The Data Culture Podcast
Episodes
Behavior Change Over Better Tools: The Real Work of Data Governance
18 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Most data programs don't fail because of bad technology, they fail because nobody wants to talk about the hard stuff. John Ladley has spent decades pr...
Becoming a Data Catalyst: The Spark Your Data Culture Needs
26 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Data governance is often seen as restrictive—but what if it’s actually the key to making data work?Bob Seiner joins Sid Atkinson to challenge how ...
Data Culture Isn't a Mystery
17 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Hosts Sid Atkinson and Lee Harper engage with guests Gary Griffin and David Holcomb, authors of "Building a Data Culture: The Usage and Flow Data Cult...
Semantic Patches: the Inmon/Kimball Debate of the LLM Era
13 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Data management purity and pragmatism built opposed camps starting in the 1990s, and echoes of those tenants present themselves today in Generative AI...
From Team of One to Data Trust: Turning Government 'No's into 'Yes's
03 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Building a data program isn't all about the tech—it's about getting people to actually work together. Carlos Rivero shares what it was really like s...
Find Your Goldfish
01 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ever wonder why so many promising tech pilots never make it past the starting line? In this episode, Sid chats with Jonathan Alexander about breaking ...
From I To We
19 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Leading complex IT systems in a major city demands more than technical know-how—it requires a shift from individual success to team achievement. Sum...
NDUS: Using AI to quickly track pertinent Legislation
29 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
State University Systems are frequently impacted by state legislation- from funding to rules, policies, and everything in between. Universities typica...
North Dakota's AI Ambitions
08 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
North Dakota is well known for energy and food production, but less known is the states roots in technology. Rep. Josh Christy discusses North Dakota'...
Building AI Teams to Build AI
20 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Successful AI projects/ideas have many necessary ingredients, one of the most important being the people you identify and choose to be part of the pro...
Building Responsible and Secure AI Programs
22 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The first Federal Chief AI Officer, Oki Mek, runs through three key components in building responsible and secure AI programs, something desperately n...
Giddy-Up in the Same Direction
14 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How do you get all the cowfolk to giddy-up in the same direction? Smart people are notorious for having opinions; combine intelligence with the indepe...
Building real traction for AI Initiatives
30 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Do you want some AI with that? It's everywhere, though thankfully not IN our coffee (yet). So if AI conversations are ubiquitous, how do we sort value...
Innovating and Testing on Gen AI
25 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Utilizing Gen AI towards your organization's specific needs presents both an opportunity and a challenge. Opportunity to take advantage of massive inv...
AI Ready Data and Decentralized Governance
18 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What does it mean to have AI ready data? And once I know that, what do I do about it? Ian Stahl is Director of Product Management @ Informatica and ha...
Gaps in ML Ops' Current State
28 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We have come a long way since the publication of "Hidden Technical Debt in Machine Learning Systems" was published almost a decade ago. ML Ops has tra...
Building AI Capable Organizations [Previously Live Panel Disc]
31 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Audio from our LinkedIn Live Event!Organizational structure, team, and culture are critical components to repeatedly and consistently delivering innov...
Stop Building Toy Boxes and Solve Real Problems
17 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Engineers are famous for building the amazing, and for wasting time on pet projects, dead ends, and losing track of the customer and real problems. Ho...
Reframing Digital Transformation in the Age of AI
18 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Digital transformation has been around for a while, but have we succeeded at it? AI, for better and worse, is pushing change in organizations. One of ...
First to Forecast: the Chesterfield County Pioneers
11 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
At the end of a spectacular achievement, the journey there can sometimes seem obvious, but we all know clarity at the start is frequently missing. Nan...
Learning & Growth in the AI Age
23 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Software is eating the world (or used to, that was soooo 2011). AI is eating the world now at a blistering pace, and while a lot of it feels like hype...
Peggy TsAI on AI Strategy for CDOs
01 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Want some AI with your coffee? It seems anywhere you turn, AI is infused into every interaction, decision, and experience, so it makes sense that your...
On the Importance of Naming Things
16 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"What's in a name?" Shakespeare's romantic notion that naming something is irrelevant may work in purposes of his plays, but for the data world, namin...
Intuitive Decision Making
05 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What is most useful for making decisions? Leaders and business owners face decisions almost every moment of the day. We aspire to be an entirely data ...
Driving Acquisition Opportunities and Post Merger Alignment
27 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mergers and acquisitions have a high failure rate in terms of hitting the envisioned objectives. There are many root causes, but lack of alignment on ...
Data Strategy is an AI Strategy
18 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A data strategy is an AI strategy. Subroto has 20+ years in data, innovation, and creating companies; he walks us through several topics that everyone...
CIO Laura McCanlies on Cross-Cultural Understanding and Transformation
04 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We have worked across the globe for a while, but not everyone succeeds at it. Laura of IFC, a division of the World Bank, provides expert advice and g...
Emerging Leaders: Where do Millennials get Leadership Guidance?
23 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Emerging Leaders Series: Where do millennials get their leadership advice? There is a bias in the market to perceive that what big tech and other larg...
Collaborating on Insights with External Partners
15 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Collaborating smoothly using data with our colleagues can be a challenge, but what about with external partners? Properly sharing insights and analyti...
DBAs, DevOps, and the Data Delivery Flywheel
09 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How can you influence change? In the minds of developers, data infrastructure, and those that manage it, can be seen as slow, stodgy, and resistant to...
In the Loop: AI Product Management from a Human's Viewpoint
25 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Product management has always been an interesting intersection in looking at human desires, intents, and behaviors, the value of the system, and how t...
