Explore every episode of the podcast DataFramed
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| #240 Generative AI in the Enterprise with Steve Holden, Senior Vice President and Head of Single-Family Analytics at Fannie Mae | 02 Sep 2024 | 00:39:07 | |
The rapid rise of generative AI is changing how businesses operate, but with this change comes new challenges. How do you navigate the balance between innovation and risk, especially in a regulated industry? As organizations race to adopt AI, it’s crucial to ensure that these technologies are not only transformative but also responsible. What steps can you take to harness AI’s potential while maintaining control and transparency? And how can you build excitement and trust around AI within your organization, ensuring that everyone is ready to embrace this new era? Steve Holden is the Senior Vice President and Head of Single-Family Analytics at Fannie Mae, leading a team of data science professionals, supporting loan underwriting, pricing and acquisition, securitization, loss mitigation, and loan liquidation for the company’s multi-trillion-dollar Single-Family mortgage portfolio. He is also responsible for all Generative AI initiatives across the enterprise. His team provides real-time analytic solutions that guide thousands of daily business decisions necessary to manage this extensive mortgage portfolio. The team comprises experts in econometric models, machine learning, data engineering, data visualization, software engineering, and analytic infrastructure design. Holden previously served as Vice President of Credit Portfolio Management Analytics at Fannie Mae. Before joining Fannie Mae in 1999, he held several analytic leadership roles and worked on economic issues at the Economic Strategy Institute and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the episode Adel and Steve explore opportunities in generative AI, building a GenAI program, use-case prioritization, driving excitement and engagement for an AI-first culture, skills transformation, governance as a competitive advantage, challenges of scaling AI, future trends in AI, and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show:
Join the DataFramed team! New to DataCamp?
| |||
| #239 New Models for Digital Transformation with Alison McCauley Chief Advocacy Officer at Think with AI & Founder of Unblocked Future | 29 Aug 2024 | 00:51:20 | |
The pressure to innovate with AI is immense. There is seemingly a race against the clock for organizations to incorporate AI into their product offering, aside from continual digital transformation. As the speed of AI development accelerates, many organizations struggle to keep up, facing challenges from data readiness to changing traditional business processes. How can businesses ensure that their AI initiatives not only align with strategic goals but also foster real, tangible progress? What steps can leaders take to build AI fluency across their teams and turn potential into actionable outcomes? Alison McCauley is a Best-Selling Author, Keynote Speaker, AI Strategist. She is Chief Advocacy Officer at Think with AI and Founder of Unblocked Future, a consultancy that leads the way in adopting emerging technologies, and has been collaborating with AI pioneers since 2010. With nearly 30 years of experience at the intersection of enterprise and disruptive innovation, Alison specializes in unlocking business value from cutting-edge technologies by focusing on the human aspects of change. She has been recognized as a Top Voice in AI, authored the book Unblocked, is a keynote speaker at global conferences, and her writings have appeared in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and Venture Beat. Additionally, over 90,000 students have taken her LinkedIn course. In the episode, Richie and Alison explore digital transformation and AI’s role in it, strategic alignment and shifting mindsets, AI fluency, challenges in data readiness, organizational resistance fuelled by fear, the role of management in AI transformation, practical steps to avoid AI risks, the long term impact of AI in the future and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show:
New to DataCamp?
| |||
| #230 Scaling Experimentation at American Express with Amit Mondal, VP & Head of Digital Analytics & Experimentation at American Express | 29 Jul 2024 | 00:39:32 | |
One of the best applications of data science is that it allows experimentation within any organization at scale. The ability to test a new checkout feature, the color of a button, and analyze whether that improves customer experiences can be truly magical when done correctly. However, doing this at scale means that the entire organization needs to be bought into the experimentation agenda. So how do you do this and how do you make sure this becomes part of your organization’s culture? Amit Mondal is the VP & Head of Digital Analytics & Experimentation at American Express. Throughout his career Amit has been a financial services leader in digital, analytics/data science and risk management, driving digital strategies and investments, while creating a data driven & experimentation first culture for Amex. Amit currently leads a global team of 200+ Data Scientists, Statisticians, Experimenters, Analysts, and Data experts. In the episode, Adel and Amit explore the importance of experimentation at American Express, key components of experimentation strategies, ownership and coordination in experimentation processes, the pillars that feed into a culture of experimentation, frameworks for building successful experiments, robust experiment design, challenges and trends across industries and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show:
New to DataCamp?
Empower your business with world-class data and AI skills with DataCamp for business | |||
| #141 How Data Science is Transforming the NBA | 12 Jun 2023 | 00:49:08 | |
Historically in elite team sports, there has often been a dynamic between players and their inherent abilities, and the vision of the coach. In many sports, we’ve seen coaching strategies influence the future of how the game is played. As the era of professionalism swept across many elite sports in the 90s, we saw the highest-level sports teams achieve a competitive edge by looking at the data, with sports fans often noticing a difference in the ‘feel’ of the way their team plays. In Basketball specifically, we have recently seen the rise of the 3-pointer, a riskier and much more difficult shot to accurately hit, even for professional players. But what has driven the rise of the 3-pointer? Is it another trend among coaches, or does the answer lie with data-based insights and the analysts producing these insights? Seth Partnow is the Director of North American Sports at StatsBomb, where he previously served as their Director of Basketball Analytics. Prior to joining StatsBomb in 2021, Seth was the Director of Basketball Research for the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team. Seth is also an accomplished Analyst and Author, having worked as an NBA Analyst for The Athletic since 2019 and having published his own book on basketball analytics, The Midrange Theory. Seth’s knowledge and insight bridges the gap between data analytics and elite US sport. In the episode, Seth and Richie look into the intricate dynamics of elite basketball. Seth explores the challenges of attributing individual contributions in a sport where the outcome is significantly influenced by the complex interplay between players. Drawing from his extensive experience in the field, Seth discusses the complexities of analyzing player performance, the nuances of determining why certain players get easier or harder shots, and the difficulty of attributing credit for defensive achievements to individual players. Seth provides a comprehensive overview of the various roles within sports analytics, from data engineers to analysts, and highlights the importance of finding one's niche within these roles, particularly in the context of elite basketball. Seth also shares his personal journey into basketball analytics, offering valuable insights and advice for those interested in pursuing a career in this field, stressing the importance of introspection and understanding the unique lifestyle associated with working for a sports team, while also offering industry-agnostic advice on how to approach analyzing and using data in any context. | |||
| #140 How this Accenture CDO is Navigating the AI Revolution | 05 Jun 2023 | 00:48:24 | |
In the realm of Applied Intelligence, Accenture leads the way in harnessing the power of data and AI to transform industries. From consumer products to life sciences, retail, and aerospace, Accenture's influence is far-reaching. But what drives the organization? How does it navigate the complex landscape of data modernization and transformation? And more importantly, how does it leverage technology not just as an enabler, but as a catalyst for innovation? Tracy Ring leads Accenture’s Applied Intelligence Products Category Group, in this role she has leadership across Consumer and Industrial Products, Automotive, Life Sciences, Retail and Aerospace and Defense. As the CDO and Global Generative AI lead for Life Sciences, she personally anchors the NA Applied Intelligence Life Sciences practice of more than 500 practitioners. Tracy has created solutions for Generative AI, Data led transformation, Artificial Intelligence, Data and Cloud Modernization, Analytics, and the organization and operating model strategies for next-generation adoption and AI fluency. In the episode, Tracy initially clarifies the difference between data modernization and data transformation, highlighting their distinct meanings and why the terms aren’t interchangeable. Tracy also emphasizes the importance of involving business end-users from the outset of data projects as well as advocating for a product-oriented approach to data. The discussion also covers the topic of team diversity and inclusivity. Tracy shares practical advice on how to build diverse teams and create an environment that encourages curiosity and open dialogue. Tracy also shares her perspective on the future of work and the importance of fostering meaningful conversations in the workplace. She advocates for an attitude of infinite curiosity within teams. In the context of life sciences, Tracy highlights the high stakes involved and underscores the need for responsible AI, data sharing, and data privacy. She also points out that the challenges in this field are more similar than dissimilar to those in other industries. Tune in for a wealth of insights from a seasoned leader in the field of Applied Intelligence. | |||
