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In this follow-up to our discussion on the business case for Business Data Cloud, expert Shawn Brown returns for a focused deep dive into one of the most critical topics for established SAP customers. If your organization has a significant investment in SAP Business Warehouse (BW) or Business Planning and Consolidation (BPC), this episode is essential listening. Shawn provides a strategic roadmap for migration, explaining how BDC offers a "glide slope" to modernize your landscape by turning existing artifacts into valuable data products, rather than forcing a disruptive break from your past investments. Tune in to understand the clear path forward for your on-premise solutions and learn how to leverage BDC to protect what you've built while accelerating your future in data and analytics. With over two decades of experience in SAP solutions, Shawn Brown currently serves as Senior Director for SAP's Center of Excellence. Known for expertly identifying customer needs, Mr. Brown excels in presenting tailored solutions involving Business Technology Platform, Business Data Cloud, S4HANA, and Business AI. A proven leader in demand generation and partner relationship management, Mr. Brown has successfully driven initiatives that enhance customer experience and streamline cloud solution adoption. Renowned as a thought leader and strategist, Mr. Brown frequently shares insights with CIOs and business influencers, fostering strong, trust-based relationships across multiple industries.   Connect with Us: LinkedIn: Shawn Brown Mustansir Saifuddin Innovative Solution Partners : Twitter:  @Mmsaifuddin YouTube or learn more about our sponsor Innovative Solution Partners to schedule a free consultation.    Episode Transcript [00:00:00] Mustansir Saifuddin: Welcome to Tech Driven Business, brought to you by Innovative Solution Partners. I'm honored to have Sean Brown of SAP rejoin me to a deeper dive into what SAP Business Data Cloud means for existing business warehouse customers. If you're running BW or BPC and weighing your options, this episode is for you. [00:00:28] Welcome [00:00:32] back to Tech-Driven Business. Shawn, how are you? [00:00:36] Shawn Brown: I am doing well. Thanks for having me back. Happy to be here. [00:00:40] Mustansir Saifuddin: It's great to have you back. I'm really excited to have you back on our show, especially when we started the first session. It was more summary level talking about business data cloud in general. What I would like to do is to bring it a notch down and talk about some of the benefits. [00:00:58] that BDC will bring to SAP BW customers. I see a lot of questions or thoughts about what it will do for those customers having business warehouse. So I'd like to dig deeper into this conversation. How does that sound? [00:01:14] Shawn Brown: That sounds great. [00:01:16] Mustansir Saifuddin: Awesome. Awesome. [00:01:17] Okay, so let's get into it. Right? Let's start with this. I mean, how does BDC simplify the data landscape for BW users? Let's start with that. [00:01:29] Shawn Brown: Yeah, so I think the big question is first, how is a customer using BW? This gets into whether they're using it for the purposes of. An analytical tool. They've built reports against, they've BEx reports. They, they're using older technologies like Business Objects. They're moving forward to actually even using even some third party, or they're using SAC or are they using it for the purposes of extracting the data from the source systems at SAP ERP, ECC [00:02:04] And even if they're already on S/4 and then using it as, Hey, I've extracted this data from SAP, now I'm looking for a way to use this data. And if it's acting as a bit more of a pass through then they have to kind of figure out what are they gonna do to get to that data after they're [00:02:24] thinking of what are they gonna do with BW now, if they're thinking about BW in a BW 4HANA perspective, they're probably looking at it as a long-term solution because they've got until 2040 before they have to really get off of BW. If, if they're using it in, let's say BW 7.5, they've got a little bit more time. [00:02:44] But the question is, are you gonna upgrade or, you know, what's the longer term plan with it? In those cases, I think really the big question for those customers is if I am looking to try to move to the more advanced capabilities that we have to access data within SAP. Then you're, you're clearly going to be in a position of trying to explore Business Data Cloud. [00:03:08] Now, the ability to take your environment that is on-prem, likely today in BW and then move it into BDC it, it moves in as a private cloud instance within BDC. This allows you to basically turn off everything that you're doing. On the on-prem BW and turn it into a software as a service that I think is going to open up a lot of opportunity for organizations that, you know, they may have invested very heavily in BW. If they're on BW4, they're looking at some maintenance costs. If they're before that, they're not so worried about it, but they are still dealing with potentially HANA costs. To be able to take all of that investment that they may have made and move it into BDC changes in many respects, the, the [00:04:00] path to do this 'cause [00:04:02] now it's not I have to pay for something in perpetuity or maintain something in perpetuity. I have a path to make it easier to move those assets into BDC. This is where the data product generator in BW in BDC is a big game changer because data products are gonna be the way that we're going to be delivering SAP artifacts in in the future. [00:04:27] To be able to take those BW artifacts and turn them into data products, and then develop all of your own insights on those artifacts, on those new BW data products that you've generated. This is gonna create a, a really great opportunity for a lot of those organizations that have been trying to figure out what their path forward looks like. [00:04:51] Maybe one last thing I'll say on this is, for those organizations that are maybe thinking of decommissioning BW altogether and moving towards some third party capability, I guess my only caution would be that's gonna be an expensive proposition, both in the short term and in the long term. [00:05:09] Most organizations are looking for self-service analytics. And while you can spend a lot of time and energy curating all of that data from all of the systems across your organization at SAP with SAP data, we're already doing that for you. You're basically duplicating the effort that we're going to provide out of the box. [00:05:32] This is one way you can kind of say, what do I do with BW? Well, I wanna move away from it, but if I wanna move away