Build and Operate Lean and Agile Data Platforms
17 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Buy versus build and everywhere in between - thinking through what and how you should manage your data estate can be tricky. Storable's Jerry Gregoire...
Practical Data Quality's author Rob Hawker on (surprise!) Data Quality
22 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The rise in practical uses of Gen AI and AI/ML is underlining an oft forgot and but necessary step in using data: data quality and governing of data q...
Facilitating Idea Creation, Innovation, and ... Data Governance?!?
13 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Talking about data governance is (typically) not the topic that gets people jumping for joy. Rather, governances invoke "here comes the process monste...
Dr. Alikhachkina on Data Product Thinking
08 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What is data product management and the associated concepts? How should we frame and think of this so we care successful? Dr. Elena Alikhachkina has b...
AI for Better, and More Human, Sales Management
01 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Coaching/mentoring has seemed more art than science. Data is everywhere to guide leaders and their teams, but not always accessible. And in today's re...
Emerging Leader Matt McGuinness's Career Path
22 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Emerging Leaders Series: We have a new sub-thread to our show wherein we talk with emerging thought, tech, or business leaders in data. Discover how t...
Researching what comes next in Gen AI
14 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We talk with Eckerson Group's VP of Research Kevin Petrie on the research he is conducting on LLMs and Gen AI, and what he sees coming up that organiz...
Evolving Your Data Capabilities with Data4Real's Julia Bardmesser
07 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How do we better frame our data management challenges so IT and business can better align and pursue value? Data4Real CEO Julia Bardmesser walks us th...
AI and a Beneficial and Prosperous Tomorrow
27 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How might we imagine and make a better future? Gen AI and other advances are rapidly impacting how we view, see, and interact with the world, but inst...
Data Quality Camp's Chad Sanderson on Data Products
17 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There is so much talk on data quality, yet are we actually progressing? Do we have a good definition on data quality and how big or small the problem ...
Captain Obvious and Why the Pursuit of Value is still a Topic
03 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Listen in as I talk with Malcom Hawker of Profisee as we dive into a Captain Obvious question, but a question that still lacks an appropriate and cons...
Buy versus Build Your Data Platform
21 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Buy or build? What goes into designing, developing, and managing a successful data estate if you choose to build from scratch? Listen to Peloton's Aru...
Microsoft's Christina Tillbrook on Centers of Excellence and Training
12 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Microsoft's Christina Tillbrook walks through her observations on innovation and creating Centers of Excellence to support exploration, collaboration,...
Hypergiant's Michael Roberts on AI, LLMs, and where we go next
30 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Hypergiant's Michael Roberts has spent considerable time in the AI and data field, having collected many enviable experiences and ideas. In this episo...
Responsibility and Ethics in AI
21 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Responsibility and Ethics discussions are thankfully coming more to the forefront when it comes to AI discussions and implementations. Even with the r...
Ecology of Data Systems and Writing a Book
10 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Join us for Episode 15 as US Data and AI Practice Director Daren Child of Kyndryl and ex-Microsoft Principal Solution Architect discusses the ecology ...
Perspectives From Early Career Data Scientists
26 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We often hear from senior leaders, but how do people entering the data science field feel about it? In this episode, we learn from three people in the...
Data Culture Self-Fitness
14 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The eternal paradox of the consultant: implement masterfully for your client, and remain jealous of all the beautiful things they have that you do not...
Innovate securely with LLMs and Generative AI with Add Value Machine's John Shaw
26 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
ChatGPT, LLMs, and Generative AI have set the world on fire; without control and consideration, that fire can quickly move from creative to destructiv...
NYU's Julia Lane on the importance of Data Literacy
14 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How do you create successful and lasting change? How can organizations learn and integrate into their cultural ethos better, informed, and responsible...
Jenny Lemieux on the importance of empathy in entrepreneurship
02 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Vivid Machines' Jenny Lemieux talks through the importance of empathy and curiosity in building a compelling product, delighting customers, and buildi...
Data Strategist and Former Texas CDO Ed Kelly on building Programs
18 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ed Kelly, Data Strategist and Texas’ first Chief Data Officer, discusses the journey Texas took in building out data programs, cultures, and capabil...
Building and Branding Data Culture with ex Microsoft's Amy Nichol
08 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
CEO of OpenBlock and ex Microsofter Amy Nichol walks us through building and branding a data culture program to help customers, experience gained in h...
Microsoft's Eve Machol on listening and focusing on Outcomes
27 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We talk with Microsoft’s Eve Machol in this session on the importance of always being a student and the art of listening. And then consulting. She d...
Strategy Leader and Former North Dakota CDO Dorman Bazzell
12 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Our executive perspective’s episode this week features Dorman Bazzell, former CDO of North Dakota and North American Data Strategy Practice Lead at ...
Data Cultures Across the Globe
01 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Data Culture's span the globe and have both similar and divergent ways in which they tackle data and the pursuit of insights. Microsoft's Aarshiya Gup...
Data in Service to Domestic Violence Survivors
17 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Data holds two sharp edges in the domestic violence and abuse support space; reporting and analytics are critical to defining programs that help survi...
Liberal Arts to Data Science: A Long Unexpected Journey
10 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Data Science is still nascent and paths to being a data scientist are as varied as the people in those positions. And yet, it is a prevailing assumpti...
Data and Innovation in Government - Workforce Commission
08 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We talk with Adam Leonard, Chief Analytic Officer at the Texas Workforce Commission, about the importance of data in decision making. Adam has a long ...
Why Talk About Data Culture?
07 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Why talk about data culture? Why is it so hard to be good at using data? In this episode, Sid and Lee lead listeners through the key reasons this conv...