| #139 How Data Scientists Can Thrive in the FMCG Industry | 29 May 2023 | 00:41:33 | |
A lot of the times when we walk into a supermarket, we don't necessarily think about the impact data science had in getting these products on shelves. However, as you’ll learn in today's episode, it's safe to say there's a myriad of applications for data science in the FMCG industry. Whether be that supply chain use-cases that leverage time-series forecasting techniques, to computer vision use-cases for on-shelf optimization—the use-cases are endless here. So how can data scientists and data leaders maximize value in this space? Enter Anastasia Zygmantovich. Anastasia is a Global Data Science Director at Reckitt, which is most known for products like Airwick, Lysol, Detol, and Durex. Throughout the episode, we discuss how data science can be used in the FMCG industry, how data leaders can hire impactful data teams in this space, why FMCG is a great place to work in for data scientists, some awesome use-cases she's worked on, how data scientists can best maximize their value in this space, what generative AI means for organizations, and a lot more. | |||
| #138 Data Science & AI in the Gaming Industry | 22 May 2023 | 00:38:10 | |
When we think about video games like Call of Duty, Fifa, or Fortnite, our minds often turn to creative artists, software developers, designers, and producers. These are the people who make our favorite games a reality. But behind the scenes, data & AI actively shape our experience with our favorite video games. From the quality of video games, the accessibility of maps and worlds, even the go to market, data & AI play an impactul role in making or breaking the success of a video game. Marie de Léséleuc is an accomplished game industry professional with over a decade of experience. Marie started her career as a data analyst, and has since risen through the ranks to a data leader in the gaming industry. She's worked at companies such as Ubisoft, Warner Brothers, and most recently at Eidos, the company most well known for games such as Guardians of the Galaxy and Tomb Raider. Throughout the episode, we discuss how data science can be used in gaming, the unique challenges data teams face in gaming from really low data volumes to massive changes to production schedules and game vision. We also spoke about the difference between "AI" as we know it in data science, and AI in gaming, which informs how NPCs behave in a video game world—and a lot more. | |||
| #137 Navigating Parenthood with Data | 15 May 2023 | 00:45:03 | |
Imagine making parenting choices not just based on instinct and through the lived experiences of others, but instead using data-driven techniques garnered through a career in data and economics. Emily Fair Oster is a Professor of Economics and International and Public Affairs at Brown University. Her work is unique, blending economics, health, and research in new ways. In her books "Expecting Better," "The Family Firm," and "Cribsheet," she's shown how data can help guide us through pregnancy and parenting. In the episode, Emily shows how she used her knowledge of data and economics when she was pregnant, and how this way of thinking can change how we make decisions. We look at the tension between what we feel and what the data tells us when we're making parenting choices, and why many of us lean on personal experiences. Emily tells us why it's important to use quality data when making decisions and how to make sense of all the information out there. Emily talks about the ins and outs of using data to make parenting decisions, discussing the big milestones in a child's life, the role of sleep, and how these can impact a person's future as well as the nuance in applying data-driven decision-making to your parenting. Emily also touches on how having two working parents and traditional gender roles can shape how we parent. Finally, Emily gives some helpful tips on finding and understanding good-quality data. This will help you make better decisions as a parent. Tune in for a thought-provoking look at parenting, data, and economics. | |||
| [DataFramed AI Series #4] Building AI Products with ChatGPT | 11 May 2023 | 00:56:00 | |
Although many have been cognizant of AI’s value in recent months, the further back we look, the more exclusive this group of people becomes. In our latest AI-series episodes of DataFramed, we gain insight from an expert who has been part of the industry for 40 years. Joaquin Marques, Founder and Principal Data Scientist at Kanayma LLC has been working in AI since 1983. With experience at major tech companies like IBM, Verizon, and Oracle, Joaquin's knowledge of AI is vast. Today, he leads an AI consultancy, Kanayma, where he creates innovative AI products. Throughout the episode, Joaquin shares his insights on AI's development over the years, its current state, and future possibilities. Joaquin also shares the exciting projects they've worked on at Kanayma as well as what to consider when building AI products, and how ChatGPT is making chatbots better. Joaquin goes beyond providing insight into the space, encouraging listeners to think about the practical consequences of implementing AI, with Joaquin sharing the finer technical details of many of the solutions he’s helped build. Joaquin also shares many of the thought processes that have helped him move forward when building AI products, providing context on many practical applications of AI, both from his past and the bleeding edge of today. The discussion examines the complexities of artificial intelligence, from the perspective of someone that has been focused on this technology for more than most. Tune in for guidance on how to build AI into your own company's products. | |||
| [DataFramed AI Series #3] GPT and Generative AI for Data Teams | 10 May 2023 | 00:38:34 | |
With the advances in AI products and the explosion of ChatGPT in recent months, it is becoming easier to imagine a world where AI and humans work seamlessly together—revolutionizing how we solve complex problems and transform our daily lives. This is especially the case for data professionals. In this episode of our AI series, we speak to Sarah Schlobohm, Head of AI at Kubrick Group. Dr. Schlobohm leads the training of the next generation of machine learning engineers. With a background in finance and consulting, Sarah has a deep understanding of the intersection between business strategy, data science, and AI. Prior to her work in finance, Sarah became a chartered accountant, where she honed her skills in financial analysis and strategy. Sarah worked for one of the world's largest banks, where she used data science to fight financial crime, making significant contributions to the industry's efforts to combat money laundering and other illicit activities. Sarah shares her extensive knowledge on incorporating AI within data teams for maximum impact, covering a wide array of AI-related topics, including upskilling, productivity, and communication, to help data professionals understand how to integrate generative AI effectively in their daily work. Throughout the episode, Sarah explores the challenges and risks of AI integration, touching on the balance between privacy and utility. She highlights the risks data teams can avoid when using AI products and how to approach using AI products the right way. She also covers how different roles within a data team might make use of generative AI, as well as how it might effect coding ability going forward. Sarah also shares use cases for those in non-data teams, such as marketing, while also highlighting what to consider when using outputs from GPT models. Sarah shares the impact chatbots might have on education calling attention to the power of AI tutors in schools. Sarah encourages people to start using AI now, considering the barrier to entry is so low, and how that might not be the case going forward. From automating mundane tasks to enabling human-AI collaboration that makes work more enjoyable, Sarah underscores the transformative power of AI in shaping the future of humanity. Whether you're an AI enthusiast, data professional, or someoone with an interest in either this episode will provide you with a deeper understanding of the practical aspects of AI implementation. | |||
| [DataFramed AI Series #2] How Organizations can Leverage ChatGPT | 09 May 2023 | 00:46:37 | |
