In Episode 26 of The DS Show, Daanish Soomar sits down with Jofi Alexander, Regional Director of Anaplan Africa, to explore a remarkable career journey that spans over three decades of leadership, innovation, and transformation in enterprise performance management.

From his early days pioneering BI and data warehousing at Oracle to leading Anaplan’s regional growth across Africa, Jofi shares how curiosity, adaptability, and a genuine commitment to people have shaped his career. He reflects on lessons learned from running his own consulting firm, his time at Salesforce during the SaaS revolution, and how Anaplan’s platform continues to evolve with the rise of AI-driven planning.

The conversation also touches on Jofi’s entrepreneurial mindset, the importance of relationship-driven sales, and his latest initiative empowering African graduates through Anaplan education in partnership with Deloitte.

This episode is a masterclass in leadership, innovation, and giving back — from one of the most inspiring voices in the connected planning community.

In episode 25 of The DS Show, Daanish Soomar sits down with Eoin McMillan, Founder & CEO of Sourcetable, to explore how he’s reimagining the spreadsheet for the AI era. With over a decade of experience in startups across technical and operational roles, Eoin shares his journey from consulting and product building to launching Sourcetable, a platform designed to make data analysis radically more productive with AI.

The conversation dives into the vision behind Sourcetable, the challenges of building spreadsheets from scratch, and how AI transforms spreadsheets into powerful collaborators—acting like a data analyst or scientist on your team. Eoin also discusses the culture of “velocity” in startups, why optimism in Silicon Valley matters, and his perspective on the coming “Agentic Web,” where humans and AI agents will collaborate seamlessly.

Listeners will gain insights into entrepreneurship, product development, and the future of productivity tools at the intersection of data, networks, and artificial intelligence.

In episode 24 of The DS Show, Daanish Soomar sits down with Ash Jain, CEO of Accelytics Consulting, to explore a career spanning more than 25 years in enterprise performance management (EPM) and business transformation. From starting in computer science to building and leading boutique consultancies, Ash shares the pivotal decisions, leadership lessons, and personal philosophies that have shaped his journey.

The conversation covers Ash’s shift from Oracle to going “all-in” on Anaplan in 2017, the evolution of Accelytics from FP&A into supply chain planning and sales performance management, and the unique advantages and challenges boutique firms face against larger players. Ash also offers candid advice for young professionals in consulting—emphasizing the importance of understanding business needs, staying adaptable, and pushing beyond your comfort zone.

Listeners will walk away with insights on scaling a business, navigating market shifts, and leading with courage, creativity, and consistency.

In episode 23 of The DS Show, Daanish Soomar sits down with Shell Black, President of ShellBlack.com and a Salesforce MVP Hall of Fame, to unpack a journey that spans two decades of growth, community leadership, and scaling a boutique consultancy into a financial services powerhouse.

Shell shares how a personal blog turned into a full-fledged firm, what it was like growing alongside Salesforce during its explosive decade of 25% year-over-year growth, and how he’s navigated new headwinds in a post-hypergrowth world. The conversation dives into Shell’s philosophy on specialization, his approach to company culture, and the tactics his team uses to stand out among 3,000+ global partners.

Listeners will gain lessons on how to grow a bootstrapped business, the importance of mentorship, how to build a community presence, and why leaning into verticalization and culture is key to staying competitive in today’s consulting world.

In episode 22 of The DS Show, Daanish Soomar sits down with Neil Thomas, Senior Vice President of Finance and Workforce Applications at Anaplan, to explore a remarkable career spanning four decades across finance, sales, and enterprise software innovation. From his early days at Johnson & Johnson to pivotal roles at Adaytum and Adaptive, Neil shares how he evolved from a traditional accountant into a driving force behind some of the most influential planning tools in the market today.

This episode dives deep into Neil’s personal and professional journey—how a commission check sparked his pivot to sales, the challenges and rewards of scaling startups, and the evolution of enterprise performance management from green-screen tools to modern AI-driven applications. Neil also offers insight into Anaplan’s platform and its application-first strategy, highlighting the power of AI to democratize planning and boost time-to-value.

