#307 Human Guardrails in Generative AI with Wendy Gonzalez & Duncan Curtis, CEO & SVP of Gen AI at Sama

DataFramed

#Data Science #Science #DataCamp #Tech #Data Literacy #Artificial Intelligence #Machine Learning #Business #Learning And Development #Podcasting Education

35:51

Diego Pavia and Paul Finebaum are this week’s Netflix Sports Club guests. Paul Finebaum, the voice of the SEC, drops a bold national championship prediction that might give the Big Tenners pause, and he reveals which SEC quarterback has him starstruck. Vanderbilt quarterback, Diego Pavia, gives a standout performance on and off the field in SEC Football: Any Given Saturday. He relives that improbable ‘Bama victory, including pre-game routine and why he thinks this victory changed the conversation about Vandy football - sorry Nick Saban. Paul Fineman and Diego Pavia gaze into the crystal ball of the 2025 season, and what do they see? Heisman Trophies, making Auburn pay, and LSU’s chances for glory. In this interview, Vandy QB, Diego Pavia: 🟥 Details the 2024 Vandy vs. ‘Bama Buildup 🟥 Discusses playing for Coach Lea and with his bestie 🟥 Reveals his true height In this interview, SEC Expert, Paul Finebaum answers: 🟥 Why the SEC’s staying power is unrivaled? 🟥 Who’s almost a bigger star than Taylor Swift? 🟥 Which team will win the 2025 National Championship? 00:00 Intro 01:24 Vandy QB Diego Pavia Is a Star 01:37 Beating Bama 03:19 Choosing Vandy And Coach Lea 04:58 Give Me The Ball 06:20 Dude Put In The Work 07:38 Nick Saban Said What?? 08:20 Underdogs 10:22 Watch Out Auburn 12:33 Recruits: Come To Vandy! 13:29 Kay and Dani Talk SEC 15:54 Paul Finebaum’s SEC Picks 16:40 All About Arch Manning 17:23 SEC: The Only Game In Town 18:25 South Carolina Should Be In The Playoffs 19:40 Shane Beamer Bounce Back? 20:14 Arch Manning Is No Taylor Swift 21:42 The Weight of Being a Manning 22:31 Finebaum: “Best Player Since Tim Tebow” 23:20 LSU QB1 + Championship Or Bust 25:39 Post Saban Alabama 27:42 Is Vanderbilt Legit? 28:44 Can Mississippi State Survive? 29:49 The Vols “Will Struggle This Year” 31:44 SEC: Natty. Little Tenners: Nothing 33:09 Outro 34:28 Up Next - America’s Team: The Gambler And His Cowboys 🏈 Diego Pavia Instagram - https://bit.ly/45uLND4 TikTok - http://bit.ly/4fsLY5p X - https://bit.ly/4ldwx2j 🏈 Vanderbilt Instagram - http://bit.ly/4lfo8eu X - http://bit.ly/4mCiaWt YouTube - @vucommodores 🏈 Paul Finebaum Instagram - https://bit.ly/45kVtPv X - https://bit.ly/46JQFWc 🎙️ Kay Adams Instagram - http://bit.ly/3GYp4Go TikTok - http://bit.ly/4m7KmR9 X - http://bit.ly/45nI2Ou 🎙️ Dani Klupenger Instagram - https://bit.ly/3HeGGxx TikTok - https://bit.ly/4lQSBkl X - https://bit.ly/4lWpufr 🟥 Netflix Sports Instagram - http://bit.ly/45CPAhL TikTok - http://bit.ly/4mti6Ia X - http://bit.ly/4mseqGH Facebook - http://bit.ly/45o5xqK YouTube - @NetflixSports We want to hear from you! Leave us a voice message at www.speakpipe.com/NetflixSportsClub Be sure to watch, listen, and subscribe to the Netflix Sports Club Podcast on YouTube, Spotify, Tudum, and wherever you get your podcasts. Hosted by Kay Adams, the Netflix Sports Club Podcast is an all-access deep dive into the Netflix Sports Universe. Join Kay as she speaks with athletes, coaches, and top sports correspondents to break down the latest Netflix Sports series. Expect bold opinions, insightful analysis, and candid conversations you won’t find anywhere else.…