With the advent of any new technology that promises to make humans lives easier, replacing concious actions with automation, there is always backlash. People are often aware of the displacement of jobs, and often, it is viewed in a negative light. But how do we try to change the collective understanding to one of hope and excitement? What use cases can be shared that will change the opinion of those that are weary of AI? Noelle Silver Russell is the Global AI Solutions & Generative AI & LLM Industry Lead at Accenture, responsible for enterprise-scale industry playbooks for generative AI and LLMs. In this episode of our AI series, Noelle discusses how to prioritize ChatGPT use cases by focusing on the different aspects of value creation that GPT models can bring to individuals and organizations. She addresses common misconceptions surrounding ChatGPT and AI in general, emphasizing the importance of understanding their potential benefits and selecting use cases that maximize positive impact, foster innovation, and contribute to job creation. Noelle draws parallels between the fast-moving AI projects today and the launch of Amazon Alexa, which she worked on, and points out that many of the discussions being raised today were also talked about 10 years ago. She discusses how companies can now use AI to focus both on business efficiencies and customer experience, no longer having to settle for a trade-off between the two. Noelle explains the best way for companies to approach adding GPT tools into their processes, which focusses on taking a holistic view to implementation. She also recommends use-cases for companies that are just beginning to use AI, as well as the challenges they might face when deploying models into production, and how they can mitigate them. On the topic of the displacement of jobs, Noelle draws parallels from when Alexa was launched, and how it faced similar criticisms, digging into the fear that people have around new technology, which could be transformed into enthusiasm. Noelle suggests that there is a burden on leadership within organizations to create a culture where people are excited to use AI tools, rather than feeling threatened by them. | |||
| [DataFramed AI Series #1] ChatGPT and the OpenAI Developer Ecosystem | 08 May 2023 | 00:55:03 | |
ChatGPT has leaped into the forefront of our lives—everyone from students to multinational organizations are seeing value in adding a chat interface to an LLM. But OpenAI has been concentrating on this for years, steadily developing one of the most viral digital products this century. In this episode of our AI series, we sit down with Logan Kilpatrick. Logan currently leads developer relations at OpenAI, supporting developers building with DALL-E, the OpenAI API, and ChatGPT. Logan takes us through OpenAI’s products, API, and models, and provides insights into the many use cases of ChatGPT. Logan provides fascinating information on ChatGPT’s plugins and how they can be used to build agents that help us in a variety of contexts. He also discusses the future integration of LLMs into our daily lives and how it will add structure to the unstructured nature and difficult-to-leverage data we generate and interact with on a daily basis. Logan also touches on the powerful image input features in GPT4, how it can help those with partial sight to improve their quality of life, and how it can be used for various other use cases. Throughout the episode, we unpack the need for collaboration and innovation, due to ChatGPT becoming more powerful when integrated with other pieces of software. Covering key discussion points with regard to AI tools currently, in particular, what could be built in-house by OpenAI and what could be built in the public domain. Logan also discusses the ecosystem forming around ChatGPT and how it will all become connected going forward. Finally, Logan shares tips for getting better responses from ChatGPT and the things to consider when integrating it into your organization’s product. This episode provides a deep dive into the world of GPT models from within the eye of the storm, providing valuable insights to those interested in AI and its practical applications in our daily lives. | |||
| Introducing the DataFramed AI Series | 05 May 2023 | 00:02:21 | |
From May 8-11, discover expert insights from four industry leaders from OpenAI, Accenture, Kubrick Group, and Kanayma LLC on how to navigate the era of AI. | |||
| #229 Inside Meta's Biggest and Best Open-Source AI Model Yet with Thomas Scialom, Co-Creator of Llama3 | 25 Jul 2024 | 00:38:46 | |
Meta has been at the absolute edge of the open-source AI ecosystem, and with the recent release of Llama 3.1, they have officially created the largest open-source model to date. So, what's the secret behind the performance gains of Llama 3.1? What will the future of open-source AI look like? Thomas Scialom is a Senior Staff Research Scientist (LLMs) at Meta AI, and is one of the co-creators of the Llama family of models. Prior to joining Meta, Thomas worked as a Teacher, Lecturer, Speaker and Quant Trading Researcher. In the episode, Adel and Thomas explore Llama 405B it’s new features and improved performance, the challenges in training LLMs, best practices for training LLMs, pre and post-training processes, the future of LLMs and AI, open vs closed-sources models, the GenAI landscape, scalability of AI models, current research and future trends and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show:
New to DataCamp?
| |||
| #136 Scaling the Data Culture at Salesforce | 01 May 2023 | 00:40:14 | |
Ten years ago, Salesforce was trying to generate $1Bn of revenue in a quarter. Today, they create over $30Bn of revenue in year. Simultaneously, over the last decade we have seen huge advances in the world of data and data science. In this episode, Laura Gent Felker, Director of Data Insights and Scalability at Salesforce, talks about her experience in building and leading data teams within the organization over the last ten years. Laura shares her insights on how to create a learning culture within a team, how to prioritize projects while accounting for long-term strategy, and the importance of setting aside time for innovation. Laura also discusses how to ensure that the projects the team works on genuinely provide business value. She suggests creating a two-way street with executive leadership and understanding the collective value across a variety of stakeholders also citing that some of the best innovation she has seen come from her team is when they have had to solve high-priority short-term business problems. In addition, Laura shares a multi-layered approach to building a learning community within a data team. She explains that a culture of collaboration and trust is important in the direct data team, and the wider community within organizations. Laura also talks about the frameworks and mental models that can help develop business acumen. She highlights the importance of dedicating time to this area and being able to communicate insights effectively. Throughout the episode, Laura's insights provide valuable guidance for both junior and experienced data professionals, consumers and leaders in creating a learning culture, prioritizing projects, and building a strong data community within organizations. | |||
| #135 Building the Case for Data Literacy | 24 Apr 2023 | 00:38:38 | |
Data literacy is becoming increasingly recognized as a valuable skill in today's workforce. We all interact with data on a daily basis, and organizations are now realizing the tremendous benefits of having a workforce that is well-versed in data, from interacting with dashboards to data analysis and data science. But, it all starts with data literacy. In this episode, we speak with Valerie Logan, CEO and Founder of The Data Lodge. Valerie is committed to data literacy, she believes that in today's digital society, data literacy is a life skill. With advisory services, bootcamps, a resource library and community services at The Data Lodge, Valerie is certifying the world’s first Data Literacy Program Leads and pioneering the path forward in cracking the data culture code. Valerie is also known for helping popularize the term "Data Literacy." In this episode, she shares insights on what a successful data literacy journey looks like, best practices for evangelizing data literacy programs, how to avoid siloed efforts between departments and much more. Valerie sheds light on the difficulties organizations face when trying to prioritize data literacy and data culture. She suggests that this is because humans are still at the center of organizations, and changing their behaviour is a challenge. She also talks about what data literacy means, and how the definition adapts to use cases. Valerie offers guidance on how to secure executive buy-in for data upskilling programs, explaining that finding a sponsor for the program is the first step. She also talks about the importance of extending buy-in to people who are less directly involved with data and upskilling, emphasizing how the program will help strategic objectives. Valerie also provides insights on the hallmarks of an effective pilot program for data literacy, suggesting that organizations go where there's already interest and that a good pilot is one where before and after effects can be measured. She also shares tips on how organizations can ensure that their data literacy program helps them achieve their strategic business goals. Throughout the episode, Valerie outlines the benefit and scope data literacy can have on an organization, with one of the most pertinent pieces of wisdom being a warning to organisations that risk ignoring upskilling and investing in data. Links mentioned in the show:
| |||