from it, I have a way to do it and still be able to take advantage of a lot of those curated data products that will be delivered from SAP, from all of those, we'll call it ERP based needs. [00:05:49] . [00:05:49] Mustansir Saifuddin: That's a good point you made. Let's circle back on this last point you mentioned later in our conversation. One thing that I, I take away from this is depending on your BW version you have options available to you. And eventually the idea is how to reuse some of these investments you've done over the past few years that customers have been using BW, BW4HANA, and not lose all that investment. [00:06:17] Shawn Brown: Mm-hmm. [00:06:18] Mustansir Saifuddin: Going to the private cloud and having those BW artifacts turn into the data products we know we talked about in BDC, and make sure that you are still able to utilize that. That's a big win for customers. [00:06:32] Shawn Brown: Absolutely. [00:06:33] Mustansir Saifuddin: Let's talk about customers who are running a little bit more complex BW. You know, when you have BW and you also have BPC, either it's used for planning or forecasting or consolidation. What are some of the considerations when it comes to their future planning and consolidation platform? Can you delve into that and kind of show the path, like what it's gonna look like? [00:06:58] Shawn Brown: Yeah, so, so most BPC customers already kind of know that there is the consolidation piece is the big question mark in many regards, and it really depends on how much they are leveraging, consolidations, how complex they are. The planning piece is something that we, we look at from a standpoint of, yes. [00:07:19] Okay. We're, we're really looking for SAC planning to take over those responsibilities. But then the consolidation piece is something that is going to find its way into S/4HANA. When we're talking about this combined environment, BW and BPC, what I see mostly with customers is that BW is has a larger role than just BPC, but it can just be BPC. [00:07:45] The benefit of BDC of Business Data Cloud is that we're now able to go ahead and take those BPC environments into Business Data Cloud and turn them into a private cloud setting. This gives [00:08:00] a little bit more time. This is something that SAP's really trying to work pretty hard on this year, is taking customers that are a BPC customer, move them into BDC as part of a private cloud deployment. [00:08:14] And then that allows time to transition to SAC planning and then take advantage of S4 for those consolidations. Now there's a lot of organizations, you know, partners that have been working on this as well to try to figure out how do I deal with some of those consolidations in SAC planning. [00:08:34] And in some cases that works really, again, gets back to how complex your consolidations are. That's something that has to be considered as organizations try to figure out what am I gonna do with my BPC environment? How am I going to modernize it? If it's working fine, this is one that I always try to focus on with customers is, I'm not interested in trying to fix something that isn't broken. [00:08:55] If it's working fine for you and feel like you can have some more time to actually make a transition take advantage of some of those new tool sets and learn what those new tool sets have to offer that the previous tool sets did not have to offer. That's the other part, right? Things may be working fine, but it also means that you may not be taking advantage of new technology, new capabilities that are going to improve your planning and consolidation efforts. [00:09:22] Mustansir Saifuddin: I think that's an interesting comment you made about how going to private cloud eases the burden from a customer perspective. If you're a BPC shop and you are running BW you don't have to wrap everything up and start over. It's almost like there's a path for you and you can still utilize older technology or the existing technology, and then look at ways of modernizing. [00:09:47] Either choose the planning solution or look at other consolidation solutions like group reporting, as you mentioned in S4. [00:09:55] Shawn Brown: Right, right. [00:09:56] Mustansir Saifuddin: it seems like there's time that they can buy. Can be utilized for, for adapting to the new tool as well as learning what else you can offer besides what I'm currently doing in BPC. [00:10:11] Shawn Brown: Right. [00:10:11] Mustansir Saifuddin: Though it's not broken. There are ways to analyze and then make the decision. I think that's a big win. I see that as a good consideration from SAP perspective. There are always folks who are thinking, there will be challenges any time you look at a new solution. What is your advice, like, what are some of the key considerations potential challenges that BW customers should be aware of when they're planning a move to Business Data Cloud? Something that comes to your mind that you can share as a caution or something that they should be thinking of or taking care of. [00:10:47] Shawn Brown: Yeah, the first thing, it sounds obvious, but your BW is going to be in the cloud, right? So one thing that you might think about is the type of maintenance that you've had to do to take care of that environment, to have the personnel that will oversee that environment .That changes quite a bit with the support of SAP when it's in a private cloud environment. [00:11:10] That's one of the things out of the gate you can look at and you say, all right, there's some benefits that I'm getting, as a result of moving into private cloud. I'm gonna have SAP overlooking this environment with me. This is the other thing to consider too, is that private cloud is from an SAP perspective, private cloud is a stepping stone. It is to get you to a public cloud environment where really you don't have to do much of anything to maintain your environment, at least not from an infrastructure or from a upgrades. We're doing all of that for you and we're taking away the risk factor of those elements where your organization has to care for that. [00:11:52] Moving it to private cloud is saying, all right, now SAP takes on some of those responsibilities. And then longer term you're [00:12:00] seeing that Business Data Cloud is a software as a service. So we're going to be taking away even more of those administrative type of responsibilities. [00:12:10] Those keep the lights on type of responsibilities that a lot of organizations have had to bear in the past. And then the last part is we're going to help you get to the point where you can take advantage of new advancements in technology faster. Because frankly, once you kind of move into the space of a public cloud scenario, as you've transitioned from private into public over