Send us a text We’re back with Part 2 of our must-listen conversation with Dave Garrison, leadership strategist and veteran CEO, on what it really takes to unlock performance through engagement. In this episode, we go deeper into the psychological drivers of motivation — autonomy, mastery, and purpose — and explore how to stop employee churn, combat burnout, and lead with clarity (not just charisma). Plus: how to rethink your approach to hiring and the controversial take on using AI in leadership decisions. Stick around for a surprise recap guest who brings it all home. 💥 🕒 Time-Stamps: 00:12 – Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose 04:48 – How to Stop Churn 07:10 – Laying the Hammer Down 08:00 – Burnout 14:50 – Are You Using AI Wrong? 16:27 – Energy Level 17:40 – Coach Katherine Mayne's Take 19:57 – Hire for Aptitude, Fire for Attitude 22:19 – The Recap 🔗 Connect with Dave on LinkedIn 📘 Explore his book, Buy-In Want to be featured as a guest on Making Data Simple? Reach out to us at [email protected] and tell us why you should be next. The Making Data Simple Podcast is hosted by Al Martin, WW VP Technical Sales, IBM, where we explore trending technologies, business innovation, and leadership ... while keeping it simple & fun.

Send us a text 📝 Show Notes: What if the biggest barrier to your company’s growth isn’t your strategy — but your people’s belief in it? In Part 1 of this powerful two-part episode, we welcome Dave Garrison, seasoned CEO, board member, and leadership strategist with over 25 years of experience driving real-world results. Dave pulls back the curtain on what employee engagement really means — and why it's the key to reducing turnover, boosting innovation, and transforming your business from the inside out. Whether you’re leading a small team or an entire enterprise, this episode delivers practical, battle-tested strategies to move your people from burnout to buy-in. 💥 Expect real talk, not fluff. Practical steps, not platitudes. Because leadership isn’t about charisma — it’s about connection. 🔗 Connect with Dave on LinkedIn 📘 Check out his book: buyinbook.com 🕒 Episode Breakdown: 01:43 Meet Dave Garrison06:02 Why is Strategy Hard07:34 What is Engagement?15:48 Trust is a Prerequisite to Conflict19:34 Connecting with "Human Beings"20:45 Creating Friday Night Lights Moments26:46 Slowing Down to Speed Up29:35 The Real Cost of Disengagement🔥 Hashtags: #MakingDataSimple #LeadershipStrategy #EmployeeEngagement #DaveGarrison #BusinessGrowth #TrustAndLeadership #OrganizationalHealth #TeamCulture #WorkplaceInnovation #BuyInNotBurnout

Want to be featured as a guest on Making Data Simple? Reach out to us at [email protected] and tell us why you should be next. The Making Data Simple Podcast is hosted by Al Martin, WW VP Technical Sales, IBM, where we explore trending technologies, business innovation, and leadership ... while keeping it simple & fun.

Send us a text From Elephant Butts to Ethical AI — Duncan Curtis on De-Risking GenAI at Sama Episode intro Duncan Curtis, SVP for GenAI & AI Product + Technology at Sama, has shipped everything from autonomous-vehicle platforms at Zoox to game-changing data products at Google. Today he leads a 160-person team that’s reinventing how training data is curated, labeled, and audited so enterprises can ship production-ready GenAI—without the lurking model risk. Sama’s newest release, Sama Automate, is already cutting annotation time by 40 percent while keeping quality above SLAs, and Duncan says they’re “aiming for a 10× improvement by 2025.” (aiuserconference.com, sama.com) If you want the inside track on AI ROI, ethical guardrails, and why A’s hire A’s (but B’s hire C’s!), lean in—this one’s for you. (And yes, we do get to elephant butts.) Timestamped roadmap 00:46 Meet Duncan Curtis03:51 The Duncan Brand05:52 Making Time for Yourself08:47 Autonomous Cars — 9× Safer12:21 Favorite Jobs13:24 Inside Sama14:39 Data & LLM Training16:04 De-Risking Models19:08 Ethical AI22:43 Stopping Hallucinations27:18 Data Labeling Deep-Dive31:56 Production-Ready GenAI33:44 AGI Horizons35:34 What Makes Sama Different36:31 Calculating AI ROI38:50 State of the LLMs44:48 Elephant Butts & Closing ThoughtsQuick links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/duncan-curtis/Sama: https://www.sama.com/Latest blog: “Sama Introduces New Data Automation Platform” (sama.com)Hear more: Duncan on “Human Guardrails in Generative AI” (DataCamp podcast) (datacamp.com)Hashtags

