Making Data Simple

In case you missed it.... The Contrarian AI Takes Most People Won't Say Out Loud — with Dr. Sean Falconer, AI Entrepreneur in Residence, Confluent 17.06.2026 45min

Send us Fan Mail Most people building with AI are working from the same playbook. Dr. Sean Falconer isn't. As AI Entrepreneur in Residence at Confluent, Sean sits at the intersection of real-time data streaming and production AI — where the decisions get hard and the stakes are real. In this episode, he and Al get into what it actually looks like to run multiple LLMs simultaneously, what happened when Sean tested autonomous agents in real-world conditions, and why some of the loudest claims i...

What If the Data Inside Your Head Could Diagnose What Doctors Miss? — with Dr. Nicholas Dogris, Founder, NeuroField & Dr. Tiff Thompson, PhD, NeuroField Neurotherapy 10.06.2026 43min

Send us Fan Mail Your Brain Generates Data. Are You Using It? Your brain is producing data every second. The question is whether anyone is actually reading it — and what happens when AI starts to. In this episode, Al sits down with Dr. Nicholas Dogris and Dr. Tiff Thompson, the founders behind the NeuroField ecosystem — a triad of companies applying advanced neuroscience data to brain health, diagnosis, and treatment. Together, they've built tools and methodologies that are changing ho...

What Happens to the DBA when AI Agents take over? A conversation with Satya Krishnaswamy, Director, IBM Db2 Genius Hub 03.06.2026 42min

Send us Fan Mail The database has always needed a human hand — someone to tune it, protect it, and keep it running. But what if AI could do most of that work autonomously? And if it can, what does that mean for the people who've built careers doing exactly that? In this episode, Al sits down with Satya Krishnaswamy, Director at IBM, to explore IBM's Db2 Genius Hub — a bold step toward autonomous database management powered by AI agents. Satya breaks down what it actually means for a database ...

AI Deployments: A Practical Guide 27.05.2026 42min

Send us Fan Mail Raffi Khatchadourian, Account Technical Leader at IBM, shares his expertise - from AI deployments to infrastructure and more. Raffi dives into the latest trends and insights in the field of artificial intelligence and data science. Tune in for practical advice and real-world examples from a leading expert in the industry. 01:37 Meet Raffi 05:43 Success AI Deployments 13:08 Replayability 22:22 AI, A Services PoV 25:52 Small Models vs Large Models 29:04 Infrastructure's Impact ...

{In Case You Missed It} From Sovereign AI to Social Impact: The Big Shifts You Need to Watch with IBM VP and CTO of IBM Canada, Manav Gupta 20.05.2026 49min

Send us Fan Mail From Sovereign AI to Social Impact: The Big Shifts You Need to Watch with IBM VP and CTO of IBM Canada, Manav Gupta Manav Gupta, Vice President & CTO at IBM Canada, returns to the podcast to unpack the fast-changing landscape of artificial intelligence. From keeping a technical edge to navigating the rise of sovereign AI, Manav shares insights on how emerging trends are shaping both industry and society. Timestamps 01:25 – Manav Gupta is back! 02:39 – Maintaini...

The Rapidly Evolving World of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) 13.05.2026 43min

Send us Fan Mail The rapidly evolving world of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) with Manav Gupta, VP & CTO of IBM Canada! We’re tackling the big questions – is an ‘AGI clock’ ticking? – alongside critical discussions on risk, regulation, and the future of work. Manav and I pull no punches as we explore the surprising realities of AI’s development and its potential impact on our lives. 01:55 The ShipAI Podcast 04:42 AI Battlegrounds 07:02 AGI Defined 10:52 The 10-m...

In case you missed it: David Hirschfeld; CEO of Tekyz. What it takes to make a startup successful - is it the founder or the technology? 06.05.2026 45min

Send us Fan Mail In case you missed it.... 🎧 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. Davi...