about a year ago 48:29

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Wendy Gonzalez is the CEO — and former COO — of Sama, a company leading the way in ethical AI by delivering accurate, human-annotated data while advancing economic opportunity in underserved communities. She joined Sama in 2015 and has been central to scaling both its global operations and its mission-driven business model, which has helped over 65,000 people lift themselves out of poverty through dignified digital work. With over 20 years of experience in the tech and data space, Wendy’s held leadership roles at EY, Capgemini, and Cycle30, where she built and managed high-performing teams across complex, global environments. Her leadership style blends operational excellence with deep purpose — ensuring that innovation doesn’t come at the expense of integrity. Wendy is also a vocal advocate for inclusive AI and sustainable impact, regularly speaking on how companies can balance cutting-edge technology with real-world responsibility.

Duncan Curtis is the Senior Vice President of Generative AI at Sama, where he leads the development of AI-powered tools that are shaping the future of data annotation. With a background in product leadership and machine learning, Duncan has spent his career building scalable systems that bridge cutting-edge technology with real-world impact. Before joining Sama, he led teams at companies like Google, where he worked on large-scale personalization systems, and contributed to AI product strategy across multiple sectors. At Sama, he's focused on harnessing the power of generative AI to improve quality, speed, and efficiency — all while keeping human oversight and ethical practices at the core. Duncan brings a unique perspective to the AI space: one that’s grounded in technical expertise, but always oriented toward practical solutions and responsible innovation.

In the episode, Richie, Wendy, and Duncan explore the importance of using specialized data with large language models, the role of data enrichment in improving AI accuracy, the balance between automation and human oversight, the significance of responsible AI practices, and much more.

Links Mentioned in the Show:

Sama
Connect with Wendy
Connect with Duncan
Course: Generative AI Concepts
Related Episode: Creating High Quality AI Applications with Theresa Parker & Sudhi Balan, Rocket Software
Register for RADAR AI

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340 episodes

#307 Human Guardrails in Generative AI with Wendy Gonzalez & Duncan Curtis, CEO & SVP of Gen AI at Sama

DataFramed

878 subscribers

published about a year ago

MP3•Episode home

Links Mentioned in the Show:

Sama
Connect with Wendy
Connect with Duncan
Course: Generative AI Concepts
Related Episode: Creating High Quality AI Applications with Theresa Parker & Sudhi Balan, Rocket Software
Register for RADAR AI

New to DataCamp?

Learn on the go using the DataCamp mobile app
Empower your business with world-class data and AI skills with DataCamp for business

340 episodes

#Data Science #Science #DataCamp #Tech #Data Literacy #Artificial Intelligence #Machine Learning #Business #Learning And Development #Podcasting Education

All episodes

DataFramed

1
#314 How to Have a Career in Data Science in 2025 with Dawn Choo, Data Careers Influencer, Co-Founder at Interview Master 47:04

2 days ago47:04

47:04

Data science continues to evolve in the age of AI, but is it still the 'sexiest job of the 21st century'? While generative AI has transformed the landscape, it hasn't replaced data scientists—instead, it's created more demand for their skills. Data professionals now incorporate AI into their workflows to boost efficiency, analyze data faster, and communicate insights more effectively. But with these technological advances come questions: How should you adapt your skills to stay relevant? What's the right balance between traditional data science techniques and new AI capabilities? And as roles like analytics engineer and machine learning engineer emerge, how do you position yourself for success in this rapidly changing field? Dawn Choo is the Co-Founder of Interview Master, a platform designed to streamline technical interview preparation. With a foundation in data science, financial analysis, and product strategy, she brings a cross-disciplinary lens to building data-driven tools that improve hiring outcomes. Her career spans roles at leading tech firms, including ClassDojo, Patreon, and Instagram, where she delivered insights to support product development and user engagement. Earlier, Dawn held analytical and engineering positions at Amazon and Bank of America, focusing on business intelligence, financial modeling, and risk analysis. She began her career at Facebook as a marketing analyst and continues to be a visible figure in the data science community—offering practical guidance to job seekers navigating technical interviews and career transitions. In the episode, Richie and Dawn explore the evolving role of data scientists in the age of AI, the impact of generative AI on workflows, the importance of foundational skills, and the nuances of the hiring process in data science. They also discuss the integration of AI in products and the future of personalized AI models, and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show: Interview Master Connect with Dawn Dawn’s Newsletter: Ask Data Dawn Get Certified: AI Engineer for Data Scientists Associate Certification Related Episode: How To Get Hired As A Data Or AI Engineer with Deepak Goyal, CEO & Founder at Azurelib Academy Rewatch RADAR AI New to DataCamp? Learn on the go using the DataCamp mobile app Empower your business with world-class data and AI skills with DataCamp for business…