MakingDataSimple #AIProduct #GenAI #DataLabeling #EthicalAI #AIROI #AutonomousVehicles #Podcast

Want to be featured as a guest on Making Data Simple? Reach out to us at [email protected] and tell us why you should be next. The Making Data Simple Podcast is hosted by Al Martin, WW VP Technical Sales, IBM, where we explore trending technologies, business innovation, and leadership ... while keeping it simple & fun.

As AI agents become more powerful and widely adopted, enterprises face a new challenge: how to build them on a foundation of trustworthy, AI-ready data that includes both structured and unstructured data. Unstructured data introduces new complexity for organizations already contending with large and growing volumes of data that is often distributed and disconnected, and from more information sources. In this episode, Stephanie Valarezo, Program Director, Product, from IBM Data Integration, shares how organizations can simplify and scale the integration, access and governance of unstructured and structured data. Explore how IBM is simplifying the enterprise data stack by empowering teams to integrate structured and unstructured data, using batch, real-time streaming, or replication techniques, while extending governance beyond the data layer to the AI agents themselves. Whether you're modernizing legacy infrastructure, accelerating agent development, or building robust governance strategies, this session will give you a blueprint to: Unlock the value of unstructured data for enterprise-grade AI Accelerate data intelligence through built-in observability and governance Simplify your tech stack while improving trust and traceability in AI outputs Learn more about watsonx #sponsored   Register for free to be part of the next live session: https://bit.ly/3XB3A8b   Follow us on Socials: LinkedIn YouTube Instagram (Mavens of Data) Instagram (Maven Analytics) TikTok Facebook Medium X/Twitter

Send us a text 🎧 Episode Description: This week on Making Data Simple, we welcome David Hirschfeld, Founder and CEO of Tekyz. With a background spanning major tech firms and startup trenches, David brings grounded, data-backed insight into what makes or breaks a startup. From tackling the #1 reason startups fail to exploring the value of validation and the real meaning of product-market fit, this episode is a no-fluff masterclass in entrepreneurial strategy. David’s message is clear: "Don’t focus on your product. Focus on the client’s problem." Whether you're a first-time founder or scaling your next venture, David offers hard-earned truths, including surprising takes on unicorns, VCs, and what really matters more — the founder or the technology? ⏱ Time Markers: 01:20 – Meet David Hirschfeld 05:55 – THE Reason Startups Fail 08:50 – Lifetime Value 11:33 – The Value of Validation 14:48 – What Do the VCs Say? 16:20 – Startup Success Rate 17:10 – Tekyz 23:01 – Product Market Fit 29:18 – Startup Ideation 31:37 – Unicorns 38:12 – Unexpected Truths 42:45 – Founder or Technology? 🔗 Connect with David: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidhirschfeld Website: https://tekyz.com

#MakingDataSimple #StartupAdvice #ProductMarketFit #TechLeadership #VCInsights #FoundersJourney #Entrepreneurship #DataDrivenDecisions #StartupFailure #Innovation #ClientCentric #Podcast Want to be featured as a guest on Making Data Simple? Reach out to us at [email protected] and tell us why you should be next. The Making Data Simple Podcast is hosted by Al Martin, WW VP Technical Sales, IBM, where we explore trending technologies, business innovation, and leadership ... while keeping it simple & fun.

Get ready for a high-energy, action-packed session that brings AI agents to life. Build and deploy a fully functional AI agent in minutes using IBM watsonx Orchestrate. Learn how to:
• Create a domain-specific agent in minutes.
• Explore our pre-built agents for Sales, Procurement, and HR, which integrate seamlessly with 80+ enterprise tools your teams already use.
• Manage multiple agents through a centralised chat interface, automating even the most complex workflows.
• Discover proven strategies to boost productivity and ROI without long development cycles or heavy IT demands.
Whether you’re starting out or scaling your automation, this session will inspire and equip you to build your own AI agents confidently.

