Freestyle Fridays - So You Want to Grow on Substack
Just launched your Substack? Great! Here’s what to do next.This episode covers the realities of writing long-form in public, the traps that cause most writers to stall, how to build consistency, and how to grow an engaged audience from day one.
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From Data Engineering to Context Engineering w/ Nick Schrock
Data engineering is undergoing a fundamental shift. In this episode, I sit down with Nick Schrock, founder and CTO of Dagster, to discuss why he went from being an "AI moderate" to believing 90% of code will be written by AI. Being hands on also led to a massive pivot in Dagster’s roadmap and a new focus on managing and engineering context.We dive deep into why simply feeding data to LLMs isn't enough. Nick explains why real-time context tools (like MCPs) can become "token hogs" that lack precision and why the future belongs to "context pipelines": offline, batch-computed context that is governed, versioned, and treated like code.We also explore Compass, Dagster’s new collaborative agent that lives in Slack, bridging the gap between business stakeholders and data teams. If you’re wondering how your role as a data engineer will evolve in an agentic world, this conversation maps out the territoryDagster: dagster.io Nick Schrock on X: @schrockn
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The 2026 Data Career Roadmap: What’s Changed? w/ Maggie Wolff
The days of easy entry into data jobs over. Maggie Wolff joins the show to discuss the new reality of the data career landscape. We dive into why the bar is higher than ever and why "cold DMing" on LinkedIn is a terrible strategy.Maggie also breaks down her secret strategy for networking as an introvert: treating events like a game or role-playing a more extroverted friend. Plus, we discuss the rise of AI in education, the problem with "lazy" learning , and why companies replacing humans with AI are making a mistake.
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AI Bubbles & "Vibe Coding" Dangers. Freestyle Fridays w/ Matt Housley
Matt Housley joins me for our monthly round-up of topics. This time, there's danger everywhere - The AI Bubble, how vibe coding is evolving, AI slop, and more.
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Why Most Chief Data Officers Fail w/ Malcolm Hawker
After 1,500+ conversations with CDOs and VPs of data , guest Malcolm Hawker noticed a disturbing pattern: a "limiting mindset" that causes data leaders to fail. He argues that too many leaders blame external factors such as "culture" , "data literacy", or a lack of support rather than taking accountability for delivering value.In this conversation, Malcolm breaks down how this mindset is reinforced by the analyst and consultant community and why it leads to a "value fatigue" where no one can prove their own ROI. He offers a clear path forward, starting with a simple 3-question framework for any new CDO and explains why "culture" is actually an outcome of delivering value, not a prerequisite for it. We also discuss his new book, "The Data Hero Playbook," tackle the "AI Ready" myth , explaining why conflating it with "BI Ready" is holding companies back and why your data is likely "good enough" to start right now.
What happens when a best-selling author and "recovering data scientist" gets a microphone? This podcast.
I'm Joe Reis, and each week I broadcast from wherever I am in the world, sharing candid thoughts on the data, tech, and AI industry.
Sometimes it's a solo rant. Other times, I'm chatting with the smartest people I know.
If you're looking for an unfiltered perspective on the state of AI, data, and tech, you've found it.
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