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#313 Developing Better Predictive Models with Graph Transformers with Jure Leskovec, Pioneer of Graph Transformers, Professor at Stanford 51:05

9 days ago51:05

51:05

The structured data that powers business decisions is more complex than the sequences processed by traditional AI models. Enterprise databases with their interconnected tables of customers, products, and transactions form intricate graphs that contain valuable predictive signals. But how can we effectively extract insights from these complex relationships without extensive manual feature engineering? Graph transformers are revolutionizing this space by treating databases as networks and learning directly from raw data. What if you could build models in hours instead of months while achieving better accuracy? How might this technology change the role of data scientists, allowing them to focus on business impact rather than data preparation? Could this be the missing piece that brings the AI revolution to predictive modeling? Jure Leskovec is a Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University, where he is affiliated with the Stanford AI Lab, the Machine Learning Group, and the Center for Research on Foundation Models. Previously, he served as Chief Scientist at Pinterest and held a research role at the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub. He is also a co-founder of Kumo.AI, a machine learning startup. Leskovec has contributed significantly to the development of Graph Neural Networks and co-authored PyG, a widely-used library in the field. Research from his lab has supported public health efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic and informed product development at companies including Facebook, Pinterest, Uber, YouTube, and Amazon. His work has received several recognitions, including the Microsoft Research Faculty Fellowship (2011), the Okawa Research Award (2012), the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship (2012), the Lagrange Prize (2015), and the ICDM Research Contributions Award (2019). His research spans social networks, machine learning, data mining, and computational biomedicine, with a focus on drug discovery. He has received 12 best paper awards and five 10-year Test of Time awards at leading academic conferences. In the episode, Richie and Jure explore the need for a foundation model for enterprise data, the limitations of current AI models in predictive tasks, the potential of graph transformers for business data, and the transformative impact of relational foundation models on machine learning workflows, and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show: Jure’s Publications Kumo AI Connect with Jure Course - Transformer Models with PyTorch Related Episode: High Performance Generative AI Applications with Ram Sriharsha, CTO at Pinecone Rewatch RADAR AI New to DataCamp? Learn on the go using the DataCamp mobile app Empower your business with world-class data and AI skills with DataCamp for business…

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#312 Can we Create an AI Doctor? with Aldo Faisal, Professor in AI & Neuroscience at Imperial College 49:05

16 days ago49:05

49:05

Healthcare AI is rapidly evolving beyond simple diagnostic tools to comprehensive systems that can analyze and predict patient outcomes. With the rise of multimodal AI models that can process everything from medical images to patient records and genetic information, we're entering an era where AI could fundamentally transform how healthcare decisions are made. But how do we ensure these systems maintain patient privacy while still leveraging vast amounts of medical data? What are the technical challenges in building AI that can reason across different types of medical information? And how do we balance the promise of AI-assisted healthcare with the critical role of human medical professionals? Professor Aldo Faisal is Chair in AI & Neuroscience at Imperial College London, with joint appointments in Bioengineering and Computing, and also holds the Chair in Digital Health at the University of Bayreuth. He is the Founding Director of the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in AI for Healthcare and leads the Brain & Behaviour Lab and Behaviour Analytics Lab at Imperial’s Data Science Institute. His research integrates machine learning, neuroscience, and human behaviour to develop AI technologies for healthcare. He is among the few engineers globally leading their own clinical trials, with work focused on digital biomarkers and AI-based medical interventions. Aldo serves as Associate Editor for Nature Scientific Data and PLOS Computational Biology, and has chaired major conferences like KDD, NIPS, and IEEE BSN. His work has earned multiple awards, including the $50,000 Toyota Mobility Foundation Prize, and is regularly featured in global media outlets. In the episode, Richie and Aldo explore the advancements in AI for healthcare, including AI's role in diagnostics and operational improvements, the ambitious Nightingale AI project, challenges in handling diverse medical data, privacy concerns, and the future of AI-assisted medical decision-making, and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show: Aldo’s Publications Connect with Aldo Project: What is Your Heart Rate Telling You? Related Episode: Using Data to Optimize Costs in Healthcare with Travis Dalton and Jocelyn Jiang President/CEO & VP of Data & Decision Science at MultiPlan Rewatch RADAR AI New to DataCamp? Learn on the go using the DataCamp mobile app Empower your business with world-class data and AI skills with DataCamp for business…