time, then essentially you're having the advantage of using those new advancements as we release them [00:12:44] rather than this staggered effect. Now that's gonna require some understanding that the way we did things in the past and the amount of customizations that we might have done and the amount of wrangling of data that we did in the past, those things we may not need to do as much of in the future. [00:13:01] And we have a framework upon which it'll make it easier for you to, let's say, add data elements to the standard SAP data elements that you have or make customizations that are a combination of data elements, that'll be a lot easier to manage over time because the foundational components, the building blocks upon which you will use are already there from SAP's point of view. [00:13:29] So as we introduce new enhancements, new improvements to those building blocks, those customers get to take advantage of them immediately. [00:13:40] Mustansir Saifuddin: So, we always look for success stories or examples. Can you share any examples success stories of companies that have either started the migration from BW into Business Data Cloud or, already done through the migration and, and some of the benefits that they have realized or come across? [00:13:58] Shawn Brown: Yeah, I. [00:13:59] Mustansir Saifuddin: That'll be great to hear your thoughts. [00:14:00] Shawn Brown: I would say that the customers that I've talked to, and I'd love to be able to use names, but they're particular about that at this point, but the customers that I've spoken to that we have had some success with already are doing exactly what we're talking about. [00:14:13] They're taking their BW environment, they're moving it directly into Business Data Cloud. It's a PC environment, and. They're already on this journey of taking those artifacts and saying, how do I make use of them in Business Data Cloud? How do I turn those BW artifacts into data products that can sit at the foundation layer of BDC? [00:14:34] And then how do I then start building the models within Datasphere to make them available for any sort of reports that they want to go ahead and leverage at that point. A lot of this is taking advantage of the type of visualizations that they may have already built, let's say, for example, with SAC and using them as part of the Business Data Cloud construct. [00:14:58] So we're early days on some of this, so customers are very early on on this, but the goal or the vision based on some of the engagements we've had so far is playing out exactly as we've talked about today and in the past as well. So that's, that's why I can give you on that. [00:15:15] Mustansir Saifuddin: That's helpful. When we talk about BW customers, let's focus from that perspective: you are using the Business Data Cloud's major offering, which is, Hey, how can I have a data product? [00:15:27] Right? The data product approach is what's going to help them reuse those investments in a newer environment, in a way that they can further grow instead of being stagnant with the, the old technology. So that's where I see the value. [00:15:44] Shawn Brown: I'm gonna add something to that one too, Mustansir, because, you know, the the thing that we think about as these investments that we have in BW they're investments that organizations don't want to let go of initially. But over time, [00:16:00] we should see that ultimately these investments, these developments that they've done with BW, for example, and what they've extracted from the ERP, whether it's ECC or S4, what they've extracted is essentially they're a collection of data products that over time SAP is going to provide [00:16:24] out of the box anyway, so there's gonna be time that you're going to say, all right, I've developed these data products from these Business Warehouse artifacts. But as SAP continues to release new data products for all of our business applications, they're largely going to replace much of what the BW artifacts are, which of what the BW data products are. [00:16:51] I like to think about this for customers as this is your transition. This is the easy glide slope to move from i'm flying along with BW and all of what invested I've done, but I've gotta land somewhere and I've gotta find a way to easily transition into the newest, latest and greatest capabilities that SAP re releases as part of Business Data Cloud. [00:17:17] Those will be those new data products that will feed those insight apps. We're largely going to be taking a lot of those investments that customers have made over time and said, you can replace them over time. And the beauty of that as well is you don't have to worry about maintaining them as well. [00:17:37] SAP maintains them and, and of course. We can include any sort of custom fields that you've added all of those elements into those data products so they're not static, but they are something that largely the bulk of the work is something that SAP is going to cover for you over the extended period of time. [00:18:00] Mustansir Saifuddin: Absolutely. I think the idea is. Once they get into BDC once they get into private cloud, they can immediately start utilizing the AI capabilities and some of the newer needs of the organization, which was earlier not possible with BW. [00:18:16] Shawn Brown: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. [00:18:18] Mustansir Saifuddin: Let's talk about other options, other cloud data warehouses. [00:18:24] We kind of touched upon it earlier , SAP customers who have already started a journey with some of the other data warehouses, like Snowflake, Azure , in some cases GCP, those other platforms what benefits will they get by adopting BDC? Can you shed some light on that? [00:18:44] Because they're already on a journey, right? Like you mentioned earlier, I just wanted to bring it back to that conversation because important for those customers to realize what will be there for them if they want to look at BDC as the potential option? [00:18:59] Shawn Brown: Yeah. Let's use a couple of scenarios here in this case, right? Scenario number one. I'm on ECC and I'm moving to S/4HANA. I already have invested a lot in terms of how I access SAP data and then delivered it to a third party repository, we'll call it. Right? Operational data store, data warehouse data lake. [00:19:21] Let's whatever terminology you want to use to, to describe what's happened with acquiring SAP data and then delivering it to some third party, and it could be directly, let's say because the customer had access at the database level, they purchased HANA Enterprise and gave them access to the database level to get to it. [00:19:43] As they move to the cloud, much of that's gonna change. Much of that's gonna go away. Not