On this episode of the Zero Prime podcast, tune in to our conversation with Eldad Farkash, Co-founder and Chairman of Firebolt. With over two decades in data architecture, Eldad spent 14 years as CTO of Sisense before building Firebolt into a next-generation data warehouse.

Get a glimpse into Eldad’s approach as a rare founder who's built not just one, but two unicorns from the ground up. Eldad shares what life is like as a founder in the Tel Aviv tech scene, reveals how he applied hard-won lessons from Sisense to speed-running Firebolt to unicorn status and breaks down why he believes intelligent data ordering and storage management are the keys to guaranteeing lightning-fast database performance. 

Don't miss this episode if you want a glimpse into the future of data infrastructure with one of the industry's leading architects!

--

Mark your calendars for May 12-14, 2026 and join us for Data Council AI, the technical conference built by engineers for engineers. It's the only event where you'll be able to connect with 2,000+ practitioners for 3 full days of technical deep dives, battle-tested architectures and production insights in San Francisco, the heart of the AI world.

Visit us at https://www.datacouncil.ai/ for the latest updates or subscribe to the newsletter as we release more details about the 2026 event!

In this episode we talk to Dwarak Rajagopal – VP of AI Engineering and AI Research at Snowflake. Hear from Dwarak as he traces his journey from optimizing AMD processors to building AI systems at Google and now revolutionizing enterprise AI at Snowflake – discussing the real-world challenges and opportunities for bringing AI to business applications.

Dwarak offers compelling perspectives on why text-to-SQL shouldn’t be underestimated, how query logs can create unfair advantages, and why efficiency will be the next AI frontier. This technical discussion captures the evolution from cutting-edge research to practical enterprise value delivering real ROI.

You won't want to miss this!

--

Mark your calendars for May 12-14, 2026 and join us for Data Council AI, the technical conference built by engineers for engineers. It's the only event where you'll be able to connect with 2,000+ practitioners for 3 full days of technical deep dives, battle-tested architectures and production insights in San Francisco, the heart of the AI world.

Visit us at https://www.datacouncil.ai/ for the latest updates or subscribe to the newsletter as we release more details about the 2026 event!

In this episode we talk to Jake Moshenko – Co-Founder and CEO of AuthZed. Hear from Jake as he traces his journey from building flight simulators to creating cutting-edge authorization systems – not mincing words when discussing the security challenges in AI-driven applications.

Jake offers new perspectives on the future of permissions and access control in a technical discussion that captures the evolution of authorization from legacy systems to today’s AI revolution.

You won’t want to miss this! 

--

Mark your calendars for May 12-14, 2026 and join us for Data Council AI, the technical conference built by engineers for engineers. It's the only event where you'll be able to connect with 2,000+ practitioners for 3 full days of technical deep dives, battle-tested architectures and production insights in San Francisco, the heart of the AI world.

Visit us at https://www.datacouncil.ai/ for the latest updates or subscribe to the newsletter as we release more details about the 2026 event!

In this episode we talk to Sudarshan Lakshminaraseemhan – a founding engineer at e6data who cut his teeth during the formative years at global technology consultancy ThoughtWorks. Hear from Sudarshan as he dissects the evolution of software development from early waterfall processes to today's rapid iteration cycles – pulling no punches when discussing the cost crisis in data analytics.

Sudarshan offers candid perspectives on the future of lakehouse technology – as someone who has operated from the trenches of agile adoption to the bleeding edge of data systems. This technical  discussion captures the evolution of software development and what Sudarshan sees as the unchanging foundations that survive cyclical disruptions. 

--

Mark your calendars for May 12-14, 2026 and join us for Data Council AI, the technical conference built by engineers for engineers. It's the only event where you'll be able to connect with 2,000+ practitioners for 3 full days of technical deep dives, battle-tested architectures and production insights in San Francisco, the heart of the AI world.

Visit us at https://www.datacouncil.ai/ for the latest updates or subscribe to the newsletter as we release more details about the 2026 event!

In this episode of the Zero Prime podcast, we chat with Charity Majors, Co-Founder and CTO of Honeycomb, who traded piano keys for keyboard commands on their journey from classically trained pianist to a systems firefighter.