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#311 The Human Element of AI-Driven Transformation with Steve Lucas, CEO at Boomi 57:27

23 days ago57:27

57:27

The relationship between humans and AI in the workplace is rapidly evolving beyond simple automation. As companies deploy thousands of AI agents to handle everything from expense approvals to customer success management, a new paradigm is emerging—one where humans become orchestrators rather than operators. But how do you determine which processes should be handled by AI and which require human judgment? What governance structures need to be in place before deploying AI at scale? With the potential to automate up to 80% of business processes, organizations must carefully consider not just the technology, but the human element of AI-driven transformation. Steve Lucas is the Chairman and CEO of Boomi, marking his third tenure as CEO. With nearly 30 years of enterprise software leadership, he has held senior roles at leading cloud organizations including Marketo, iCIMS, Adobe, SAP, Salesforce, and BusinessObjects. He led Marketo through its multi-billion-dollar acquisition by Adobe and drove strategic growth at iCIMS, delivering significant investments and transformation. A proven leader in scaling software companies, Steve is also the author of the national bestseller Digital Impact and holds a business degree from the University of Colorado. In the episode, Richie and Steve explore the importance of choosing the right tech stack for your business, the challenges of managing complex systems, the role of AI in transforming business processes, and the need for effective AI governance. They also discuss the future of AI-driven enterprises and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show: Boomi Steve’s Book - Digital Impact: The Human Element of AI-Driven Transformation What is the OSI Model? Connect with Steve Skill Track: AI Business Fundamentals Related Episode: New Models for Digital Transformation with Alison McCauley Chief Advocacy Officer at Think with AI & Founder of Unblocked Future Rewatch RADAR AI New to DataCamp? Learn on the go using the DataCamp mobile app Empower your business with world-class data and AI skills with DataCamp for business…

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#310 The State of BI in 2025 with Howard Dresner, Godfather of BI 47:19

4 weeks ago47:19

47:19

Business intelligence has been transforming organizations for decades, yet many companies still struggle with widespread adoption. With less than 40% of employees in most organizations having access to BI tools, there's a significant 'information underclass' making decisions without data-driven insights. How can businesses bridge this gap and achieve true information democracy? While new technologies like generative AI and semantic layers offer promising solutions, the fundamentals of data quality and governance remain critical. What balance should organizations strike between investing in innovative tools and strengthening their data infrastructure? How can you ensure your business becomes a 'data athlete' capable of making hyper-decisive moves in an uncertain economic landscape? Howard Dresner is founder and Chief Research Officer at Dresner Advisory Services and a leading voice in Business Intelligence (BI), credited with coining the term “Business Intelligence” in 1989. He spent 13 years at Gartner as lead BI analyst, shaping its research agenda and earning recognition as Analyst of the Year, Distinguished Analyst, and Gartner Fellow. He also led Gartner’s BI conferences in Europe and North America. Before founding Dresner Advisory in 2007, Howard was Chief Strategy Officer at Hyperion Solutions, where he drove strategy and thought leadership, helping position Hyperion as a leader in performance management prior to its acquisition by Oracle. Howard has written two books, The Performance Management Revolution – Business Results through Insight and Action, and Profiles in Performance – Business Intelligence Journeys and the Roadmap for Change - both published by John Wiley & Sons. In the episode, Richie and Howard explore the surprising low penetration of business intelligence in organizations, the importance of data governance and infrastructure, the evolving role of AI in BI, and the strategic initiatives driving BI usage, and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show: Dresner Advisory Services Howard’s Book - Profiles in Performance: Business Intelligence Journeys and the Roadmap for Change Connect with Howard Skill Track: Power BI Fundamentals Related Episode: The Next Generation of Business Intelligence with Colin Zima, CEO at Omni Rewatch RADAR AI New to DataCamp? Learn on the go using the DataCamp mobile app Empower your business with world-class data and AI skills with DataCamp for business…