Discover how leading enterprises are transforming financial planning with AI-driven automation, predictive insights, and dynamic decision-making. In this session, we’ll share best practices and real-world use cases of clients leveraging
IBM Planning Analytics to streamline forecasting, enhance agility, and gain a competitive edge. We’ll explore the latest advancements in Agentic AI; intelligent assistants that proactively analyse data, detect outliers, and recommend next steps, empowering finance teams to operate with greater speed and precision.

Join University of Auckland (UoA) and IBM to examine how you can move from experimentation to execution and ensure your GenAI programs deliver meaningful, measurable impact. We’ll guide you through a case study of UoA’s GenAI assistant, from PoC to full-scale production. It explores the foundations needed for GenAI success, applicable across any industry: an enterprise-ready technology platform, a mature AI operations lifecycle, and strong regulatory guardrails. Learn how these solutions safeguard a GenAI assistant serving over 50,000 users to deliver a more efficient business, at scale.

As AI adoption accelerates, unstructured data has emerged as a critical—yet often overlooked—asset for building accurate, trustworthy AI agents. But preparing and governing this data at scale remains a challenge. Traditional data integration and RAG approaches fall short. In this session, discover how IBM enables AI agents grounded in governed, high-quality unstructured data. Learn how our unified data platform streamlines integration across batch, streaming, replication, and unstructured sources—while accelerating data intelligence through built-in governance, quality, lineage, and data sharing. But governance doesn’t stop at data. We’ll explore how AI governance extends oversight to the models and agents themselves. Walk away with practical strategies to simplify your stack, strengthen trust in AI outputs, and deliver AI-ready data at scale.

Send us a text This week on Making Data Simple, we welcome Ralph Gootee, CTO and co-founder of TigerEye, a company reshaping strategic sales intelligence with a data-driven edge. Ralph’s journey spans Pixar, Sony, and PlanGrid — and now he’s building tools to help sales leaders see around corners. From the secrets behind TigerEye's intuitive reporting to the realities of entrepreneurship and the affordability of LLMs, this episode hits both the business brain and the tech heart. 00:52 Meet Ralph Gootee 01:43 TigerEye 04:49 PlanGrid 07:43 Monetization 08:50 TigerEye's Objective 12:38 Reinventing Reporting 17:06 How it Works 22:21 The Secret Sauce 27:48 LLM Affordability 34:14 Last Call 38:57 The Entrepreneur Dilemma 39:47 Where to Reach TigerEye 40:07 Do Code Assistants Work? 47:32 For Fun🔗 Connect with Ralph & TigerEye LinkedIn: Ralph Gootee  Website: TigerEye Blog: TigerEye Blog

MakingDataSimple #SalesIntelligence #AIinSales #EntrepreneurMindset #LLMs #StartupLife #PixarToPipeline #DataDrivenDecisions #TechLeadership #TigerEye

Want to be featured as a guest on Making Data Simple? Reach out to us at [email protected] and tell us why you should be next. The Making Data Simple Podcast is hosted by Al Martin, WW VP Technical Sales, IBM, where we explore trending technologies, business innovation, and leadership ... while keeping it simple & fun.

Keynotes & panels featuring industry leaders from Google, AWS, IBM, PayPal, Bank of America, Capital One, Visa, JPMorgan Chase, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, United Nations, Fireworks AI, WaveAI, EA, Dropbox, Ancestry, Oracle, LinkedIn, and more.

Send us a text 🎧 REPLAY ALERT: The Future of Risk, Powered by AI In case you missed it the first time — we’re bringing back this incredible conversation with Kathy Stares, EVP of North America at Provenir. Kathy dives into how Provenir’s AI-powered risk decisioning software processes over 4 billion transactions annually across 50+ countries. From fintech to traditional banking, learn how this platform is shaking up risk strategies with automation, innovation, and global reach. 🌍 Why does risk decisioning need AI?  🚀 What’s driving the next wave of banking transformation?  📊 How can Gen Z shape the future of financial services? Timestamps:  01:14 Meet Kathy Stares 04:34 The Start of Summer 08:01 AI-Powered Risk Decisioning 11:31 The Tech Behind Provenir 13:42 Models 14:32 Data Source 16:43 The Business Problem 17:33 Banking Strategies 18:48 Platform Scope 20:28 Automation 21:46 Provenir’s Differentiator 22:47 Millennials & Gen Z 29:05 Trends to Watch 31:57 Kathy’s Takeaway 33:28 Connect with Provenir 35:25 The Wealthy Barber🎙️ Guest: Kathy Stares 🔗 Learn more: provenir.com