only is it going to go away just because you're probably going to go from ECC to S4 because that's gonna change too, because the data structure has changed, but also from on-premise to [00:20:00] cloud. So this is the type of scenario that organizations should try to avoid in the future. [00:20:09] How much work do I have to do to get the data from a source system to deliver it to some other need in the organization? That's scenario number one, what's changing as a result of every upgrade, every change to the environment that takes place, whether it's a version change or whether it's on-prem to cloud. [00:20:29] All of those things or whether it's one other additional one, which we've talked quite a bit about here, which is what if BW is involved? What if I'm using BW as the extraction point to get to the SAP data, even if I am and I'm making a change, let's say from ECC to S4, BW is gonna change. [00:20:47] Much of that has to be reevaluated. So when you think about how I'm acquiring SAP data, the best way to look at it is if I can get the data curated for my needs out of the box, and I don't have to do anything to make that happen, or I have to do a minimal amount of effort because I'm just making the adjustments for [00:21:10] the custom fields I might have, the customizations I may have included. Those are things that we can include as most of the work has been done. SAP has provided most of the curated data. Now, then this gets into a question of what question am I asking and where am I getting the bulk of the data from? And I think we might have touched on the data of gravity topic in the last discussion, but I think it bears [00:21:38] that, we're talking about for just another second more, which is, if I'm asking primarily an SAP question, and I know that the time it takes to deliver SAP data is, is critical, right? 'cause it's, it's tends to be, in many cases the most important data in an organization. Finance data usually is where we can start. [00:22:00] Then we have to ask how important is it to be able to deliver that data as quickly as possible, especially for an SAP data centric question, right? Why take all of the extraction points, put it over into a third party, model it, do everything we have to do with that, and then make it available to the SAP community when SAP is going to be providing [00:22:27] access to that data in a curated format, knowing already what kind of questions the business community's going to ask of that data. Why not just make it available for them to access it through Business Data Cloud? Now, that sounds like a really centric SAP data strategy. We understand that the converse of that is that it's not always going to be the case that, you know, the bulk of the data that's being asked for is SAP. [00:22:51] It could be third party data as well. So. That's where you also ask the question, well, what's the fastest way for me to access the SAP data to deliver it to a not so SAP centric question. You need data elements from SAP, but the question primarily is third party data, and we're just using SAP data to enrich that third party data. [00:23:16] The bulk of the data being in, let's say, whatever third party it is, or an operational data store or a hyperscaler, wherever they've taken that data and placed it, whether they extracted it or they have a tool set, similar to what SAP provides with Business Data Cloud. We're providing the data in a curated format through our data products anyway, this is the best way to access the data from SAP systems. [00:23:42] 'cause again, we know what questions organizations are going to ask, we know what data elements they're going to ask of, and we've already built all the logic into that data package, data product that we can deliver to any third party need. So [00:24:00] this is a scenario where I like to use some people kind of chuckle at first, which is I call this the SAP's data strategy as a snuggle, don't struggle. We're happy to snuggle up to whatever else you're doing in your organization. We're not here to struggle and say you need to do everything through SAP. You don't. What we want you to do is be able to access SAP data in the most efficient manner possible, in most inexpensive manner possible, and to be able to deal with changes to the environment that come with upgrades, [00:24:33] with new advancements in the technology that are bound to happen because we're living in a, a pace of super hyper change, especially with AI. We're, we're in a position to deliver that data for whatever need it is, whether it's an SAP centric or a non SAP centric. But using business data cloud is the fastest way to get to the data. [00:24:56] Already curated, already ready to go for whatever need is. The business may have. [00:25:02] Mustansir Saifuddin: Yeah, I think the bottom line is the speed that you get and the speed is what's going to count in the future. So it seems like the, the BDC answer will be: how do you make that access to the data as quickly as possible in order to get that, you know, get benefit out of that information. [00:25:20] Shawn Brown: For sure, time is. Time is money. [00:25:23] Mustansir Saifuddin: Time is money. [00:25:23] Exactly. So I think that leads me to my last question. What's one key takeaway from this session that you want to leave with our listeners? [00:25:33] Shawn Brown: Yeah. I would say, I'm gonna lean in on something I said earlier, you know, which is SAP's the best at delivering SAP data. Nobody understands the data and the needs of the data better than we do. And the reason for that is because we have 50 years of talking to organizations in different lines of business, in different industries and knowing what it is that they're looking to do with our data structures, right? [00:26:05] It's their data. But the structure upon that data is something that SAP has created, and largely we've evolved what those backend data models look like. We've evolved what the different fields are that we capture because we understand what organizations are trying to do with the data that they're collecting and placing in the SAP systems. [00:26:30] So knowing that, know that when the business comes to the data and analytics teams in the organization and they say, we need a report that says this, they're likely going to leave something out. They're likely not going to include everything that is being asked for, and the data and analytics organization's gonna do their best to deliver what the business is asked for. [00:26:55] Not knowing oftentimes that they're missing things, that relationships that they need to take into account are something that requires real understanding of the backend business application for SAP. What we can do with Business Data Cloud is simplify the world