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#309 What Science Fiction Can Tell Us About the Future of AI with Ken Liu, Sci-Fi Author 1:17:02

5 weeks ago1:17:02

1:17:02

Technology and human consciousness are converging in ways that challenge our fundamental understanding of creativity and connection. As AI systems become increasingly sophisticated at mimicking human thought patterns, we're entering uncharted territory where machines don't just assist creative work—they actively participate in it. But what does this mean for the future of human creativity and our relationship with technology? How do we maintain meaningful human connections in a world where emotional labor is increasingly commoditized? As we navigate this rapidly evolving landscape, the question isn't just whether machines can think, but how their thinking will transform our own. Ken Liu is an American author of speculative fiction. A winner of the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy awards, he wrote the Dandelion Dynasty, a silkpunk epic fantasy series, as well as short story collections The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories and The Hidden Girl and Other Stories. His latest book is All that We See or Seem, a techno-thriller starring an AI-whispering hacker who saves the world. He also translated Cixin Liu’s seminal book series, the Three-Body Problem. He’s often involved in media adaptations of his work. Recent projects include “The Regular,” under development as a TV series; “Good Hunting,” adapted as an episode in season one of Netflix’s breakout adult animated series Love, Death + Robots; and AMC’s Pantheon, with Craig Silverstein as executive producer, adapted from an interconnected series of Liu’s short stories. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, Liu worked as a software engineer, corporate lawyer, and litigation consultant. Liu frequently speaks on a variety of topics, including futurism, machine-augmented creativity, history of technology, bookmaking, and the mathematics of origami. In the episode, Adel and Ken explore the intersection of technology and storytelling, how sci-fi can inform AI's trajectory, the role of AI in reshaping human relationships and creativity, how AI is changing art, and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show: Ken’s Books Ken on Substack , Ken on X Skill Track: AI Fundamentals Related Episode: What History Tells Us About the Future of AI with Verity Harding, Author of AI Needs You Rewatch RADAR AI New to DataCamp? Learn on the go using the DataCamp mobile app Empower your business with world-class data and AI skills with DataCamp for business…

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Industry Roundup #5: AI Agents Hype vs. Reality, Meta’s $15B Stake in Scale AI, and the First Fully AI-Generated NBA Ad 53:02

6 weeks ago53:02

53:02

Welcome to DataFramed Industry Roundups! In this series of episodes, we sit down to discuss the latest and greatest in data & AI. In this episode, with special guest, DataCamp COO Martijn, we touch upon the hype and reality of AI agents in business, the McKinsey vs. Ethan Mollick debate on simple vs. complex agents, Meta's $15B stake in Scale AI and what it means for data and talent, Apple’s rumored $20B bid for Perplexity amid AI struggles, EU’s push to treat AI skills like reading and math, the first fully AI-generated NBA ad and what it means for creative industries, a new benchmark for deep research tools, and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show: Meta bought Scale AI Apple rumoured to buy trying to acquire Perplexity for $20Bn McKinsey's Seizing the Agentic AI Advantage report The first fully AI-generated NBA Ad EU Generative AI Outlook report Mary Meeker's Trend in AI report Deep research benchmark Rewatch RADAR AI New to DataCamp? Learn on the go using the DataCamp mobile app Empower your business with world-class data and AI skills with DataCamp for business…

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#308 A Framework for GenAI App and Agent Development with Jerry Liu, CEO at LlamaIndex 52:21

6 weeks ago52:21

52:21

The enterprise adoption of AI agents is accelerating, but significant challenges remain in making them truly reliable and effective. While coding assistants and customer service agents are already delivering value, more complex document-based workflows require sophisticated architectures and data processing capabilities. How do you design agent systems that can handle the complexity of enterprise documents with their tables, charts, and unstructured information? What's the right balance between general reasoning capabilities and constrained architectures for specific business tasks? Should you centralize your agent infrastructure or purchase vertical solutions for each department? The answers lie in understanding the fundamental trade-offs between flexibility, reliability, and the specific needs of your organization. Jerry Liu is the CEO and Co-founder at LlamaIndex, the AI agents platform for automating document workflows. Previously, he led the ML monitoring team at Robust Intelligence, did self-driving AI research at Uber ATG, and worked on recommendation systems at Quora. In the episode, Richie and Jerry explore the readiness of AI agents for enterprise use, the challenges developers face in building these agents, the importance of document processing and data structuring, the evolving landscape of AI agent frameworks like LlamaIndex, and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show: LlamaIndex LlamaIndex Production Ready Framework For LLM Agents Tutorial: Model Context Protocol (MCP) Connect with Jerry Course: Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) with LangChain Related Episode: RAG 2.0 and The New Era of RAG Agents with Douwe Kiela, CEO at Contextual AI & Adjunct Professor at Stanford University Rewatch RADAR AI New to DataCamp? Learn on the go using the DataCamp mobile app Empower your business with world-class data and AI skills with DataCamp for business…