Chief Operating Officer of IBM Infrastructure, Barry Baker, oversees the world’s most critical systems – including the iconic IBM Z. 29.04.2026 43min

Send us Fan Mail Ever wonder how your bank transaction really gets processed without a hitch? Barry Baker, Chief Operating Officer of IBM Infrastructure, oversees the world’s most critical systems – including the iconic IBM Z. Barry has spent over 25 years building mission critical technology. We’ll dive into everything from mainframe modernization and AI acceleration to the future of cloud and enterprise-grade solutions! 01:35 Meet Barry Baker03:42 Biggest Infrastructure Challenge04:59 True ...

In case you missed it — The Way Elite CEOs Actually Think: Dave Martin on Mega Thinking, High-Stakes Decisions & What's Holding You Back 22.04.2026 40min

Send us Fan Mail What separates the leaders who scale from the ones who stall? According to Dave Martin — CEO, tech entrepreneur, investor, and coach to elite executives worldwide — it's not IQ, it's not hustle, and it's definitely not the framework on your whiteboard. It's how they think. In this episode, Al sits down with Dave to unpack Mega Thinking — his simple, powerful process for making better leadership decisions under pressure. Dave has coached CEOs from Silicon Valley to boardrooms ...

Still Essential: Ruchir Puri on AGI, Jensen Huang's Bold Prediction, and Why Reasoning Is the Missing Piece {Replay} 15.04.2026 27min

Send us Fan Mail Last week we brought back Part 1 of our Ruchir Puri masterclass. This is the episode that completes it. If Part 1 was about how AI works — agentic loops, inference scaling, the death of prompt engineering — Part 2 is about where AI is going. Ruchir takes on the biggest questions in the industry: Is Jensen Huang right that AGI arrives by 2029? What does IBM's bet on open models actually mean for the enterprise? And what does it take to build AI with not just intelligence, but ...

The Partner X Factor: What IBM's SVP Kareem Yusuf Knows About Ecosystems That Most Leaders Miss 08.04.2026 42min

Send us Fan Mail Today we're joined by Kareem Yusuf, SVP at IBM, where he leads Ecosystem and Strategic Partnerships. His career journey spans IoT, sustainability, and product growth — and it's more diverse than you might expect. In this episode, we dig into the critical thinking behind building successful partnerships, navigating complex tech ecosystems, and what it really takes to prioritize when everything feels urgent. 00:00 Introduction01:15 Meet Kareem Yusuf03:44 Best Job Ever08:03 Care...

Making Developers and AI Agents more productive with an Enterprise MCP. An in depth review with Craig McLuckie, Founder and CEO of Stacklok. 03.04.2026 28min

Send us Fan Mail Part2: Craig McLuckie, Founder and CEO of Stacklok and inventor of Kubernetes, discusses his latest venture: Stacklok, an Enterprise MCP Platform that makes developers and AI agents more productive. 00:12 The 2-min Stacklok Pitch01:47 An Enterprise-grade MCP Platform06:28 The Case for Smaller Models07:09 Are Clients Ready?11:36 The Winners and Losers14:20 Stacklok's Major Competitor17:48 Craig's Objectives18:56 Open-source and the Red Hat Machine22:22 The Father of Kubernetes...

The Man Who Built Kubernetes Is Betting Everything on This New Idea: Craig McLuckie Founder and CEO of Stacklok 25.03.2026 29min

Send us Fan Mail Craig McLuckie is the Founder and CEO of Stacklok and one of the original inventors of Kubernetes — the open-source container orchestration system that became the backbone of modern cloud infrastructure. After leading Kubernetes into the CNCF and navigating VMware's pivot under Broadcom, Craig made a sharp turn and founded Stacklok: an Enterprise MCP Platform designed to make developers and AI agents dramatically more productive in secure, enterprise environments. In this epi...

Still Essential: Ruchir Puri, IBM Chief Scientist, on the Death of Prompt Engineering and the Rise of Agentic AI {Replay} 18.03.2026 29min

Send us Fan Mail First Aired Apr 23, 2025 If you've been following the AI space lately, this episode hits differently the second time around. When Al sat down with Ruchir Puri — Chief Scientist of IBM Research, IBM Fellow, and the architect behind Watson and watsonx — the conversation covered ground that's only gotten more relevant since: the death of prompt engineering, the rise of agentic AI, and why 2025 was always going to be the year agents broke through in the enterprise. Ruchir doesn't...