for the data and analytics teams, the IT department. [00:27:22] It's a lot of effort, a lot of work that they have had to do in the past that SAP is taking on for them and then just delivering what it is that the business is going to ask for. Even if the business doesn't know yet that they need another data element, it's already there from SAP from our data products. [00:27:42] It comes back to the same thing that we've said before, which is time is money. The faster we can deliver these data products to our customers, and the customer says, well, the business says this: this has everything that I want except this, except this is just a click, one [00:28:00] click, and you turn it on. [00:28:01] You add one more data element rather than, okay, now I need to go ahead and take a look at where I'm getting the data from, whether I'm actually at the database level or whether I'm actually, you know, do using some best practices and using those core data services that SAP provides. Instead of having to know all of the backend relationships and the things that you might have to pull, on top of what was requested by the business, the data's already curated. [00:28:27] It's already there for you. Now, that's the part that customers have gotta take away from, which is we're delivering speed. Speed gives you that opportunity to consume the data as quickly as possible. And then the, the one other thing I'll say and know you asked for one, but at the, this one goes directly with it, which is you're gonna have visualizations that you're going to need to develop. [00:28:53] Those visualizations are things that we already knew that customers have been asking for over and over and over. We've had a rich history of building business content for our customers, and now it's just a matter of now putting it into a visualization that is software as a service, push a button and it's available. [00:29:14] Start consuming it. It's about speed. Delivering those data products curated quickly and then about delivering, delivering those visualizations. So I think, I think that's, that's really the, the, in a nutshell the big, big elements that customers need to understand about the benefits of Business Data Cloud. [00:29:33] Mustansir Saifuddin: That is great. Thanks. What I'm hearing from you is it's all about how quickly you can make it happen. What are the, the different pieces that you can leverage if you are a BW customer and then not losing those investments at the same time, be able to get up and run much quicker than if you are taking a different path either adopting party solution versus, you know, keep using your current environment but not able to utilize some of the changes that are coming up in the Business Data Cloud. And I think it's just a way of speeding up your journey for AI. [00:30:12] Shawn Brown: Absolutely. [00:30:12] Mustansir Saifuddin: Thank you for the time you spent with us. It's been a pleasure and it's been very informative, so thank you. [00:30:18] Shawn Brown: Great. Thanks, Mustansir. I appreciate the time as well. [00:30:22] Mustansir Saifuddin: Thanks for listening to Tech Driven Business, brought to you by Innovative Solution Partners. Sean shared valuable roadmaps for SAP BW and BPC customers to BDC. Sean's key takeaway with 50 years of experience. SAP understands its own data structures better than anyone. It's about leveraging their expertise to gain speed. [00:30:51] Use BD, C to dramatically accelerate your journey from data to insight and ai. We would love to hear from you. Continue the conversation by connecting with me on LinkedIn or X. Learn more about innovative solution partners and schedule a free consultation by visiting i solution partners.com. Never miss a podcast by subscribing to our YouTube channel. [00:31:16] Information is in the show notes.

Ishtar Howell, monk, meditation teacher and intuitive astrologer joins me for a chat about his childhood experiences with various spirit entities crossing his path. We discuss how it was for him to keep a foot in either world. ishtarhowell.substack.com youtube.com/ishtarishaya Ishtar's workshop dates for the Ascension Meditation course: June 21 and 22 2025, Stroud June 28 and 29 2025, Richmond, North Yorkshire https://www.ascension-meditation.com/ Reach Ishtar for intuitive and astrological readings www.awakenedlightastrology.com Joining Patreon: Please do not join via the Apple app which takes a third of creators membership fees! Please join directly instead via your browser at Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/themodernfairysightingspodcast/membership⁠⁠ S U P P O R T T M F S P Become a Patron! We have a community called The Curious Crew. https://www.patreon.com/themodernfairysightingspodcast/membership If you are looking for exclusive bonus material, monthly zoom chats with like-minded folks, access to the Discord chat channels and joining in-person events with other members, please go to: https://www.patreon.com/themodernfairysightingspodcast/membership If you'd prefer to support the Modern Fairy Sightings with a one off donation, you can ‘buy me a coffee' and I'd be very grateful

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.In this episode, I sat down with Logan Bartlett, Managing Director of Redpoint Ventures. We explore the evolving landscape of venture capital and startup investing and dive deep into the challenges facing unicorn companies post-2021, the transformative potential of AI, and the critical factors for successful startup investments. Logan shares insights on identifying promising founders, navigating market uncertainties, and the importance of adaptability in both founding teams and venture capital. Key takeaways include the need for founders with rapid learning capabilities, the potential disruption and opportunities in AI, the changing dynamics of startup valuations and exits in a challenging market environment, and so much more.About Logan BartlettLogan Bartlett is a Managing Director at Redpoint Ventures, where he leads early-growth investments in enterprise software, with a focus on infrastructure, SaaS, and AI. Since joining Redpoint in 2020 after six years at Battery Ventures, Bartlett has backed high-growth companies such as Ramp, Cribl, Cyera, Monte Carlo, FloQast, Crossbeam, and Workato. His work has earned him recognition on both the Forbes 30 Under 30 and the Midas Brink lists.Beyond investing, Bartlett hosts The Logan Bartlett Show, a podcast featuring in-depth conversations with top founders, operators, and investors. The show offers insights into startup growth, market cycles, and venture capital strategies, and has become a respected resource within the tech ecosystem.Redpoint Ventures, founded in 1999, is a venture capital firm that partners with