DataFramed

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#307 Human Guardrails in Generative AI with Wendy Gonzalez & Duncan Curtis, CEO & SVP of Gen AI at Sama 48:29

7 weeks ago48:29

48:29

The line between generic AI capabilities and truly transformative business applications often comes down to one thing: your data. While foundation models provide impressive general intelligence, they lack the specialized knowledge needed for domain-specific tasks that drive real business value. But how do you effectively bridge this gap? What's the difference between simply fine-tuning models versus using techniques like retrieval-augmented generation? And with constantly evolving models and technologies, how do you build systems that remain adaptable while still delivering consistent results? Whether you're in retail, healthcare, or transportation, understanding how to properly enrich, annotate, and leverage your proprietary data could be the difference between an AI project that fails and one that fundamentally transforms your business. Wendy Gonzalez is the CEO — and former COO — of Sama, a company leading the way in ethical AI by delivering accurate, human-annotated data while advancing economic opportunity in underserved communities. She joined Sama in 2015 and has been central to scaling both its global operations and its mission-driven business model, which has helped over 65,000 people lift themselves out of poverty through dignified digital work. With over 20 years of experience in the tech and data space, Wendy’s held leadership roles at EY, Capgemini, and Cycle30, where she built and managed high-performing teams across complex, global environments. Her leadership style blends operational excellence with deep purpose — ensuring that innovation doesn’t come at the expense of integrity. Wendy is also a vocal advocate for inclusive AI and sustainable impact, regularly speaking on how companies can balance cutting-edge technology with real-world responsibility. Duncan Curtis is the Senior Vice President of Generative AI at Sama, where he leads the development of AI-powered tools that are shaping the future of data annotation. With a background in product leadership and machine learning, Duncan has spent his career building scalable systems that bridge cutting-edge technology with real-world impact. Before joining Sama, he led teams at companies like Google, where he worked on large-scale personalization systems, and contributed to AI product strategy across multiple sectors. At Sama, he's focused on harnessing the power of generative AI to improve quality, speed, and efficiency — all while keeping human oversight and ethical practices at the core. Duncan brings a unique perspective to the AI space: one that’s grounded in technical expertise, but always oriented toward practical solutions and responsible innovation. In the episode, Richie, Wendy, and Duncan explore the importance of using specialized data with large language models, the role of data enrichment in improving AI accuracy, the balance between automation and human oversight, the significance of responsible AI practices, and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show: Sama Connect with Wendy Connect with Duncan Course: Generative AI Concepts Related Episode: Creating High Quality AI Applications with Theresa Parker & Sudhi Balan, Rocket Software Register for RADAR AI New to DataCamp? Learn on the go using the DataCamp mobile app Empower your business with world-class data and AI skills with DataCamp for business…

DataFramed

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#306 The Next Generation of Business Intelligence with Colin Zima, CEO at Omni 1:01:51

