Last week I posted about the gulf in the data industry between people in favor and opposed AI. The data industry has an atrocious track record of success over the decades. Shall we keep repeating the same mistakes with AI?

I think AI denialism is holding back and AI has the potential to help us correct a lot of the sins of the past, namely quick delivery of value. Whether we get there is another question...

Thanks to dbt, GoodData, and Ellie.ai for sponsoring this podcast.

dbt: https://www.getdbt.com

GoodData: https://www.gooddata.com

Ellie.ai: https://www.ellie.ai

Ryan Russon is an ML Engineer. He stopped by my house for a practical and grounded chat about ML and AI. Enjoy!

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Join dbt Labs May 28 for the dbt Launch Showcase to hear from executives and product leaders about the latest features landing in dbt. See firsthand how features will empower data practitioners and organizations in the age of AI.

Thanks to dat Labs for sponsoring this episode.

Some people speculate that AI will make software and data engineers obsolete. If the only thing engineers do is write code, sure.

But we do a lot more than that, and I believe we'll actually need more engineers, not fewer.

In this episode, I discuss how I think AI will change the craft of software and data engineering. Spoiler - I think it will make it way more fun and productive.

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Thanks to dbt and GoodData for sponsoring this episode. Please support them, as they're awesome.

dbt Launch Showcase

Join dbt Labs May 28 for the dbt Launch Showcase to hear from executives and product leaders about the latest features landing in dbt. See firsthand how features will empower data practitioners and organizations in the age of AI.

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GoodData Webinar

Analytics and data engineering used to live in separate worlds—different teams, different tools, different goals. But the lines are blurring fast. As modern data products demand speed, scale, and seamless integration, the best teams are embracing engineering principles and best practices.

In this no-BS conversation, Ryan Dolley, Matt Housley, and Joe Reis, dive into how engineering principles are transforming the way analytics is built, delivered, and scaled.

📆 May 27, 2025🕘 9:00 AM PDT, 12:00 PM EDT, 6:00 PM CEST🔗 Register here!

Laura McDonald is an enterprise account executive, and she walks me through navigating the complex world of enterprise sales. We chat about the sales cycle, the importance of building relationships, the challenges of navigating long complicated procurement processes, and much more. Whether you're a sales rookie, an experienced salesperson, a founder, or just interested in sales, you'll learn something new from this conversation.

I've spoken all over the world, at the biggest events, the most intimately small, and everywhere in between. In this Practical Data Community lunch and learn, I share some experiences with public speaking, give some advice on getting your first public speaking gig, how to prepare, preparing talks, dealing with stage fright, getting paid, and much more. Enjoy!

From the Practical Data Lunch and Learn, May 9, 2025

Dia Adams and Gordon Wong join me for a chat about data strategy in the age of AI.

Michael Drogalis joins me to chat about building his company - Shadow Traffic - in public. We discuss sales, the psychological toll of rejection, the rollercoaster of entrepreneurship, and strategies for audience building and content creation.

John Giles joins me to discuss his new book, "The Data Elephant in the Board Room," conceptual modeling, the unreasonable effectiveness of data modeling patterns, and more.

Zhamak Dehghani joins the Practical Data Community for an open-ended Q&A about autonomous data products, Data Mesh, NextData and much more.

NextData: https://www.nextdata.com/Practical Data Community: https://discord.gg/gNfw5AKWSK

I've recently spoken to several groups of students (undergrad and graduate) about the data industry, career advice, and more. Here, I distill some of my major points about careers, finding work, and more.

If you're graduating this Spring 2025, congrats!

This episode is brought to you by GoodData.