The Powered by Data Show

Every leader claims to be "data-driven," yet most organizations still can't turn data and AI ambition into operational reality. In this episode of the Powered by Data Show, Ben Jones sits down with Patrick McGarry, Federal Chief Data Officer at ServiceNow, to talk about his new book, The Adaptive Organization: Leading Change in the AI Era.Patrick makes the case that transformation rarely fails because the technology is wrong. It fails because organizations treat a human and systemic challenge as a technology problem. We get into the CATALOG Framework at the heart of his book, why governance is infrastructure rather than overhead, and why the real constraint on AI is the human architecture around it.Ben also presses Patrick on the harder questions: whether governance slows you down in a world where models change weekly, where the "AI frees people up for higher-value work" story breaks down, and what honest leadership looks like when the math on headcount doesn't add up.📘 Pre-order The Adaptive Organization (paperback, hardback, and ebook), available now on Amazon ahead of the June 8th launch: https://www.amazon.com/Adaptive-Organization-Leading-Change-Era/dp/1960907123/Check out Patrick's book site: https://mcgarrycdo.com/In this conversation:00:00 Meet Patrick McGarry and the "accidental" origin of the book03:14 The CATALOG Framework and why transformation is a socio-technical problem05:19 Governance as infrastructure, not overhead: the Deming argument06:52 Does governance slow you down? Addressing the skeptical executive08:39 Building two identities: experimenting fast and scaling responsibly09:33 Governance should scale to consequences, not calendars11:44 The elephant in the room: AI, headcount, and job displacement17:53 The single highest-leverage move a leader can make today19:35 Why adapting once isn't enough, and what "choose to lead" really meansAbout the show:Powered by Data is where Ben Jones hosts candid conversations with data leaders, practitioners, and innovators. Each episode digs into the real challenges and practical approaches behind data strategy, BI modernization, AI adoption, and building data-literate organizations, all at the intersection of humans, data, and AI.

The Powered by Data Show, Episode 003In this episode of The Powered by Data Show, Ben Jones sits down with Rachel Herrera of Hex to explore how AI is changing the day-to-day work of data analysts, and why that shift may be better news than many people think. Instead of spending all their time writing repetitive SQL, cleaning messy data, and rebuilding the same dashboards, analysts now have an opportunity to become curators of context, stewards of trust, and stronger storytellers for the business. Ben and Rachel discuss Hex’s vision for AI-first analytics, including Context Studio, Hex's new feature that empowers data teams to manage and continuously improve agent performance over time. They also dig into what analysts should be learning right now to stay relevant: business understanding, discovery skills, judgment, and the ability to communicate clearly with humans. If you’ve been worried about what the future of the data analyst's role, this conversation might just give you some hope!

The Powered by Data Show, Episode 002
Ellie Fields helped shape the self-service analytics era at Tableau. Now, as CEO & co-founder of Ridge AI, she’s helping build what comes next. In this episode, Ben Jones and Ellie dig into the big question of whether dashboards are dead, where conversational AI breaks down, and how dashboards plus data agents may work together to create a better analytics experience.

In this episode of The Powered by Data Show, Ben Jones and Alli Torban introduce the podcast’s new name and vision, exploring why the conversation around data has shifted from understanding to action. They discuss what’s holding BI back from its full potential, how AI is changing the way people interact with data, and what listeners can expect from the show going forward, including real-world stories from leaders navigating the intersection of humans, data, and AI.
Show notes: https://dataliteracy.com/pbd001/

In this episode of The Data Literacy Show, Ben Jones (CEO of Data Literacy) and Alli Torban (Senior Data Literacy Advocate) tackle a question they’re hearing everywhere:
“Is our data ready for AI — and what does ‘ready’ really mean?”
We introduce DF4AI (Data Foundations for AI), which is a practical 10-minute self-assessment that helps organizations understand their AI readiness without chasing perfection.
You’ll learn…
Why you don’t need perfect data to start getting AI value

The five key dimensions of readiness

How weak foundations quietly derail AI initiatives

If your team is experimenting with AI (or feeling pressure to), this episode will help you move forward with clarity and avoid costly missteps.
Take the free DF4AI self-assessment: https://df4ai.com/
See full show notes here: https://dataliteracy.com/season-02-episode-02/