8 weeks ago1:01:51

1:01:51

The modern data stack has transformed how organizations work with data, but are our BI tools keeping pace with these changes? As data schemas become increasingly fluid and analysis needs range from quick explorations to production-grade reporting, traditional approaches are being challenged. How can we create analytics experiences that accommodate both casual spreadsheet users and technical data modelers? With semantic layers becoming crucial for AI integration and data governance growing in importance, what skills do today's BI professionals need to master? Finding the balance between flexibility and governance is perhaps the greatest challenge facing data teams today. Colin Zima is the Co-Founder and CEO of Omni, a business intelligence platform focused on making data more accessible and useful for teams of all sizes. Prior to Omni, he was Chief Analytics Officer and VP of Product at Looker, where he helped shape the product and data strategy leading up to its acquisition by Google for $2.6 billion. Colin’s background spans roles in data science, analytics, and product leadership, including positions at Google, HotelTonight, and as founder of the restaurant analytics startup PrimaTable. He holds a degree in Operations Research and Financial Engineering from Princeton University and began his career as a Structured Credit Analyst at UBS. In the episode, Richie and Colin explore the evolution of BI tools, the challenges of integrating casual and rigorous data analysis, the role of semantic layers, and the impact of AI on business intelligence. They discuss the importance of understanding business needs, creating user-focused dashboards, and the future of data products, and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show: Omni Connect with Colin Skill Track: Design in Power BI Related Episode: Self-Service Business Intelligence with Sameer Al-Sakran, CEO at Metabase Register for RADAR AI - June 26 New to DataCamp? Learn on the go using the DataCamp mobile app Empower your business with world-class data and AI skills with DataCamp for business…

DataFramed

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#305 RAG 2.0 and The New Era of RAG Agents with Douwe Kiela, CEO at Contextual AI, Adjunct Professor at Stanford University, Inventor of RAG 42:42

9 weeks ago42:42

42:42

Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) continues to be a foundational approach in AI despite claims of its demise. While some marketing narratives suggest RAG is being replaced by fine-tuning or long context windows, these technologies are actually complementary rather than competitive. But how do you build a truly effective RAG system that delivers accurate results in high-stakes environments? What separates a basic RAG implementation from an enterprise-grade solution that can handle complex queries across disparate data sources? And with the rise of AI agents, how will RAG evolve to support more dynamic reasoning capabilities? Douwe Kiela is the CEO and co-founder of Contextual AI, a company at the forefront of next-generation language model development. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor in Symbolic Systems at Stanford University, where he contributes to advancing the theoretical and practical understanding of AI systems. Before founding Contextual AI, Douwe was the Head of Research at Hugging Face, where he led groundbreaking efforts in natural language processing and machine learning. Prior to that, he was a Research Scientist and Research Lead at Meta’s FAIR (Fundamental AI Research) team, where he played a pivotal role in developing Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)—a paradigm-shifting innovation in AI that combines retrieval systems with generative models for more grounded and contextually aware responses. In the episode, Richie and Douwe explore the misconceptions around the death of Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), the evolution to RAG 2.0, its applications in high-stakes industries, the importance of metadata and entitlements in data governance, the potential of agentic systems in enterprise settings, and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show: Contextual AI Connect with Douwe Course: Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) with LangChain Related Episode: High Performance Generative AI Applications with Ram Sriharsha, CTO at Pinecone Register for RADAR AI - June 26 New to DataCamp? Learn on the go using the DataCamp mobile app Empower your business with world-class data and AI skills with DataCamp for business…

DataFramed

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#304 Accelerating Data Science with Nick Becker, Technical Product Manager at NVIDIA & Dan Hannah, Associate Director at SES AI 1:06:46

10 weeks ago1:06:46

1:06:46

GPU acceleration is transforming how data scientists tackle computationally intensive problems in the AI and materials science fields. When dealing with billions of potential molecular combinations or massive datasets requiring dimensionality reduction, traditional CPU approaches often become prohibitively slow and expensive. How can data professionals determine when GPU acceleration will provide meaningful benefits to their workflows? Understanding the right applications for this technology can mean the difference between waiting hours versus minutes for critical results. Nick Becker is a Group Product Manager at NVIDIA, focused on building RAPIDS and the broader accelerated data science ecosystem. Nick has a professional background in technology and government. Prior to NVIDIA, he worked at Enigma Technologies, a data science startup. Before Enigma, he conducted economics research and forecasting at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the central bank of the United States. Dan Hannah is an Associate Director at SES AI Corporation. At SES, Dan leads a research program focused on discovering new battery materials using machine learning, chemical informatics, and physics-driven simulations. Prior to joining SES, Dan spent several years as a data scientist in the cybersecurity industry. Dan holds a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Northwestern University and did a postdoctoral fellowship at Berkeley National Lab, where his focus was the discovery of novel inorganic materials for energy applications. In the episode, Richie, Nick, and Dan explore the quest for new battery technologies, the role of data science and machine learning in material discovery, the integration of NVIDIA's GPU technology, the balance between computational simulations and lab work, and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show: NVIDIA RAPIDS SES AI Corporation Connect with Dan and Nick Career Track: Machine Learning Scientist in Python Related Episode: Data Science Trends from 2 Kaggle Grandmasters with Jean-Francois Puget, Distinguished Engineer at NVIDIA & Chris Deotte, Senior Data Scientist at NVIDIA Rewatch sessions from RADAR: Skills Edition New to DataCamp? Learn on the go using the DataCamp mobile app Empower your business with world-class data and AI skills with DataCamp for business…