| #134 Building Great Machine Learning Products at Opendoor | 17 Apr 2023 | 00:39:48 | |
Building machine learning systems with high predictive accuracy is inherently hard, and embedding these systems into great product experiences is doubly so. To build truly great machine learning products that reach millions of users, organizations need to marry great data science expertise, with strong attention to user experience, design thinking, and a deep consideration for the impacts of your prediction on users and stakeholders. So how do you do that? Today’s guest is Sam Stone, Director of Product Management, Pricing & Data at Opendoor, a real-estate technology company that leverages machine learning to streamline the home buying and selling process. Sam played an integral part in developing AI/ML products related to home pricing including the Opendoor Valuation Model (OVM), market liquidity forecasting, portfolio optimization, and resale decision tooling. Prior to Opendoor, he was a co-founder and product manager at Ansaro, a SaaS startup using data science and machine learning to help companies improve hiring decisions. Sam holds degrees in Math and International Relations from Stanford and an MBA from Harvard. Throughout the episode, we spoke about his principles for great ML product design, how to think about data collection for these types of products, how to package outputs from a model within a slick user interface, what interpretability means in the eyes of customers, how to be proactive about monitoring failure points, and much more. | |||
| #133 Building a Safer Internet with Data Science | 10 Apr 2023 | 00:43:03 | |
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. It plays a vital role in ensuring TV, radio and telecoms work as they should. With vast swathes of information from a wide range of sources, data plays a huge role in the way Ofcom operates - in this episode, we learn the key drivers of Ofcom’s data strategy. Richard Davis is the Chief Data Officer at Ofcom, responsible for enabling data and analytics capabilities across the organisation. Prior to Ofcom, Richard worked as a Quantitative Analyst as well as being the former Head of Analytics and Innovation at LLoyds Bank, proving he has a wealth of experience across a variety of data roles. After joining Ofcom in 2022, Richard describes his experience of joining Ofcom, his ambition to bring in new processes, and how he leverages the community of data professionals. Richard also shares his advice for a new data leader, which includes understanding the pain points of the team, making insights more efficient, and keeping data teams aligned with the business's needs. He also elaborates on the key components of the data strategy at Ofcom, including aligning to good data, good people, and good decisions. Also discussed is the importance of cultural change in an organization and how to upskill data experts and train non-data specialists in data literacy, the difference between technical experts and people managers, and how organizations can enable people to grow to become technical leaders. Finally, Richard emphasizes the importance of evidence-based regulation, and how data literacy supports effective output. Richard provides excellent insight into the world of regulatory data, the challenges faced by Ofcom, and the solutions they can implement to overcome them. | |||
| #132 The Past, Present, and Future, of the Data Science Notebook | 03 Apr 2023 | 00:42:00 | |
The concept of literate programming, or the idea of programming in a document, was first introduced in 1984 by Donald Knuth. And as of today, notebooks are now the defacto tool for doing data science work. So as the data tooling space continues to evolve at breakneck speed, what are the possible directions the data science notebook can take? In this episode of DataFramed, we talk with Dr. Jodie Burchell, Data Science Developer Advocate at JetBrains, to find out how data science notebooks evolved into what they are today, what her predictions are for the future of notebooks and data science, and how generative AI will impact data teams going forward. Jodie completed a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and a postdoc in biostatistics before transitioning into data science. She has since worked for 7 years as a data scientist, developing products ranging from recommendation systems to audience profiling. She is also a prolific content creator in the data science community. Throughout the episode, Jodie discusses the evolution of data science notebooks over the last few years, noting how the move to remote-based notebooks has allowed for the seamless development of more complex models straight from the notebook environment. Jodie and Adel’s conversation also covers tooling challenges that have led to modern IDEs and notebooks, with Jodie highlighting the importance of good database tooling and visibility. She shares how data science notebooks have evolved to help democratize data for the wider organization, the tradeoffs between engineering-led approaches to tooling compared to data science approaches, what generative AI means for the data profession, her predictions for data science, and more. Tune in to this episode to learn more about the evolution of data science notebooks and the challenges and opportunities facing the data science community today. Links to mentioned in the show:
More on the topic:
| |||
| [Radar Recap] Unleashing the Power of Data Teams in 2023 | 30 Mar 2023 | 00:44:21 | |
In 2023, businesses are relying more heavily on data science and analytics teams than ever before. However, simply having a team of talented individuals is not enough to guarantee success. In the last of our RADAR 2023 sessions, Vijay Yadav and Vanessa Gonzalez will outline the keys to building high-impact data teams in 2023. They will discuss what are the hallmarks of a high-performing data team, the importance of diversity of background and skillset needed to build impactful data teams, setting up career pathways for data scientists, and more. Vijay Yadav is a highly respected data and analytics thought leader with over 20 years of experience in data product development, data engineering, and advanced analytics. As Director of Quantitative Sciences - Digital, Data, and Analytics at Merck, he leads data & analytics teams in creating AI/ML-driven data products to drive digital transformation. Vijay has held numerous leadership positions at various companies and is known for his ability to lead global teams to achieve high-impact results. Vanessa Gonzalez is the Sr. Director of Data Science and Innovation at Businessolver where she leads the Computational Linguistics, Machine Learning Engineering, Data Science, BI Analytics, and BI Engineering teams. She is experienced in leading data transformations, performing analytical and management functions that contribute to the goals and growth objectives of organizations and divisions. Listen in as Vanessa and Vijay share how to enable data teams to flourish in an ever-evolving data landscape. | |||
| [Radar Recap] Building an Enterprise Data Strategy that Puts People First | 29 Mar 2023 | 00:40:38 | |
An effective data strategy is one that combines a variety of levers such as infrastructure, tools, organization, processes, and more. Arguably however, the most important aspect of a vibrant data strategy is culture and people. In the third of our four RADAR 2023 sessions, Cindi Howson and Valerie Logan discuss how data leaders can create a data strategy that puts their people at the center. Learn key insights into how to drive effective change management for data culture, how to drive adoption of data within the organization, common pitfalls when executing on a data strategy, and more. Cindi Howson is the Chief Data Strategy Officer at ThoughtSpot and host of The Data Chief podcast. Cindi is an analytics and BI thought leader and expert with a flair for bridging business needs with technology. As Chief Data Strategy Officer at ThoughtSpot, she advises top clients on data strategy and best practices to become data-driven, speaks internationally on top trends such as AI ethics, and influences ThoughtSpot’s product strategy. Valerie Logan is the Founder and CEO of The Data Lodge. Valerie is committed to data literacy, she believes that in today's digital society, data literacy is a life skill. With advisory services, bootcamps, a resource library and community services at The Data Lodge, Valerie is certifying the world’s first Data Literacy Program Leads and pioneering the path forward in cracking the data culture code. In 2018, she was awarded Gartner’s Top Thought Leadership Award for her leadership in the area of Data Literacy. Listen in as Cindi and Valerie share how to build a data strategy that puts people first in an enterprise organization. | |||
| [Radar Recap] Navigating the Future with Data Literacy: How Organizations Can Thrive in 2023 & Beyond | 28 Mar 2023 | 00:46:52 | |
As organizations and the economy at large look to weather the challenges of 2023, data literacy is one of the keys to empowering organizations to navigate the decade's most significant challenges with confidence. In the second of our four RADAR 2023 sessions, Jordan Morrow shares how to navigate the future with data literacy, and how organizations can thrive as data becomes ever more prominent. Jordan is known as the "Godfather of Data Literacy", having helped pioneer the field by building one of the world's first data literacy programs and driving thought leadership on the subject. Jordan is Vice President and Head of Data And Analytics at BrainStorm, Inc., and a global trailblazer in the world of data literacy, building the world's first full scale data literacy program. He served as the Chair of the Advisory Board for The Data Literacy Project, has spoken at numerous conferences around the world and is an active voice in the data and analytics community. He has also helped companies and organizations around the world, including the United Nations, build and understand data literacy. Listen in as Jordan outlines how and why data literacy can help build individual and organizational resilience, how to scale data literacy within your organization, and more. | |||