visionary founders to create and redefine markets. The firm invests in startups across various stages, from seed to growth, and has backed over 578 companies, including industry giants like Snowflake, Looker, Kustomer, Twilio, and Netflix. With 181 IPOs and M&A exits and managing $7.2 billion across multiple funds, Redpoint's expertise in guiding businesses toward success is well-established.Timestamps:In this episode, we discuss:* Logan Bartlett's Path into Venture Capital (1:46)* The 2021 Unicorn Logjam and Future Outlook (4:38)* AI's Role in Reshaping Legacy Companies (8:32)* Liquidity Challenges and Growth Stage Investing (11:16)* Portfolio Construction and Risk Balance (17:16)* Underwriting Series B Investments (22:41)* Portfolio Composition and Risk Appetite (26:36)* Evaluating AI Companies and Revenue Durability (30:01)* Forecasting and Macro Underwriting (35:32)* Key Investment Decision Criteria (40:11)* Traits of Successful Venture Investors (45:28)* Final Thoughts and Takeaways (49:58)I'd love to know what you took away from this conversation with Logan. Follow me @SamirKaji and give me your insights and questions with the hashtag #ventureunlocked. If you'd like to be considered as a guest or have someone you'd like to hear from (GP or LP), drop me a direct message on X. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ventureunlocked.substack.com

SaaStr 807: Snowflake's CEO on the AI Data Cloud, Partner Strategy, and What's Next Join Sridhar Ramaswamy, CEO of Snowflake, and Jeremy Burton, CEO of Observe, in a comprehensive discussion led by SaaStr CEO & Founder, Jason Lemkin. Discover the inner workings of Snowflake's Board, the dynamics of strategic partnerships, and the evolving role of AI in data management. Learn how Snowflake aims to be the AI Data Cloud and how Observe integrates with Snowflake to provide scalable analytics. With detailed insights into the partnership strategies, future technological trends, and success stories, this conversation offers a blueprint for leveraging AI and data to drive business value. Don't miss out on the valuable lessons and future predictions shared by these industry leaders. ----------------- This episode of the SaaStr podcast is sponsored by: Attio This episode is brought to you by Attio — the AI-native CRM. Connect your email, and Attio instantly builds a powerful CRM - with every company, contact and interaction you've ever had. Get 15% off your first year at https://attio.com/saastr  ------------------ This episode of the SaaStr podcast is sponsored by: Attention.com Tired of listening to hours of sales calls? Recording is yesterday's game. Attention.com unleashes an army of AI sales agents that auto-update your CRM, build custom sales decks, spot cross-sell signals, and score calls before your coffee's cold. Teams like BambooHR and Scale AI already automate their Sales and RevOps using customer conversations. Step into the future at attention.com/saastr ------------------ Hey everyone, we just hosted 10,000 of you at the SaaStr Annual in the SF Bay Area, and now get ready, because SaaStr AI is heading to London! On December 2nd and 3rd, we're bringing SaaStr AI to the heart of Europe. This is your chance to connect with 2,500+ SaaS and AI executives, founders, and investors, all sharing the secrets to scaling in the age of AI. Whether you're a founder, a revenue leader, or an investor, SaaStr AI in London is where the future of SaaS meets the power of AI. And we just announced tickets and sponsorships, so don't wait! Head to SaaStrLondon.com to grab yours and join us this December in London. SaaStr AI in London —where SaaS meets AI, and the next wave of innovation begins. See you there!  

Welcome to episode 308 of The Cloud Pod – where the forecast is always cloudy! Justin, Matt and Ryan are in the house today to tell us all about the latest and greatest from FinOps and SnowFlake conferences, plus updates from Security Command Center, OpenAI, and even a new AWS Region. All this and more, today in the cloud!  Titles we almost went with this week: I Left My Wallet at FinOps X, But Found Savings at Snowflake Summit Snowflake City Lights, FinOps by the Sea The Two Summits: A Tale of FinOps and Snowflakes Crunchy on the Outside, Snowflake on the Inside  AWS Taipei: Because Sometimes You Need Your Data Closer Than Your Night Market  AWS Plants Its Flag in Taipei: The 37th Time’s the Charm AWS Slashes GPU Prices Faster Than a CUDA Kernel Two Writers Walk Into a Database… And Both Succeed AWS Network Firewall: Now With Windows! The VPN Connection That Keeps Its Secrets Transform and Roll Out: Pub/Sub’s New Single Message Feature SAP Happens: Google’s New M4 VMs Handle It Better Total Recall: Google’s 6TB Memory Machines The M4trix Has You (And Your In-Memory Databases) DeepSeek and You Shall Find… on Google Cloud Four Score and Seven Vulnerabilities Ago – mk The Fantastic Four Security Features MCP: Model Context Protocol or Master Control Program from Tron? No SQL? No Problem! AI Takes the Wheel Injection Rejection: How Azure Keeps Your Prompts Clean General News  05:09 FinOps X 2025 Cloud Announcements: AI Agents  and Increased FOCUS Support All major cloud providers announced expanded support for FOCUS (FinOps Open Cost and Usage Specification) 1.0, with AWS already in general availability and Google Cloud launching a BigQuery export in private preview.  This signals an industry-wide standardization of cloud cost reporting formats. AWS introduced AI-powered cost optimization through Amazon Q Developer integration with Cost Optimization Hub, enabling automated recommendations across millions of resources with detailed explanations and action plans for cost reduction. Microsoft Azure launched AI agents for application modernization that can reduce migration efforts from months to hours by automating code assessment and remediation across thousands of files, while also introducing flexible PTU reservations that work across multiple AI models. Google Cloud unveiled FinOps Hub 2.0 with Gemini-powered waste detection that identifies underutilized resources (like VMs at 5% usage) and provides AI-generated optimization recommendations for Kubernetes, Cloud Run, and Cloud SQL services. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure added carbon emissio

Welcome back to SED News, a podcast series from Software Engineering Daily where hosts Gregor Vand and Sean Falconer break down the latest stories in software engineering, Silicon Valley, and wider tech world. In this episode, Gregor and Sean unpack what's going with Deel and Rippling, explore why Databricks and Snowflake are making big bets The post SED News: Corporate Spies, Postgres, and the Weird Life of Devs Right Now appeared first on Software Engineering Daily.

