Listen Now

When data is powering your business, you expect that data to be trustworthy in real time, all the time, but that’s easier said than done. That’s where data quality comes in. Join special guest Lior Gavish, co-founder of Monte Carlo Data, for a conversation about data quality, reliability, and trust. Discussion topics include quantity vs. quality in data science and analytics, the downsides of applying band-aid fixes versus repeatable solutions, and whether quality wines are really worth the extra expense.

If data is the new oil, does that mean the Chief Data Officer is the new baron? Not exactly, but it is one of the fastest growing and most critical executive roles in the enterprise. So... what exactly does a CDO do?  In this episode, Tim and Juan welcome special guest Mohammed Aaser, CDO at McKinsey & Company, the world’s largest management consulting firm. We’ll discuss the unique responsibilities and challenges for a CDO in an increasingly data-driven economy. Plus, we’ll learn how the firm builds and maintains its own thriving data culture. Discussion topics include how a CDO drives critical value for the business, future trends and potential disruptions in the data space, and a clear verdict on whether Tim or Juan would make the better CDO.

We test our food. We test our cars. We test our code. But do we test our data? Join Tim, Juan, and special guest Sam Bail from Superconductive, the company behind open source data testing tool Great Expectations. We’ll chat about how to incorporate data testing into your workflow and who should be involved. We’ll also discuss why data quality is not just a tool, but a state of mind and a commitment. This episode will feature tools for test-driven data development, best practices to incorporate data testing, and which of our hosts received the highest SAT score.

The insurance industry thrives on robust, diverse, accurate, and innovative data. In fact, it’s one of the most data rich verticals around, dealing in claims, ratings, coverage, pricing, geographic, and people data and so much more. But let’s be honest, working with the disparate data sources and applications is incredibly messy and inefficient! In this episode, Juan and Tim will be joined by insurance veteran, John Lucker to find out what we can all learn from the data and analytics challenges in insurance. This episode will include an honest look at the ugly side of insurance data, opportunities to address insurance data challenges, and an important deep dive: State Farm vs. Progressive. Which has better commercials?

Is data governance making you more productive? Or is it a pain that you just have to deal with for the good of the company? If you’ve got data issues, it may be time for a therapy session. Join resident psychologists Tim, Juan, and Ashleigh Faith, EBSCO’s Director of Knowledge Graph and Semantic Search, as we explore the people and culture sides of data governance. We may not be able to treat all your symptoms, but we can change the way you feel about data governance. This episode will feature ways to transform data governance from knowledge barrier to knowledge bridge, suggestions for consultative approaches to governance, and a discussion of who has started playing chess after watching The Queen’s Gambit.

Let’s talk data management frameworks. What is a data fabric and how is it different from a data mesh? No, seriously, we’re trying to figure it out ourselves. Is this an attempt by industry analysts and enterprising vendors to rebrand existing technology or are these fundamentally new data architectures? In this episode, we’ll explore who and what are driving the conversation and try to demystify these emerging data disciplines. This episode will feature: Clear definitions for data fabric and data mesh Where these frameworks overlap, intersect, and chart their own course Tim’s excuses following a Cleveland Browns playoff loss

There’s a dashboard for everything in the enterprise now, so it’s easy to answer your complex questions in graphical form. And new features like natural language processing (NLP) make interactions and queries faster and easier than ever. But surely there’s more on the horizon in BI and analytics, right? Join Tim, Juan and special guest Peter Bailis, CEO of Sisu Data for a conversation on the current state of business intelligence and data analytics. We will also discuss what’s next and the all important question: why? This episode will feature: The state of BI today The evolution of BI and why it’s no longer “the new black” Where analytics should be heading The data-driven culture and why it matters Tim and Juan’s New Year’s resolutions

In October, veteran election "race caller" Dwayne Desaulniers shared how The Associated Press has evolved their process to provide neutral, third party analysis of our most critical elections. It's even more interesting to revisit this conversation months later as we look back on what turned out to be a tumultuous election cycle. As the year winds down, we're revisiting our favorite (and most popular) episodes exploring some of the more unique data roles out there. Next year, we hope to keep bringing guests like Dwayne onto the show, and we want to know: what are you curious about? Whose story would you like to hear? Do you have an interesting perspective to share? Drop us a line at podcast@data.world. We'd love to hear from you. Have a happy, healthy new year, everyone. We'll see you again in 2021.

In this episode from early August, Claire Cahill from The Zebra shared what it's like to be a data product manager at a company where data is the key to success.  As the year winds down, we're revisiting our favorite (and most popular) episodes exploring some of the more unique data roles out there. Next year, we hope to keep bringing guests like Claire onto the show, and we want to know: what are you curious about? Whose story would you like to hear? Do you have an interesting perspective to share? Drop us a line at podcast@data.world. We'd love to hear from you. In this episode, you'll hear: * The characteristics of a great data product manager and how you can land the same role * Who data product managers work with on a daily basis * Whether a good podcasting mic really makes a difference (spoiler: it does)

Earlier this year, our podcast began with an ambitious episode titled “The Future of Data Management.” We’ve covered a lot of ground since then, from career paths and culture changes to data governance and data policy. In our final Catalog & Cocktails show of 2020, Juan and Tim review some of the hottest topics in the dataverse and look forward to what’s new and exciting next year.