Tune in to get Charity's unfiltered thoughts on why engineers should toggle between coding and management, challenging the "three pillars" monitoring model and insights on how AI introduces non-deterministic challenges to software engineering.

--

Mark your calendars for May 12-14, 2026 and join us for Data Council AI, the technical conference built by engineers for engineers. It's the only event where you'll be able to connect with 2,000+ practitioners for 3 full days of technical deep dives, battle-tested architectures and production insights in San Francisco, the heart of the AI world.

Visit us at https://www.datacouncil.ai/ for the latest updates or subscribe to the newsletter as we release more details about the 2026 event!

In this episode of the Zero Prime podcast, engineer-turned-founder Rob Woollen gives a refreshingly honest take on the founder journey. Rob shares his path from Unix coder to BEA Systems architect to Salesforce CTO, and finally to pioneering data analytics at Sigma.

Get Rob's reflections on turning deep tech into market wins and navigating the AI revolution from an engineer who's built it all.

1. 00:00 - Introduction and Early Career
2. 04:25 - Salesforce Years and Career Evolution
3. 06:51 - Path to Entrepreneurship
4. 10:41 - Sutter Hill Ventures and Sigma's Genesis
5. 14:38 - Building Sigma
6. 20:30 - AI and the Future of Business Intelligence
7. 28:55 - Closing Thoughts

--

Mark your calendars for May 12-14, 2026 and join us for Data Council AI, the technical conference built by engineers for engineers. It's the only event where you'll be able to connect with 2,000+ practitioners for 3 full days of technical deep dives, battle-tested architectures and production insights in San Francisco, the heart of the AI world.

Visit us at https://www.datacouncil.ai/ for the latest updates or subscribe to the newsletter as we release more details about the 2026 event!

In this new episode of the 0P podcast, we welcome back Spencer Kimball, co-founder and CEO of Cockroach Labs, to discuss the evolving landscape of software licensing in the cloud era. Spencer shares insights on how companies are innovating with new licensing models to bridge the gap between open source ideals and sustainable business growth.

Drawing from his experience leading Cockroach Labs, a distributed database company, he offers a unique perspective on finding equilibrium between community collaboration and commercial success.

--

Mark your calendars for May 12-14, 2026 and join us for Data Council AI, the technical conference built by engineers for engineers. It's the only event where you'll be able to connect with 2,000+ practitioners for 3 full days of technical deep dives, battle-tested architectures and production insights in San Francisco, the heart of the AI world.

Visit us at https://www.datacouncil.ai/ for the latest updates or subscribe to the newsletter as we release more details about the 2026 event!

In this episode, we introduce a new format for the podcast—a deep dive into a technical topic with an engineer-founder who is an expert on the subject. For our first Deep Dive, I sit down with Vijay Subramanian, the visionary behind Trace, to explore the evolution and future of metric layers in business metrics and cross-functional alignment.

Vijay demystifies the concept of metrics layers, metric trees and semantic layers, explaining their components, functionality and crucial role in today’s tech-driven environment, while also clarifying the differences between each concept. We discuss how metrics layers drive organizational transformation, standardize processes and are being utilized by tech giants like Uber and Airbnb to optimize data modeling and business operations. Vijay also emphasizes the need for data analysts to adopt an operational mindset and highlights the transformative role of AI in data analysis, particularly generative AI’s potential to revolutionize business data interpretation and storytelling.

Highlights:
[1:23] - Vijay defines metric layers, metric trees and semantic layers, distinguishing between each and discussing why they’re important
[5:21] - We discuss how the world was introduced to the idea of a metrics layer and why it was important
[8:15] - We analyze what made the hyper-scalers (Airbnb, Uber, DoorDash) get excited about the idea of a metrics layer at around the same time and Vijay shares where the market stands now in adopting metric layers
[13:09] - Vijay digs specifically into metric trees, what they are and where they’re useful and shares more about his decision to build his company, Trace, around the concept of metric trees
[17:09] - We discuss build vs. buy and what led to Vijay’s bet that companies were not going to build their own solution internally
[21:50] - Vijay expands on how metric trees can bridge the gap between technical teams and business teams within an organization
[25:20] - A quick discussion on how the rise of generative AI impacts this space

--

Mark your calendars for May 12-14, 2026 and join us for Data Council AI, the technical conference built by engineers for engineers. It's the only event where you'll be able to connect with 2,000+ practitioners for 3 full days of technical deep dives, battle-tested architectures and production insights in San Francisco, the heart of the AI world.