AIinFinance #FintechInnovation #RiskDecisioning #FinancialServices #AIReplay #Automation #FutureOfBanking #GenZFinance #WomenInTech #MakingDataSimple #TechPodcast #ProvenirAI #PodcastReplay

Want to be featured as a guest on Making Data Simple? Reach out to us at [email protected] and tell us why you should be next. The Making Data Simple Podcast is hosted by Al Martin, WW VP Technical Sales, IBM, where we explore trending technologies, business innovation, and leadership ... while keeping it simple & fun.

Enterprises that possess high-quality data and governance and attest to the trust worthiness of their data among stakeholders have doubled the return on investment (ROI) from their AI. Learn how leading organizations today are implementing an open and trusted data foundation to secure and maximize the value of both their structured and unstructured data, accessing siloed data across hybrid cloud, cost-optimizing growing data workloads, and preparing and delivering high-quality, governed data for AI with a new approach to a data fabric architecture.

There’s a lot of interest and buzz around AI agents, however, what separates an agent from an assistant? How do you bring agents to production and drive ROI for your business? Join IBM, clients, and partners, to learn how the latest AI agents and assistants are empowering teams with needed expertise, turning piles of data into personalized insights and automating business processes across various enterprise domains.

This session explores how agentic AI—autonomous systems powered by large language models—drives real business value by automating complex, multi-step workflows. Attendees will learn how IBM’s watsonx Orchestrate platform enables enterprises to build, manage, and scale AI agents that improve productivity, reduce costs, and enhance customer and employee experiences across sales, HR, IT, and more. The session highlights real-world use cases like IBM’s AskHR agent and offers insights into low-code/no-code tools for rapid AI agent development. Join to discover how agentic AI transforms digital labour and accelerates enterprise automation at scale.

The rapid advances in generative AI are fueling great excitement. Within just a few years, one-third of generative AI interactions are expected to utilize autonomous agents, propelling a new wave of productivity for enterprises. However, this potential can only be realized if the challenges surrounding AI trustworthiness, inferencing costs, domain-specificity, and effective and secure leveraging of quality enterprise data can be overcome. Data and AI leaders require a practical approach to accelerate AI adoption. Discover actionable techniques to maximize the value of your data for AI, learn from real-world examples of data and AI driven innovation in defence and aerospace, and gain insights into fostering greater AI productivity across your teams with IBM watsonx.

Send us a text We’re back for Part 2 of our Automation deep-dive—and the hits just keep coming! Host Al Martin reunites with IBM automation aces Sarah McAndrew (WW Automation Technical Sales) and Vikram Murali (App Mod & IT Automation Development) to push past the hype and map out the road ahead. 🎬 Episode Highlights 00:12 Observability – why seeing everything is half the battle04:17 IBM Concert – orchestrating dev, ops & business in one score07:42 Tech vs. Culture – the million-dollar question11:34 Real-world use cases that ship value today13:65 Scanning the Future of Automation (spoiler: it’s closer than you think)15:32  Hashi – tooling that scales with you17:42 Top resources to learn more and stay ahead of the curve18:13 Lightning-round fun to wrap it upWhether you’re wrangling legacy systems or architecting cloud-native dreams, this conversation will spark ideas, bust myths, and give you action items of immediate value. Smash that play button, tag a colleague, and join the movement to #MakingDataSimple!  🔗 Connect: Sarah McAndrew LinkedIn | Vikram Murali LinkedIn 🌐 Explore IBM Automation: ibm.com/automation

MakingDataSimple #IBMAutomation #Observability #TechPodcast #FutureOfWork

Want to be featured as a guest on Making Data Simple? Reach out to us at [email protected] and tell us why you should be next. The Making Data Simple Podcast is hosted by Al Martin, WW VP Technical Sales, IBM, where we explore trending technologies, business innovation, and leadership ... while keeping it simple & fun.