| [Radar Recap] Value Creation with the Modern Data Stack | 27 Mar 2023 | 00:44:24 | |
As organizations of all sizes continuously look to drive value out of data, the modern data stack has emerged as a clear solution for getting insights into the hands of the organization. With the rapid pace of innovation not slowing down, the tools within the modern data stack have enabled data teams to drive faster insights, collaborate at scale, and democratize data knowledge. However, are tools just enough to drive business value with data? In the first of our four RADAR 2023 sessions, we look at the key drivers of value within the modern data stack through the minds of Yali Sassoon and Barr Moses. Yali Sassoon is the Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Snowplow Analytics, a behavioral data platform that empowers data teams to solve complex data challenges. At Snowplow, Yali gets to combine his love of building things with his fascination of the ways in which people use data to reason. Barr Moses is CEO & Co-Founder of Monte Carlo. Previously, she was VP Customer Operations at customer success company Gainsight, where she helped scale the company 10x in revenue and, among other functions, built the data/analytics team. Listen in as Yali and Barr outline how data leaders can drive value creation with data in 2023. | |||
| #131 How the Aviation Industry Leverages Data Science | 20 Mar 2023 | 00:35:16 | |
Data leaders play a critical role in driving innovation and growth in various industries, and this is particularly true in highly regulated industries such as aviation. In such industries, data leaders face unique challenges and opportunities, working to balance the need for innovation with strict regulatory requirements. This week’s guest is Derek Cedillo, who has 27 years of experience working in Data and Analytics at GE Aerospace. Derek currently works as a Senior Manager for GE Aerospace’s Remote Monitoring and Diagnostics division, having previously worked as the Senior Director for Data Science and Analytics. In the episode, Derek shares the key components to successfully managing a Data Science program within a large and highly regulated organization. He also shares his insights on how to standardize data science planning across various projects and how to get a Data Scientists to think and work in an agile manner. We hear about ideal data team structures, how to approach hiring, and what skills to look for in new hires. The conversation also touches on what responsibility Data Leaders have within organizations, championing data-driven decisions and strategy, as well as the complexity Data Leaders face in highly regulated industries. When it comes to solving problems that provide value for the business, engagement and transparency are key aspects. Derek shares how to ensure that expectations are met through clear and frank conversations with executives that try to align expectations between management and Data Science teams. Finally, you'll learn about validation frameworks, best practices for teams in less regulated industries, what trends to look out for in 2023 and how ChatGPT is changing how executives define their expectations from Data Science teams. Links to mentioned in the show: The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande Team of Teams by General Stanley McChrystal The Harvard Data Science Review Podcast Relevant Links from DataCamp: Article: Storytelling for More Impactful Data Science | |||
| #228 Are Spreadsheets Still Relevant For Data Analysis? with Jordan Goldmeier, Author of Data Smart | 22 Jul 2024 | 00:34:44 | |
Excel often gets unfair criticism from data practitioners, many of us will remember a time when Excel was looked down upon—why would anyone use Excel when we have powerful tools like Python, R, SQL, or BI tools? However, like it or not, Excel is here to stay, and there’s a meme, bordering on reality, that Excel is carrying a large chunk of the world’s GDP. But when it really comes down to it, can you do data science in Excel? Jordan Goldmeier is an entrepreneur, a consultant, a best-selling author of four books on data, and a digital nomad. He started his career as a data scientist in the defense industry for Booz Allen Hamilton and The Perduco Group, before moving into consultancy with EY, and then teaching people how to use data at Excel TV, Wake Forest University, and now Anarchy Data. He also has a newsletter called The Money Making Machine, and he's on a mission to create 100 entrepreneurs. In the episode, Adel and Jordan explore excel in data science, excel’s popularity, use cases for Excel in data science, the impact of GenAI on Excel, Power Query and data transformation, advanced Excel features, Excel for prototyping and generating buy-in, the limitations of Excel and what other tools might emerge in its place, and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show:
New to DataCamp?
| |||
| #130 The Path to Becoming a Kaggle Grandmaster | 13 Mar 2023 | 00:49:36 | |
Oftentimes, Kaggle competitions are looked at as an excellent way for data scientists to sharpen their machine learning skills and become technically excellent. This begs the question, what are the hallmarks of high-performing Kaggle competitors? What makes a Kaggle Grand Master? Today’s guest, Jean-Francois Puget PhD, distinguished engineer at NVIDIA, has achieved this impressive feat three times. Throughout the episode, Richie and Jean-Francois discuss his background and how he became a Kaggle Grandmaster. He shares his scientific approach to machine learning and how he uses this to consistently achieve high results in Kaggle competitions. Jean-Francois also discusses how NVIDIA employs nine Kaggle Grandmasters and how they use Kaggle experiments to breed innovation in solving their machine learning challenges. He expands on the toolkit he employs in solving Kaggle competitions, and how he has achieved 50X improvements in efficiencies using tools like RAPIDS. Richie and Jean-Francois also delve into the difference between competitive data science on Kaggle and machine learning work in a real-world setting. They deep dive into the challenges of real-world machine learning, and how to resolve the ambiguities of using machine learning in production that data scientists don’t encounter in Kaggle competitions. | |||
| #129 Increasing Diverse Representation in Data Science | 06 Mar 2023 | 00:34:49 | |
Studies have shown that companies lacking in racial diversity also have a corresponding lack in their ability to innovate as a whole, which makes it important for any organization to prioritize an inclusive workplace culture and welcome more women and underrepresented groups in data. This is why Nikiska Alcindor's work is so vital to the future of the data science industry. Nikisha is the President and Founder of the STEM Educational Institute (SEI), a nonprofit corporation that equips underrepresented high school students with the technological skills needed to build generational wealth and be effective in the workforce. Nikisha is a strategic management leader with expertise in organizational change, investing, and fundraising. She is a recipient of the 2021 Dean Huss Teaching Award, a board member of the Upper Manhatten Empowerment Zone, and has taught a master class at Columbia Business School as well as several guest lectures at Columbia University. Throughout the episode, we discuss SEI’s three-pillar approach to education, the rising importance of STEM-based careers, why financial literacy is crucial to a student’s success, SEI’s partnership with DataCamp, contextualizing educational and upskilling programs to your organization’s specific population, how data leaders can positively communicate upskilling initiatives, and much more. | |||
| #128 Unlocking Scalable ROI for Data Teams | 27 Feb 2023 | 00:43:54 | |
In order for any data team to move from reactive to proactive and drive revenue for the business, they must make sure the basics are in place and that the team and data culture is mature enough to allow for scalable return on investment. Without these elements, data teams find themselves unable to make meaningful progress because they are stuck reacting to problems and responding to rudimentary questions from stakeholders across the organization. This quickly takes up bandwidth and keeps them from achieving meaningful ROI. In today’s episode, we have invited Shane Murray to break down how to effectively structure a data team, how data leaders can lead efficient decentralization, and how teams can scale their ROI in 2023. Shane is the Field CTO at Monte Carlo, a data reliability company that created the industry's first end-to-end Data Observability platform. Shane’s career has taken him through a successful 9-year tenure at The New York Times, where he grew the data analytics team from 12 to 150 people and managed all core data products. Shane is an expert when it comes to data observability, enabling effective ROI for data initiatives, scaling high-impact data teams, and more. Throughout the episode we discuss how to structure a data team for maximum efficiency, how data leaders can balance long-term and short-term data initiatives, how data maturity correlates to a team’s forward-thinking ability, data democratization with data insights and reporting ROI, best practices for change management, and much more. | |||
