper-scale Cloud

35 | Simply Tech LIVE #3 | IoT Connected HAND SANITIZER - Quantifying Behavior, to Augment Behavior

34 | "Anything We do in AI, Should Connect People for the Better"

33 | Live at Microsoft Envision 2019 - Technology Brings Modern Business Forward

32 | The Learning Algorithm - Simple Truths of Data Science & Education

31 | Data Science - The Good, the Bad, and the UGLY

30 | Simply Tech LIVE | Invincible Expresso - A Connected Experience with Azure Sphere

29 | How to Work in 3D - Preparing the Next Generation for Highly Skilled Work

43 | Happy Juneteenth - Celebrating Freedom in 2020