This week on The Data Stack Show, Eric and Kostas chat with Santona Tuli, Head of Data at Upsolver, a data pipeline tool that focuses on application developers. During the episode, Santona discusses her background in nuclear physics. The conversation covers topics such as specialized tools in data infrastructure, the challenges of working with data in different environments, and the importance of data as a business differentiator. They also discuss the features and capabilities of UpSolver and the need for quality and observability in data processing, and more.

This week on The Data Stack Show, Eric and Kostas chat with Bob van Luijt, the CEO & Co-Founder at Weaviate. During the episode, Bob discusses the technical and business aspects of vector databases, delving into their differences from other types of databases and the opportunities they present. Bob shares his journey and how his love for music relates to his work in machine learning. The conversation also covers the progression of database complexity and the emergence of databases designed for specific data types, limitations of existing databases for vector processing, the importance of simplicity and user-friendliness in the user experience, generative feedback loops, and more.

This week on The Data Stack Show, Eric and Kostas chat with Nick Schrock, Founder of Dagster Labs. During the episode, Nick discusses his background at Facebook and his involvement in successful open-source technologies like React and GraphQL. Nick explains the mismatch between the complexity and available tools in the data infrastructure space, leading him to start Dagster Labs. The group also talks about the challenges and fragmentation in the data engineering industry, the need for better abstraction layers, the role of orchestrators, comparing it to GraphQL’s role in product engineering, the importance of data orchestration in the future of data infrastructure and engineering, and more.

This week on The Data Stack Show, Eric and Kostas chat with Amr Awadallah, the Founder and CEO of Vectara. During the episode, Amr discusses his extensive experience in the data industry and his new company, Vectara, which focuses on enabling companies to integrate capabilities in their products using large language models (LLMs) with security, reliability, and ease of use. The conversation also covers the advancements in data, computing, and algorithms that have led to emergent behaviors in neural networks, the practical applications of Vectara’s technology, the challenges and considerations in working with large language models, the importance of addressing technology misuse and aligning different value systems in society, and more.

This week on The Data Stack Show, Eric and Kostas chat with Alex Gallego, the Founder & CEO of Redpanda Data. During the episode, the group discusses the importance of Kafka in data infrastructure and the lack of competition in the market. Alex shares his background in streaming systems and the development of Redpanda. The conversation also includes the challenges of operationalizing streaming systems and the evolution of storage systems, using WebAssembly as the interface for writing functions, the key differences between Redpanda and other streaming platforms, where the name Redpanda came from, and more.

This week on The Data Stack Show, Eric and Kostas chat with Pardis Noorzad, the CEO of General Folders. During the episode, Pardis Noorzad shares her journey as a data scientist and entrepreneur in founding a company. The conversation includes the importance of data collaboration and sharing, the challenges and complexities of data sharing in various industries, the need for efficient and secure solutions, the underlying definitions and dimensions of the data exchange problem, including infrastructure, security, economics, and user needs, and more.

This week on The Data Stack Show, Eric and Kostas chat with Jakub Jurových, the Founder of Deepnote. During the conversation, the group discussed the role of notebooks in data science and engineering. They explore the history and purpose of notebooks, the challenges of collaboration in notebook workflows, the potential of notebooks in the AI revolution, the importance of interactive computational environments, and more.

This week on The Data Stack Show, Eric and Kostas chat with Ken Fine, the CEO at Heap. During the conversation, the group discusses the unique auto track capabilities offered by Heap in the product analytics space. They also delve into Ken’s background, including his experience working on submarines and his transition to technology and startups. Ken explains the three elements of Heap’s solution framework, which include data capture, data science capabilities, and providing qualitative context. The conversation also covers the challenges faced by Heap in collecting and managing large volumes of data, their strategy and positioning in the market, the future of the data industry, integrating quantitative and qualitative data in product management and more.

This week on The Data Stack Show, Eric and Kostas chat with Chris Sell, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of GrowthLoop. During the conversation, Chris talks about how GrowthLoop enables marketers to build customer journeys directly on the data warehouse. The group explores the divide between engineering teams, data teams, and marketing, and how it is closing as more companies adopt the modern data stack. They also touch on the challenges and opportunities for data warehouse vendors in implementing reverse ETL, the potential for a centralized customer data platform, the role of AI in marketing, and more.

This week on The Data Stack Show, Eric and Kostas chat with Brendan Short, the Co-Founder and CEO at Groundswell. During the episode, Brendan discusses his journey in being at Zoom during the high-growth stage in 2020 and his journey in founding Groundswell. They also discuss data models and how they create moats for startups, particularly in the sales space. The conversation also covers Brendan’s background in B2B SaaS go-to-market, the challenges of Salesforce’s data model, the potential of data warehouses as an alternative to Salesforce and the role of generative AI in improving user interfaces and sales processes, the future of data ownership, building trust in data-driven tools, and more.