| #127 How Data Scientists Can Thrive in Consulting | 20 Feb 2023 | 00:42:04 | |
The most common application for data science is to solve problems within your own organization, and as professionals become more data literate, they rely less and less on others to solve their problems and unlock professional growth and career advancement. But in the world of consulting, data science is used to solve other people’s problems, which adds an additional layer of complexity since consultants aren’t always given all of the tools they need to do the job right. Enter Pratik Agrawal, a Partner at Kearney Analytics leading the automotive and industrial transportation sector. In this episode, we are taking a look at how data science is applied in the consulting industry and what skills are critical to be a successful data science consultant. As a software engineer and data scientist with over a decade of experience in the consulting world at companies like Boston Consulting Group and IRI, Pratik has a deep understanding of how to navigate the industry and how data science can be leveraged in it, as well as expertise in digital transformation projects and strategy. Throughout the episode, we discuss common problems that consultants encounter, the skills needed to be successful as a consultant, the different approaches to analytics in consulting versus in an organization, how to handle context switching when juggling multiple projects, what makes consulting feel exciting and challenging, and much more. | |||
| #126 Make Your A/B Testing More Effective and Efficient | 13 Feb 2023 | 00:50:16 | |
One of the toughest parts of any data project is experimentation, not just because you need to choose the right testing method to confirm the project’s effectiveness, but because you also need to make sure you are testing the right hypothesis and measuring the right KPIs to ensure you receive accurate results. One of the most effective methods for data experimentation is A/B testing, and Anjali Mehra, Senior Director of Product Analytics, Data Science, Experimentation, and Instrumentation at DocuSign, is no stranger to how A/B testing can impact multiple parts of any organization. Throughout her career, she has also worked in marketing analytics and customer analytics at companies like Shutterfly, Wayfair, and Constant Contact. Throughout the episode, we discuss DocuSign’s analytics goals, how A/B testing works, how to gamify data experimentation, how A/B testing helps with new initiative validation, examples of A/B testing with data projects, how organizations can get started with data experimentation, and much more. | |||
| #125 Building Trust in Data with Data Governance | 06 Feb 2023 | 00:40:43 | |
Perhaps the biggest obstacle to establishing a data culture is building trust in the data itself, making it vital for organizations to have a robust approach to data governance to ensure data quality is as high as possible. Enter Laurent Dresse, Data Governance Evangelist and Director of Professional Services at DataGalaxy. Throughout his career, Laurent has served as a bridge between IT and the rest of the business as an expert in data governance, quality, data management, and more. Throughout the episode, we discuss the state of data governance today, how data leaders and organizations can start their data governance journey, how to evangelize for data governance and gain buy-in across your organization, data governance tooling, and much more. | |||
| Special Announcement! | 03 Feb 2023 | 00:01:56 | |
A special announcement from the DataFramed team. Join us for RADAR, a free two-day digital event curated to equip businesses and individuals with the insights to thrive in the era data, coming to you March 22-23, 2023! Register here to secure your spot! | |||
| #124 Using AI to Improve Data Quality in Healthcare | 30 Jan 2023 | 00:40:44 | |
Data quality can make or break any data initiative or product. If you aren’t able to collect data that is accurate, or you have data sets that have varying structures, or are filled with typos and other issues caused by human error, then the chances drop drastically that your data models will be accurate, or even helpful. When it comes to healthcare, data quality can be an absolute nightmare. With so many different data sources, high data churn rates, and a lack of standardization in many different healthcare categories, it can seem impossible to make quality healthcare more easily accessible to people when they need it. Ribbon Health seeks to change that by using AI to improve the quality of healthcare data and create a data platform with actionable provider information including insurance coverage, prices, and performance. Today’s guests are Nate Fox, the CTO, Co-Founder, and President of Ribbon Health, and Sunna Jo, a former pediatrician who is now a data scientist at Ribbon Health. Throughout the episode, we talk about why data quality in healthcare is messy, why having context around data is necessary to interpret and utilize it properly, how healthcare providers are improving their services because of platforms like Ribbon Health, how to tackle common data cleaning problems, and much more | |||
| #123 Why We Need More Data Empathy | 23 Jan 2023 | 00:44:13 | |
When working with data, it’s easy for us to think about it as a mechanistic process, where data comes in and products come out. But as we’ve explored throughout the show, succeeding in data, whether you’re a data leader looking to build a data culture, a data scientist ascending the ranks, or even a policy maker looking to have an impact with data, the human side is crucial. At the heart of the “human side” is empathy— whether it’s for your stakeholders if you’re a data scientist developing a dashboard for them, empathy for your workforce if you’re a data or learning leader, or empathy for the planet and your citizens if you’re a policy maker. So how can we all practice better empathy? Specifically, can we all practice better data empathy? Luckily, empathy is a muscle that can be built. It’s not a “you have it, or you don’t” type of skill. So how can individuals and organizations utilize data empathy to improve how they work with data and the success rate of their projects? Enter Phil Harvey, an Industrial Metaverse Architect in the Industrial Metaverse Core group at Microsoft. He is an expert in Data & AI Technical and Business Strategy & Philosophy. Harvey is also co-author of the book Data: A Guide to Humans, which explores the concept of Data Empathy, and how it can power better use of data through better communication and understanding of stakeholders in the value chain of data. | |||
| #122 How Organizations Can Bridge the Data Literacy Gap | 16 Jan 2023 | 00:42:57 | |
Something we talk about alot on DataFramed is the importance of data literacy and data skills — and how they help both individuals and organizations succeed with data. Oftentimes, when organizations engage in upskilling programs on data literacy, one of the common pushbacks people have is, “I am not a numbers person”. So how do you move past that? How can leaders help their people bridge the data literacy gap, and in turn create a data culture? That’s where Dr. Selena Fisk comes in. Fisk is a data storyteller, coach, and thought leader in the data industry. She works in both the corporate sector and in education to develop data-led strategies that can help organizations grow. Fisk mainly specializes in the areas of data literacy, data visualization, and data storytelling, and is the author of three books, “Using and Analysing Data in Australian Schools,” “Leading Data-Informed Change in Schools,” and “I’m Not a Numbers Person: How to Make Good Decisions in a Data-Rich World.” Throughout our conversation, we discuss the difference between being data-informed and data-driven, the different levels of data literacy, why change management is crucial to the success of any data literacy program, how to democratize data skills, how to approach data upskilling as a leader, and much more. | |||
| #227 DataFramed x Analytics On Fire: Riding the AI Hype Cycle with Mico Yuk, Co-Founder at Data Storytelling Academy | 18 Jul 2024 | 00:57:01 | |
This special episode of DataFramed was made in collaboration with Analytics on Fire! Nowadays, the hype around generative AI is only the tip of the iceberg. There are so many ideas being touted as the next big thing that it’s difficult to keep up. More importantly, it’s challenging to discern which ideas will become the next ChatGPT and which will end up like the next NFT. How do we cut through the noise? Mico Yuk is the Community Manager at Acryl Data and Co-Founder at Data Storytelling Academy. Mico is also an SAP Mentor Alumni, and the Founder of the popular weblog, Everything Xcelsius and the 'Xcelsius Gurus’ Network. She was named one of the Top 50 Analytics Bloggers to follow, as-well-as a high-regarded BI influencer and sought after global keynote speaker in the Analytics ecosystem. In the episode, Richie and Mico explore AI and productivity at work, the future of work and AI, GenAI and data roles, AI for training and learning, training at scale, decision intelligence, soft skills for data professionals, genAI hype and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show:
New to DataCamp?