The Data You Never Collected: Adam Kamor Co-Founder & Head of Engineering, Tonic.ai, on Synthetic Data's AI Revolution 11.03.2026 42min

Send us Fan Mail Making Data Simple dives into the exciting world of synthetic data with Adam Kamor, Co-Founder & Head of Engineering at Tonic.ai — a company building a synthetic data platform to power AI and software development. Adam unpacks how synthetic data is revolutionizing the way we build smarter, safer AI systems. 01:31 Meet Adam Kamor 08:43 The Road to Software Engineering 11:10 Defining Synthetic Data 13:46 The Need for Synthetic Data 15:17 Synthetic Data with AI 17:59 Tonic.a...

From Two Phones to Crystal Balls — A CISO's Unfiltered Take on AI and Security with Josh Scott, CISO and VP of Security at Hydrolix 04.03.2026 36min

Send us Fan Mail Making Data Simple dives into the world of data security with Josh Scott, CISO and VP of Security at Hydrolix — a real-time data platform built for massive scale. Josh unpacks critical challenges like AI adoption, cybersecurity priorities, and how organizations can harness data to stay ahead, all while keeping performance high and costs down. 01:02 Investing 04:25 Meet Josh Scott 10:54 Adopting AI Safely 14:42 What IS a CISO? 17:14 What Keeps a CISO Up at ...

The Hidden Laws Behind Every Decision You Make — with Princeton's Tom Griffiths and his new book, The Laws of Thought 25.02.2026 43min

Send us Fan Mail Tom Griffiths, Henry R. Luce Professor at Princeton University, joins the show to explore the surprising science behind how we actually think. His new book, The Laws of Thought, bridges computational cognitive science and AI—challenging assumptions about decision-making, neural networks, and the path to artificial general intelligence. Show Notes Timestamps 01:21 – Meet Tom Griffiths 05:27 – Tom's Book 06:58 – A Neural Network 09:55 – AGI? 19:10 –...

From Hollywood to High-Tech: Marco Rota’s, VP Strategic Technology Alliances at Lumen Technologies, Blueprint for Cultural Transformation {Replay} 18.02.2026 32min

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back to Making Data Simple, where we explore how data-driven strategies ignite innovation and transform businesses. In this exciting episode, we sit down with Marco Rota, VP of Strategic Technology Alliances at Lumen Technologies, whose incredible journey spans from the glitz of Hollywood to leading-edge telecommunications. Tune in as Marco reveals how embracing a vibrant culture, drawing on lessons from the entertainment industry, and championing new technologies can...

Taming the Messy Data Reality: Turning AI Training Chaos into an $80T IP Asset Class with Andrea Muttoni, President and CPO of Story 11.02.2026 43min

Send us Fan Mail Tackling the messy reality of data fueling artificial intelligence, Andrea Muttoni—President & CPO at Story—joins the show to unpack how Story is building an AI-native infrastructure for intellectual property and training data. We dig into making the $80T IP asset class programmable, traceable, and monetizable, and how Story aims to turn “mysterious training data blobs” into transparent rights and payments for creators and enterprises. 01:10 Meet Andrea Muttoni 06:49...

This Episode is Deep into the Tech! From Graph DB Fundamentals to Grid Security: Engineering the Next-Gen Infrastructure 04.02.2026 19min

Send us Fan Mail Prasad Calyam, Curators’ Distinguished Professor and Center Director at the University of Missouri, joins the show to explore how knowledge graphs, modern data platforms, and AI are reshaping power grids and cybersecurity. He breaks down graph database fundamentals, real-world research projects, and how industry can tap into cutting-edge university work—all in language that engineers, data folks, and developers can put to use. Timestamps 01:30 Meet Prasad Calyam 02...