Visit us at https://www.datacouncil.ai/ for the latest updates or subscribe to the newsletter as we release more details about the 2026 event!

In this episode, I sit down with Paul Dix, the founder and CTO of InfluxData to explore his journey from a self-taught programmer to a leader in database systems. We discuss his role in building the NYC Machine Learning meetup, the creation of InfluxDB and the strategic move to make it open source. He shares insights into the decision to rewrite InfluxDB in 2020 and the power of community in tech development. We also touch on his transition from CEO to CTO and his advice for founders on making business-driven decisions. This discussion left me inspired and excited for the future of InfluxData.

Highlights:
[00:48] - Paul shares his circuitous route towards getting to school after working in technology directly out of high school
[04:41] - Getting involved with Ruby meetups and developing applications on Rails
[05:50] - Paul talks about his motivation behind starting the New York Machine Learning meetup
[09:22] - We dive into how Paul's early experiences translated into what he built with InfluxDB
[15:08] - Paul shares how InfluxDB has approached open source and, later,  commercialization, including how they've navigated challenges presented by the cloud providers
[21:57] - Paul talks through some of the changes they’ve made to InfluxDB recently and what motivated those changes
[27:40] - Digging into how the Influx team has taken a different approach to open source over the last few years
[28:42] - Paul shares advice for engineer-founders considering CEO vs. CTO roles

--

Mark your calendars for May 12-14, 2026 and join us for Data Council AI, the technical conference built by engineers for engineers. It's the only event where you'll be able to connect with 2,000+ practitioners for 3 full days of technical deep dives, battle-tested architectures and production insights in San Francisco, the heart of the AI world.

Visit us at https://www.datacouncil.ai/ for the latest updates or subscribe to the newsletter as we release more details about the 2026 event!

In this episode, I sit down with Alex Mashrabov, the visionary CEO of Higgsfield AI. We journey through Alex's impressive career, beginning with his time at Yandex where he witnessed the early implementations of neural networks. We explore what ignited his entrepreneurial spirit and delve into the stark contrasts between the Russian and American educational landscapes.

Our discussion then moves to Alex's experiences in building generative AI products, starting with AI Factory, which focused on innovative face animation technology and strategic planning for mobile devices. We also examine his time at Snap, where he addressed the challenges of balancing scale and cost. Finally, Alex highlights Higgsfield AI's groundbreaking approach to efficiently training text-to-video models. He discusses the common challenges organizations face when scaling models and allocating resources and emphasizes the importance of rapid experimentation in AI development.

Highlights:
[01:07] - Alex discusses his time at Yandex and what gave him the confidence to leave and become a founder
[03:29] - Differences between American and Russian educational systems and how Yandex leveraged these differences for recruitment
[06:57] - Alex describes what he built at AI Factory and his experiences on the Snap team
[10:10] - Alex shares the engineering efficiencies he introduced at Higgsfield AI
[14:03] - Exploring how experimentation influences the AI stack
[15:52] - Alex talks about Higgsfield’s architecture and world models
[21:32] - We delve into Alex's views on copyrighted material, deep fakes, and other ethical challenges of generated video
[26:20] - Alex outlines the long-term vision for Higgsfield AI

--

Mark your calendars for May 12-14, 2026 and join us for Data Council AI, the technical conference built by engineers for engineers. It's the only event where you'll be able to connect with 2,000+ practitioners for 3 full days of technical deep dives, battle-tested architectures and production insights in San Francisco, the heart of the AI world.

Visit us at https://www.datacouncil.ai/ for the latest updates or subscribe to the newsletter as we release more details about the 2026 event!