| |||
| #121 ChatGPT and How Generative AI is Augmenting Workflows | 12 Jan 2023 | 00:48:22 | |
Throughout 2022, there was an explosion in generative AI for images and text. GPT-3, DALLE-2, pointed us towards an AI-driven future. Recently, ChatGPT has taken the (data) world by storm — prompting many questions over how generative AI can be used in day to day activities. With the incredible amount of hype surrounding these new tools, we wanted to have a discussion grounded in how these tools are being operationalized today. Enter Scott Downes. Scott is the CTO of Invisible Technologies, a process automation platform that uses GPT-3 and other generative text technologies. Scott joins the show to talk about how organizations and data professionals can maximize the potential of these tools and how AI and humans can work together in a complementary fashion to optimize workflows, reduce time-intensive, tedious tasks, and do higher quality work. Scott has a decade of experience in technology, product engineering, and technical leadership, making a veteran in training and mentoring employees across the organization, whether their roles are more creative or more technical. Throughout the conversation, we talk about what Invisible Technologies uses GPT-3 to optimize workflows, a brief overview of GPT-3 and its use cases for working with text, how GPT-3 helps companies scale their operations, the promises of tools ChatGPT, how AI analysis and human review can work together to save lives, and much more. | |||
| #120 Data Trends & Predictions for 2023 | 09 Jan 2023 | 00:39:05 | |
In 2022, we saw significant developments in the field of data. From the emergence of generative AI to the growth of low-code data tools and AI assistants—these advancements signal an upcoming paradigm shift, where data-powered tools and machine learning systems will radically transform workflows across various professions. 2022 also saw digital transformation remain a major theme for organizations across industries as they sought to embrace new ways of working, reaching customers, and providing value. As 2023’s looming economic uncertainty puts pressure on organizations to maximize ROI from their investments, digital and data transformation will continue to be one of the key levers by which organizations can cut costs and scale value for their stakeholders. So we’ve invited DataCamp’s co-founders, CEO Jonathan Cornelissen and COO Martijn Theuwissen to break down the top data trends they are seeing in the data space today, as well as their predictions for the future of the data industry. Jonathan Cornelissen is the CEO and co-founder of DataCamp. As the CEO of DataCamp, he helped grow DataCamp to upskill over 10M+ learners and 2800+ teams and enterprise clients. He is interested in everything related to data science, education and entrepreneurship. He holds a PhD in financial econometrics, and was the original author of an R package for quantitative finance. Martijn Theuwissen is the COO and co-founder of DataCamp. As the COO of DataCamp, he helps DataCamp’s enterprise clients on their data and digital transformation strategies, enabling them to make the most of DataCamp for Business’s offering, and helping them transform how their workforce uses data. | |||
| #119 Data-Driven Thinking for the Everyday Life | 31 Dec 2022 | 00:55:45 | |
Just as data is used to help businesses determine new directions, set new goals, and measure progress, data can be used in everyday life to help people do the same as they seek to improve themselves. As the new year arrives, many people are thinking about new goals and new ways to improve their lives, so we have invited Gary Wolf to the show to explore how you can use data-driven thinking to drive meaningful changes in yourself. Gary Wolf is the Co-Founder of The Quantified Self, an international community of makers and users of self-tracking tools. Prior to co-founding The Quantified Self, Wolf was a contributing editor for Wired Magazine, where he spent two decades covering the intersection of technology and culture, and his cover story in the New York Times is what introduced the general public to self-tracking as an emerging trend. In this episode, we talk about what The Quantified Self is, why self-tracking projects can be life-changing, how to get started with self-tracking, how to connect with others in the self-tracking community, and much more. | |||
| #118 How Power BI Empowers Collaboration | 19 Dec 2022 | 00:38:53 | |
In programming, collaboration and experimentation can be very stressful, since sharing code and making it visible to others can be tedious, time-consuming, and nerve-wracking.Tools like Power BI are changing that entirely, by opening up new ways to collaborate between team members, add layers of customized and complex security to the data teams are working with, and making data much more accessible across organizations. Ginger Grant joins the show to talk about how organizations can utilize Power BI, Dax, and M to their fullest potential and create new opportunities for experimentation, innovation, and collaboration. Ginger is the Principal Consultant at the Desert Isle Group, working as an expert in advanced analytic solutions, including machine learning, data warehousing, ETL, reporting and cube development, Power BI, Excel Automation, Data Visualization and training. In addition to her consultant work, she is also a blogger at and global keynote speaker on developments and trends in data. Microsoft has also recognized her technical contributions by awarding her a MVP in Data Platform. In this episode, we talk about what Power BI is, the common mistakes organizations make when implementing Power BI, advanced use cases, and much more. | |||
| #117 Successful Data & Analytics in the Insurance Industry | 12 Dec 2022 | 00:47:16 | |
The insurance industry thrives on data from utilizing data and analytics to determine policy rates for customers to working with relevant partners in the industry to improve their products and services, data is embedded in everything that insurance companies do. But insurance companies also have a number of hurdles to overcome, whether it’s transitioning legacy data into new processes and technology, balancing new projects and models with ever-changing regulatory standards, and balancing the ethical considerations of how to best utilize data without resulting in unintended consequences for the end user. That’s why we’ve brought Rob Reynolds onto the show. Rob is the VP and Chief Data & Analytics Officer at W. R. Berkley, a multinational insurance holding company specializing in property and casualty insurance. Rob brings over two decades of experience in Data Science, IT, and technology leadership, with a particular expertise in building departments and establishing highly functioning teams, especially in highly dynamic environments. In this episode, we talk in-depth about how insurance companies utilize data, the most important skills for anyone looking for data science jobs in the insurance industry, why the need for thoughtful criticism is growing in data science, and how an expertise in communication will put you ahead of the pack. | |||
| #116 Value Creation Within the Modern Data Stack | 05 Dec 2022 | 00:48:18 | |
With the increasing rate at which new data tools and platforms are being created, the modern data stack risks becoming just another buzzword data leaders use when talking about how they solve problems. Alongside the arrival of new data tools is the need for leaders to see beyond just the modern data stack and think deeply about how their data work can align with business outcomes, otherwise, they risk falling behind trying to create value from innovative, but irrelevant technology. In this episode, Yali Sassoon joins the show to explore what the modern data stack really means, how to rethink the modern data stack in terms of value creation, data collection versus data creation, and the right way businesses should approach data ingestion, and much more. Yali is the Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Snowplow Analytics, a behavioral data platform that empowers data teams to solve complex data challenges. Yali is an expert in data with a background in both strategy and operations consulting teaching companies how to use data properly to evolve their operations and improve their results. | |||
| #115 Inside the Generative AI Revolution | 28 Nov 2022 | 00:32:37 | |
2022 was an incredible year for Generative AI. From text generation models like GPT-3 to the rising popularity of AI image generation tools, generative AI has rapidly evolved over the last few years in both its popularity and its use cases. Martin Musiol joins the show this week to explore the business use cases of generative AI, and how it will continue to impact the way the society interacts with data. Martin is a Data Science Manager at IBM, as well as Co-Founder and an instructor at Generative AI, teaching people to develop their own AI that generates images, videos, music, text and other data. Martin has also been a keynote speaker at various events, such as Codemotion Milan. Having discovered his passion for AI in 2012, Martin has turned that passion into his expertise, becoming a thought leader in AI and machine learning space. In this episode, we talk about the state of generative AI today, privacy and intellectual property concerns, the strongest use cases for generative AI, what the future holds, and much more. | |||