Whether you're in finance, sales, product, or tech strategy, Neil’s wisdom offers a front-row seat to the future of planning, leadership, and customer success in an AI-powered world.

In this episode of The DS Show, Daanish sits down with Dana Therrien, VP of Sales Performance Management (SPM) Advisory at Anaplan. Dana shares his 25+ year journey through the world of sales and revenue operations, from leading global orgs to driving strategy at Forrester and now Anaplan.

They dive deep into:

• The evolution of revenue operations and SPM at Anaplan

• How Dana scaled high-performing orgs and eliminated silos

• The intersection of technology, culture, and process

• Leadership, transparency, and sales compensation pitfalls

• Dana’s personal journey and advice for aspiring professionals

If you're a RevOps leader, sales strategist, or just someone who loves hearing from operators at the top of their game — this one’s for you.

In this episode, Daanish sits down with Calvin Magondo, Product Manager at Anaplan, to unpack his career journey, the art of product management, and what it takes to design with the end user in mind. Calvin shares how he transitioned into product, his early work in social entrepreneurship, and lessons from building across sectors like agriculture, aviation, and education — all before landing at Anaplan.

We also explore:

• What makes Anaplan’s planning platform unique

• How Calvin approaches UX strategy and customer feedback

• Key insights into designing for adoption and empowering end users

• A look behind the scenes at product features like conditional formatting & combined grids

• Advice for aspiring PMs — and why soft skills like listening and patience are critical

• The value of entrepreneurial experience in product roles

Whether you're a designer, engineer, PM, or just curious about how great B2B software gets built — this episode is for you.

In episode 19 of The DS Show, Daanish Soomar sits down with Timothy Brennan, Chief Revenue Officer at Anaplan, to explore the future of enterprise planning and the evolving role of technology in strategic decision-making.

Tim shares his journey from consulting to leading go-to-market strategy at one of the top connected planning platforms in the world. The conversation dives into how Anaplan is helping businesses shift from traditional planning models to real-time, dynamic forecasting powered by AI. Tim also reflects on what separates high-performing revenue teams, the power of storytelling in sales, and what it really takes to scale a global go-to-market engine in today’s market.

Whether you're in sales, finance, or strategy, this episode offers fresh insights on leadership, alignment, and the next era of enterprise growth.

In episode 18 of The DS Show, Daanish Soomar sits down with Ghazala Kabani, a seasoned Clinical Operations Consultant and founder of Integrity ClinOps Consulting. With over 25 years of experience spanning hospitals, CROs, biotech, and pharma, Ghazala shares her remarkable journey into clinical trials—from her beginnings as a nurse in Pakistan to leading strategy and oversight for global studies.

This episode explores what really goes into running successful clinical trials: from protocol design and data quality to selecting the right CROs and managing high-stakes partnerships. Ghazala opens up about the lessons she’s learned from both triumphs and failures, offering a rare, behind-the-scenes view of how trials are built, derailed, or saved.

Whether you’re just entering the field, scaling a biotech startup, or working in clinical research or strategy, this conversation is packed with insights on vendor selection, team management, and the human impact behind every trial.

In episode 17 of The DS Show, Daanish Soomar is joined by Subbu Kuchibhotla, former Global Managing Partner of Sales Strategy & Customer Success at Anaplan and a dynamic executive with deep roots in innovation, startups, and enterprise transformation.

Subbu shares his unique journey—from leading disruptive change at Fortune 50 companies to scaling early-stage startups to profitability across global markets. The conversation explores his time at Anaplan, the evolution of customer success, and how to think about growth in high-stakes enterprise environments. Subbu also offers powerful insights on mentorship, leadership, and the mindset required to build customer-centric organizations.

Whether you’re scaling a startup, working in sales or customer success, or building strategy in a tech-driven world, Subbu’s energy and wisdom offer a compelling roadmap for thriving at the intersection of innovation and impact.