Conspiracies and cameras hidden in the front yard Snowflake makes an appearance on News Radio KKOBSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Natty Bumpercar hails from the wonderfully imaginary land of Coffee-Can Alley where ghosts sit with flowers, mice play with whales, and kittens poke fun in a vain effort to level the playing field. He is a self-professed “big fan of making all kinds of stuff” who rarely puts forth any kind of an idea about anything without first running it by his live-in band of malcontents Irving Brown Socks, Spot Elliot, and Peanut Lou.I should mention that not-for-nothing, Natty Bumpercar tends to shade towards knowing a lot about nothing. He draws, paints, animates, writes bunches of words, changes diapers, gets stuck in awkward situations, tells ridiculous stories, makes funny voices and produces two web comics (Snowflake and Ants).He would love the benefit of the doubt.He is almost sure that junk food therapy is the key to his miserly success.Hooray.

Chris Degnan is one of the most legendary CROs of this generation. He joined Snowflake as employee #13 and the 1st sales hire. He scaled the sales org from 0 to over $3B in ARR, spanned four CEOs, and retired as CRO after 11 years. In his first podcast post-retirement, Chris opened his CRO playbook, from early enablement to hiring rigor and fending off threats from competitors. He also reflects on lessons from working with leaders like Frank Slootman, John McMahon, and Sridhar Ramaswamy. If you're a founder or running sales at a startup, this one is for you. (00:00) Introduction to Chris's Journey at Snowflake (01:47) Navigating Leadership Changes (04:39) The Importance of Sales Methodology and Enablement (10:22) Near-Death Experiences and Company Resilience (13:39) Building a Strong Sales Organization (27:25) Hiring and Scaling the Sales Team (34:52) Board Dynamics and Mentorship (44:29) The Influence of John McMahon (46:22) Leadership Styles and Intuition (46:56) Launching Snowflake Japan (49:39) Learning from Leaders (55:10) The Importance of Competitive Moats (59:12) Snowflake vs. Databricks (01:07:45) Public vs. Private Markets (01:14:03) Sales and Marketing Synergy (01:26:17) Final Thoughts and Future Plans Executive Producer: Rashad Assir Producer: Leah Clapper Mixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky Check out Unsupervised Learning, Redpoint's AI Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@UCUl-s_Vp-Kkk_XVyDylNwLA

Snowflake has to get in there and Joke' Rodeo on News Radio KKOBSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alissa Coram and Ken Shreve analyze Thursday's market action and discuss key stocks to watch on Stock Market Today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you secretly believe you're uniquely unlovable, fundamentally broken, or just too weird to be understood? Congrats, you might have Special Snowflake Syndrome™. In this spicy episode (recorded on day one of my period a.k.a. peak truth serum), I unpack how this isolating lie keeps you from the connection you crave—and why 25% of us are out here doing the exact same thing. You're not broken, you're just avoidant. Let's fix that.Discover your attachment style to break free from old relationship patterns. Take the free quiz here: https://quiz.tryinteract.com/#/6329f75e6dd9410016a64043Follow Lit AF Relationships on Instagram: @itsmesarahcohan.comVisit the Lit AF Relationships Website: https://www.sarahcohan.com/If you're interested in one-on-one or couples coaching I'd love to help you heal old patterns to create healthy relationships where you feel like you're on the same team. Get started by applying for a free 60-minute healthy relationships call here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSddL3tie849uvgD1m31l4MAH3AzH0FlWgnsG0gPEBEzeDyPyg/viewform

Alex Merced talks about the annoucement at Snowflake and Databricks respective conferences in particular when it comes to the lakehouse. Follow Alex: https://www.alexmerced.com/data

When legal ops meets the AI data revolution, what does it actually look like on the ground? In this episode, Mary O'Carroll sits down with Aaron Bromagem, Head of Legal Operations at Snowflake, to talk about what it means to lead legal ops inside one of the top AI and data companies—and why the role today is barely recognizable from just a few years ago. Aaron shares how his team is navigating breakneck change, massive expectations from leadership, and a vendor landscape that's expanding faster than anyone can track. If you've ever felt like your strategy gets outdated before you even finish writing it down, this one's for you. In this episode: Navigating Uncertainty: Aaron opens up about what it's like to lead in an environment where priorities shift every quarter—and why nimbleness beats planning. GCs as Technologists: The modern general counsel is demanding more data, faster delivery, and deeper insights. Here's what that means for legal ops. The Rise of the Legal Data Model: How Snowflake built a system to turn legal operations data into reliable enterprise intelligence—and why it's powering product features now. Prompt Engineering vs. Agent Workflows: As AI evolves, are we moving from writing prompts to building complex legal workflows powered by agents? The Vendor Maze: Why every legal tech vendor says the same thing—and how Aaron separates the useful from the fluff. A New Profile for Legal Ops: Technical backgrounds, data fluency, and an operations-first mindset—Aaron and Mary discuss how the ideal candidate is changing. If you're in legal ops and feel like you're barely keeping up with the pace of change, you're not alone. But as Aaron shows, with the right mindset and tools, there's huge opportunity in the chaos. Follow Mary on LinkedIn Rate and review on Apple Podcasts