| #114 How Chelsea FC Uses Analytics to Drive Matchday Success | 21 Nov 2022 | 00:46:49 | |
Data Analytics has played a major role in Chelsea’s journey to becoming the seventh most valuable football club in the world, Chelsea has won six league titles, eight FA Cups, five League Cups, and two Champions League titles. Today, we are going behind the scenes at Chelsea FC to see how they use data analytics to analyze matches, inform tactical decision-making, and drive matchday success in one of the world’s top football leagues, just in time for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar! Federico Bettuzzi is a Data Scientist at Chelsea FC. As a specialist in match analytics, Federico works with Chelsea’s first team to inform tactical decision making during matches. Federico joins the show to break down how he gathers and synthesizes data, how they develop match analyses for tactical reviews, how managers prioritize data analytics differently, how to balance long-term and short-term projects, and much more. | |||
| #113 Successful Frameworks for Scaling Data Maturity | 14 Nov 2022 | 00:44:17 | |
To become a data-driven organization, it takes a major shift in mindset and culture, investments in technology and infrastructure, skills transformation, and clearly evangelizing the usefulness of using data to drive better decision-making. With all of these levers to scale, many organizations get stuck early in their data transformation journey, not knowing what to prioritize and how. In this episode, Ganes Kesari joins the show to share the frameworks and processes that organizations can follow to become data-driven, measure their data maturity, and win stakeholder support across the organization. Ganes is Co-Founder and Chief Decision Scientist at Gramener, which helps companies make data-driven decisions through powerful data stories and analytics. He is an expert in data, analytics, organizational strategy, and hands-on execution. Throughout his 20-year career, Ganes has become an internationally-renowned speaker and has been published in Forbes, Entrepreneur, and has become a thought leader in Data Science. Throughout the episode, we talk about how organizations can scale their data maturity, how to build an effective data science roadmap, how to successfully navigate the skills and people components of data maturity, and much more. | |||
| #112 Data Journalism in the Age of COVID-19 | 07 Nov 2022 | 00:35:27 | |
During Data Literacy Month, we shared how data journalists curate and distill data stories to the wider public. Since 2020, Data Journalism has risen both in significance and visibility. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, data journalists have been instrumental in keeping the public informed by investigating, challenging, interpreting, and explaining complex datasets. In this episode, Betsy Ladyzhets joins the show to talk about the state of Data Journalism today, and shares from her experience as a data journalist Betsy is an independent science, health, and data journalist focused on COVID-19 and Founder of the COVID-19 Data Dispatch, an independent publication providing updates and resources on public COVID-19 data. She is also currently working as a Senior Journalism Fellow with the Documenting COVID-19 project at the Brown Institute for Media Innovation and MuckRock. Her work has been featured in Science News, FiveThirtyEight, MIT Tech Review, and the Covid Tracking Project. Throughout the show, we discuss the importance of letting data shape a narrative, what characteristics of traditional journalism are needed for data journalists, the best practices for delivering effective data stories, how the rise of AI and data visualization are impacting data journalism, and much more. Links shared during the episode: Learning on DataCamp? Take part in this week’s XP-challenge: http://www.datacamp.com/promo/free-week-xp-challenge-2022 | |||
| #226 Creating Custom LLMs with Vincent Granville, Founder, CEO & Chief Al Scientist at GenAltechLab.com | 15 Jul 2024 | 00:52:11 | |
Despite GPT, Claude, Gemini, LLama and the other host of LLMs that we have access to, a variety of organizations are still exploring their options when it comes to custom LLMs. Logging in to ChatGPT is easy enough, and so is creating a 'custom' openAI GPT, but what does it take to create a truly custom LLM? When and why might this be useful, and will it be worth the effort? Vincent Granville is a pioneer in the AI and machine learning space, he is Co-Founder of Data Science Central, Founder of MLTechniques.com, former VC-funded executive, author, and patent owner. Vincent’s corporate experience includes Visa, Wells Fargo, eBay, NBC, Microsoft, and CNET. He is also a former post-doc at Cambridge University and the National Institute of Statistical Sciences. Vincent has published in the Journal of Number Theory, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, and IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence. He is the author of multiple books, including “Synthetic Data and Generative AI”. In the episode, Richie and Vincent explore why you might want to create a custom LLM including issues with standard LLMs and benefits of custom LLMs, the development and features of custom LLMs, architecture and technical details, corporate use cases, technical innovations, ethics and legal considerations, and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show:
New to DataCamp?
| |||
| #111 The Rise of the Julia Programming Language | 31 Oct 2022 | 00:42:48 | |
Python has dominated data science programming for the last few years, but there’s another rising star programming language seeing increased adoption and popularity—Julia. As the fourth most popular programming language, many data teams and practitioners are turning their attention toward understanding Julia and seeing how it could benefit individual careers, business operations, and drive increased value across organizations. Zacharias Voulgaris, PhD joins the show to talk about his experience with the Julia programming language and his perspective on the future of Julia’s widespread adoption. Zacharias is the author of Julia for Data Science. As a Data Science consultant and mentor with 10 years of international experience that includes the role of Chief Science Officer at three startups, Zacharias is an expert in data science, analytics, artificial intelligence, and information systems. In this episode, we discuss the strengths of Julia, how data scientists can get started using Julia, how team members and leaders alike can transition to Julia, why companies are secretive about adopting Julia, the interoperability of Julia with Python and other popular programming languages, and much more. Check out this month’s events: https://www.datacamp.com/data-driven-organizations-2022 Take the Introduction to Julia course for free! | |||
| #110 Behind the Scenes of Transamerica’s Data Transformation | 24 Oct 2022 | 00:45:13 | |
While securing the support of senior executives is a major hurdle of implementing a data transformation program, it’s often one of the earliest and easiest hurdles to overcome in comparison to the overall program itself. Leading a data transformation program requires thorough planning, organization-wide collaboration, careful execution, robust testing, and so much more. Vanessa Gonzalez is the Senior Director of Data and Analytics for ML & AI at Transamerica. Vanessa has experience in data transformation, leadership, and strategic direction for Data Science and Data Governance teams, and is an experienced senior data manager. Vanessa joins the show to share how she is helping to lead Transamerica’s Data Transformation program. In this episode, we discuss the biggest challenges Transamerica has faced throughout the process, the most important factors to making any large-scale transformation successful, how to collaborate with other departments, how Vanessa structures her team, the key skills data scientists need to be successful, and much more. Check out this month’s events: https://www.datacamp.com/data-driven-organizations-2022 | |||
| #109 How Data Leaders Can Build an Effective Talent Strategy | 17 Oct 2022 | 00:47:43 | |
As data leaders continue to fill their talent gap, how should they approach sourcing, retaining, and upskilling their talent? What strategies should data leaders adopt in order to accomplish their talent goals and become data-driven? Kyle Winterbottom joins the show to talk about the key differentiators between data teams that build talent-dense teams and those that do not. Kyle is the host of Driven by Data: The Podcast, the Founder & CEO of Orbition, a talent solutions provider, for scaling Data, Analytics, & Artificial Intelligence teams across the UK, Europe and the USA. As an accomplished expert and thought leader in talent acquisition, attraction, and retention, as well as scaling data teams, Kyle was named one of Data IQ’s 100 Most Influential People in Data for 2022. In this episode, we talk about how data teams can position themselves to attract top talent, how to properly articulate how data team members are adding value to the business, how organizations can accidentally set data leaders up to fail, how to approach upskilling, and how data leaders can create an employer branding narrative to attract top talent. Check out this month’s events: https://www.datacamp.com/data-driven-organizations-2022 | |||