Send us a text Buckle up—automation is shifting into high gear! In Part 1 of our Automation mini-series, host Al Martin VP WW Technical Sales sits down with IBM insiders Sarah McAndrew (VP WW Automation, Technical Sales) and Vikram Murali (VP App Mod & IT Automation, Development) to decode the now and next of enterprise automation. 🔑 What’s inside 00:53 Meet Sarah McAndrew VP WW Automation, Technical Sales01:29 Meet Vikram Murali VP App Mod & IT Automation, Development03:25 A crisp, boardroom-ready definition of automation09:21 Why observability is automation’s super-power11:45 The latest breakthroughs propelling innovation faster than ever22:29 How Aspera rockets data transfer into warp speed23:43 The big “Why IBM?”—and why it matters for your bottom lineExpect practical tips you can deploy tomorrow, myth-busting insights, and bold predictions that will have your Dev & Ops teams buzzing. Hit play, share with a tech-curious friend, and let’s #MakeDataSimple—together.

🔗 Connect: Linkedin Sarah McAndrew | LinkedIn Vikram Murali  🌐 Explore IBM Automation: ibm.com/automation

MakingDataSimple #IBMAutomation #AI #Observability #TechPodcast #FutureOfWork

Want to be featured as a guest on Making Data Simple? Reach out to us at [email protected] and tell us why you should be next. The Making Data Simple Podcast is hosted by Al Martin, WW VP Technical Sales, IBM, where we explore trending technologies, business innovation, and leadership ... while keeping it simple & fun.

Está no ar, o Data Hackers News !! Os assuntos mais quentes da semana, com as principais notícias da área de Dados, IA e Tecnologia, que você também encontra na nossa Newsletter semanal, agora no Podcast do Data Hackers !!

Aperte o play e ouça agora, o Data Hackers News dessa semana ! Para saber tudo sobre o que está acontecendo na área de dados, se inscreva na Newsletter semanal: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.datahackers.news/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Conheça nossos comentaristas do Data Hackers News: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Monique Femme⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Paulo Vasconcellos

Demais canais do Data Hackers: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠- Site⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tik Tok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠You Tube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Send us a text In this powerhouse episode of Making Data Simple, we welcome Dave Martin—CEO, tech entrepreneur, investor coach to elite CEOs, and bestselling author of Mega Thinking: A Simple, Powerful Process to Think Smarter and Make Better Leadership Decisions. From Silicon Valley to boardrooms worldwide, Dave breaks down how top leaders think differently, make high-stakes decisions with clarity, and unlock their full leadership potential. Whether you’re scaling a startup or leading a Fortune 500, these are the insights that move the needle. ⏱️ Episode Breakdown 02:38 – Meet Dave Martin: From tech entrepreneur to investor coach—Dave’s leadership journey05:27 – Silicon Valley Secrets: What makes this innovation hub tick?08:17 – The Inception of Mega Thinking: Where breakthrough leadership strategies begin10:57 – Startups Unfiltered: What it really takes to succeed (and survive)14:00 – What is Mega Thinking?: The simple yet powerful framework to level up your leadership21:05 – Mega Thinking in Action: How top performers apply it daily24:07 – What Holds People Back?: The hidden barriers between you and your next big idea27:26 – Mega Thinking Summary: Your rapid-fire leadership playbook33:06 – Reminiscing IBM: Timeless leadership lessons from a tech giant34:28 – The Most Powerful Leaders: How they think differently—and why it works36:42 – Final Thoughts: Dave’s rapid-fire leadership advice you can apply today38:46 – How to Reach Dave Martin: Continue the conversation and go deeper🔗 Connect with Dave: LinkedIn 🌐 Website: megathinkingbook.com

MegaThinking #LeadershipUnlocked #ExecutiveMindset #ThinkSmarterLeadBetter #StartupSuccess #SiliconValleySecrets #BusinessInnovation #LeadershipDecisions #MakingDataSimple #CEOInsights #TechLeadership #PodcastPower

Want to be featured as a guest on Making Data Simple? Reach out to us at [email protected] and tell us why you should be next. The Making Data Simple Podcast is hosted by Al Martin, WW VP Technical Sales, IBM, where we explore trending technologies, business innovation, and leadership ... while keeping it simple & fun.