DataFramed

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#303 Increasing Your Organization's AI Maturity with Iwo Szapar & Eryn Peters, Founders at AI Maturity Index 51:23

11 weeks ago51:23

51:23

AI maturity isn't achieved through technology alone—it requires organizational alignment, cultural readiness, and strategic implementation. Companies across industries are working to move beyond experimental AI use toward systematic integration that delivers measurable business value. How do you assess where your organization stands on the AI maturity spectrum? What frameworks can help prioritize your efforts? Eryn Peters, Co-founder & co-creator at AI Maturity Index, is a future of work evangelist. She is the co-creator of a tool for assessing AI maturity, and regularly advises companies on how to assess and improve their AI maturity. Eryn is also the Editor of the Weekly Workforce newsletter and the Principal at the Startup Consortium consultancy. Previously, she was the Global Director of the Association for the Future of Work, and VP of Marketing at Andela. Iwo Szapar is a serial entrepreneur with a passion for creating impactful solutions that enable people to work smarter, not harder. He is the co-founder of several innovative initiatives, including Remote-how, Remote-First Institute, AI-Mentor, and the Saudi AI Leadership Forum. Throughout his career, Iwo has helped transform how over 3,000 companies—including Microsoft, Walmart, and ING Bank—approach the future of work. In the episode, Richie, Eryn, and Iwo explore AI maturity in organizations, the balance between top-down and bottom-up AI adoption, the relationship between data and AI maturity, the importance of change management, practical steps for AI implementation, and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show: AI Maturity Index Eryn’s Website Iwo’s Book: Remote Work Is The Way Connect with Eryn and Iwo State of Data & AI Literacy Report 2025 Eryn’s previous webinar: Assessing Your Organization's AI Maturity Related Episode: Scaling Responsible AI Literacy with Uthman Ali, Global Head of Responsible AI at BP Rewatch sessions from RADAR: Skills Edition New to DataCamp? Learn on the go using the DataCamp mobile app Empower your business with world-class data and AI skills with DataCamp for business…

DataFramed

1
#302 Making AI Applications like Greased Lightning with William Falcon, CEO at Lightning AI 45:19

12 weeks ago45:19

45:19

AI tooling continues to expand with specialized solutions for every step of the development process. For data scientists and engineers, this creates a paradox: more options but potentially more complexity and integration challenges. How do you determine which tools actually improve productivity versus adding unnecessary overhead? Should you prioritize flexibility with individual best-of-breed components or streamline with integrated platforms? What's the most effective way to bridge the gap between experimentation and production-ready AI applications? William Falcon is an AI researcher and the CEO of Lightning AI. He is the creator of PyTorch Lightning, a lightweight framework designed for training models of any size. As the founder of Lightning AI, he leads the development of Lightning AI Studios and the AI Hub. Falcon also shares his expertise in AI research and machine learning engineering through educational content on YouTube and X (formerly Twitter). He is passionate about leveraging AI for social impact. In the episode, Richie and William explore the NY AI hub, the journey from AI idea to production, diverse perspectives in AI development, how Lightning AI simplifies AI workflows, the significance of open-source models, and much more. Links Mentioned in the Show: Lightning AI PyTorch Lightning Connect with William Course: Introduction to Deep Learning in PyTorch Course Related Episode: Building Multi-Modal AI Applications with Russ d'Sa, CEO & Co-founder of LiveKit Rewatch sessions from RADAR: Skills Edition New to DataCamp? Learn on the go using the DataCamp mobile app Empower your business with world-class data and AI skills with DataCamp for business…

DataFramed

1
#301 What the Like Button Tells You About Your Customers with Bob Goodson, Inventor of the Like Button 46:18

13 weeks ago46:18