YOU may recognize that your company needs a data catalog, but does your boss get it? Can you justify the investment and determine how quickly and what kind of return you’ll get? These may seem like daunting questions, but do not fear! In this episode, Juan and Tim will discuss how to calculate your data catalog ROI, showing you how to measure a catalog’s ability to boost revenue and productivity while reducing risk. If you need to make a business case for an enterprise data catalog, don’t miss this episode! This episode will feature: Success metrics for a data catalog initiative Different methods for calculating catalog ROI What Juan and Tim like to cook

What’s the secret behind Airbnb’s famously data-driven culture? It’s the company’s ability to provide all employees - not just the ‘data people’ - the ability to discover, understand, and trust data. Join Juan, Tim, and special guest Jeff Feng, product lead at Airbnb, to learn how the vacation experience juggernaut designed and developed its enterprise data catalog, DataPortal. Whether you’re still unclear on the business value of a data catalog, or debating whether to build or buy, do not miss this episode. This episode will feature: The good, bad, and ugly of a build-it-yourself data catalog How data democratization can promote data literacy and deliver business value Juan talking about how much he misses flying

This week, much of the U.S. celebrates Thanksgiving, a holiday focused on gratitude and connection. In this short episode, Tim and Juan reflect on what they’re thankful for (including the community that’s grown around this podcast). Join our hosts as they relive their favorite highlights from past Catalog & Cocktails conversations and look forward to upcoming guests. P.S. Usually, we record this podcast in a live Zoom meeting that anyone can attend. We then stick around for a virtual “afterparty” to further discuss that week’s topic as a group. (See our bio for the link.) This week, we skipped that live Wednesday evening event to give our team time to focus on things away from the desk. We hope you’ll have an opportunity to do the same and that you too have many, many reasons to be thankful.

Master data management (MDM) sits at the intersection of metadata and data and has a lot in common with data integration, data modeling, and knowledge building use cases. It’s “old school” technology that even today confuses many data leaders. But... is it still relevant? Should it be part of my data governance strategy? In this episode, Tim and Juan discuss the merits of MDM, how it fits into metadata and governance concepts, and how it may evolve (or not) in the future. 

The latest 2020 Data & AI Landscape now includes 80 boxes, each featuring anywhere from 10-30 vendor offerings. How do you navigate this landscape? Where do you start? And how do you know when you’re done? Clearly there’s no one-size-fits-all data and analytics solution, and it‘s daunting to assemble the right infrastructure and applications stack to address your evolving business needs. In this episode, Juan and Tim discuss the diverse data landscape and share thoughts on how to navigate and evaluate the myriad offerings.

“I love documentation!!” … said no one. But let’s be honest, what’s worse: having no documentation or having bad/outdated documentation? To make the situation even more awkward, documentation seems to often be nothing more than an afterthought for metadata and data projects. As much as we may dislike creating and maintaining documentation, it is (regrettably, unfortunately, critically) a necessary element that helps others consume data. In this episode Juan and Tim discuss the do’s and don'ts of documentation. They're joined by Will Briggs, a data.world solutions engineer, who shares his tips and tricks to make documentation fun... seriously. We promise. -- As always, you're welcome to join us on Zoom each week as we record the live episode. Visit data.world/resources/webinars/catalog-and-cocktails/ to sign up. Then, stick around for an open conversation with our hosts. Hope to see you there!

Does the very idea of creating and managing new data assets keep you up at night? Do you get goosebumps just thinking about the state of your column headers? Never fear: there’s an effective way to battle your data and metadata demons. Join Tim and Juan for this spooktacular episode on agile data spirits—er, sprints. We’ll share tips on how to create data assets using an agile, iterative, and inclusive approach. Disclaimer: this episode may include gory details of data and metadata management,  unfortunate Halloween puns, and the Corpse of Traditional Data Governance. Listen at your own risk. 

When you think about enterprise data, the data associated directly with your company and its customers probably comes to mind. But what about data acquired from open data portals or third-party brokers?  External data is the fastest growing segment of enterprise data: it often provides the missing bit of crucial context that improves your decision making. But because this type of data doesn’t come from their own internal systems, companies often struggle with data management. In this episode, Tim and Juan are joined by Jeremy Baksht from Ascential to discuss the ins and outs of external data acquisition and how enterprises should prepare for data marketplaces. -- As always, you're welcome to join us on Zoom each week as we record the live episode. Visit data.world/resources/webinars/catalog-and-cocktails/ to sign up. Then, stick around for an open conversation with our hosts. Hope to see you there!

Is your data culture a drag? Turning it around requires you to be bold and take action. Join Tim and Juan as they discuss examples of what you should and shouldn’t do, and how to accelerate the transition to data awesomeness. You'll hear actual examples of good (and bad) data culture along with specific steps you can take to improve your own company's data culture. As always, you're welcome to join us on Zoom each week as we record the live episode. Visit data.world/resources/webinars/catalog-and-cocktails/ to sign up. Then, stick around for an open conversation with our hosts. Hope to see you there!

Since 1848, The Associated Press has been counting and reporting the votes in US elections. But they haven’t always done it the same way. As voter behavior changed over time, AP has continued to evolve their process to provide neutral, third party analysis of our most critical elections. Enterprises have much to learn from how one of the most well known global news agencies has created a data culture that lets them stay agile and keep their approach aligned with the realities of our times. Join Tim, Juan, and veteran election "race caller" Dwayne Desaulniers to hear how it's done.