Carl and Moral welcome Richmond artist Obrehon (Matt Brehony) to the show for season 5's final Hitpick, Snowflakes! For the first time the team discuss a Hitpick with it's creator, getting insight from the source. This breakdown is like none other, pulling from the lyrics, sonics, song order, and more. Snowflakes is the perfect conversation starter. ShoutOut goes to HQ-Headquarters (@hqrva) and much more! Stay locked in with Richmond's Own OBREHON at: (@obrehon_music) linktr.ee/obrehon Become apart of the Conversation! www.embracerva.com - (@embrace_podcast)

We got our hands on Jacco van der Kooij's latest GTM playbook. The one he's only been sharing behind closed doors at high-ticket, invite-only events. And yes, we're leaking it. This isn't just a few new tactics. It's a complete shift in how revenue leaders think about growth. No more chasing leads at all costs. No more funnels that fall apart at scale. Instead, it's about turning your users into your biggest growth engine. We dig into what's changing, what companies like Notion and Snowflake are doing differently, and why this approach might be the healthiest way to grow in B2B right now. Never miss a new episode! join our newsletter at revenueformula.substack.com (00:00) - Introduction (01:24) - Exploring the New Playbook (08:04) - Activating Your User Base (23:01) - The tiered users ecosystem (29:43) - Cohort-Based Events (36:56) - Human-Led Growth: The Power of Real Connections (43:21) - The New Playbook: Integrating Sales and Success (51:23) - Up next: The SDR Playbook

Stephen Grootes speaks to Kobus Gertenbach, CEO at Premier Foods, about the company's strong annual earnings, driven by cost control, efficiency improvements, and strategic investments, despite challenging economic conditions. The Money Show is a podcast hosted by well-known journalist and radio presenter, Stephen Grootes. He explores the latest economic trends, business developments, investment opportunities, and personal finance strategies. Each episode features engaging conversations with top newsmakers, industry experts, financial advisors, entrepreneurs, and politicians, offering you thought-provoking insights to navigate the ever-changing financial landscape.    Thank you for listening to a podcast from The Money Show Listen live Primedia+ weekdays from 18:00 and 20:00 (SA Time) to The Money Show with Stephen Grootes broadcast on 702 https://buff.ly/gk3y0Kj and CapeTalk https://buff.ly/NnFM3Nk For more from the show, go to https://buff.ly/7QpH0jY or find all the catch-up podcasts here https://buff.ly/PlhvUVe Subscribe to The Money Show Daily Newsletter and the Weekly Business Wrap here https://buff.ly/v5mfetc The Money Show is brought to you by Absa     Follow us on social media   702 on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TalkRadio702 702 on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@talkradio702 702 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkradio702/ 702 on X: https://x.com/CapeTalk 702 on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@radio702   CapeTalk on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@capetalk CapeTalk on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ CapeTalk on X: https://x.com/Radio702 CapeTalk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CapeTalk567 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Lois Houston and Nikita Abraham dive into key components of Oracle GoldenGate 23ai with expert insights from Nick Wagner, Senior Director of Product Management.   They break down the Distribution Service, explaining how it moves trail files between environments, replaces the classic extract pump, and ensures secure data transfer. Nick also introduces Target Initiated Paths, a method for connecting less secure environments to more secure ones, and discusses how the Receiver Service simplifies monitoring and management. The episode wraps up with a look into Initial Load, covering different methods for syncing source and target databases without downtime.   Oracle GoldenGate 23ai: Fundamentals: https://mylearn.oracle.com/ou/course/oracle-goldengate-23ai-fundamentals/145884/237273 Oracle University Learning Community: https://education.oracle.com/ou-community LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/oracle-university/ X: https://x.com/Oracle_Edu   Special thanks to Arijit Ghosh, David Wright, Kris-Ann Nansen, Radhika Banka, and the OU Studio Team for helping us create this episode. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Episode Transcript: 00:00 Welcome to the Oracle University Podcast, the first stop on your cloud journey. During this series of informative podcasts, we'll bring you foundational training on the most popular Oracle technologies. Let's get started! 00:25 Nikita: Welcome to the Oracle University Podcast! I'm Nikita Abraham, Team Lead of Editorial Services with Oracle University, and with me is Lois Houston, Director of Innovation Programs.  Lois: Hey there! Last week, we spoke about the Extract process and today we're going to spend time discussing the Distribution Path, Target Initiated Path, Receiver Server, and Initial Load. These are all critical components of the GoldenGate architecture, and understanding how they work together is essential for successful data replication. 00:58 Nikita: To help us navigate these topics, we've got Nick Wagner joining us again. Nick is a Senior Director of Product Management for Oracle GoldenGate. Hi Nick! Thanks for being with us today. To kick things off, can you tell us what the distribution service is and how it works? Nick: A distribution path is used when we need to send trail files between two different GoldenGate environments. The distribution service replaces the extract pump that was used in GoldenGate classic architecture. And so the distribution service will send the trail files as they're being created to that receiver service and it will write the trail files over on the target system. The distribution service works in a kind of a streaming fashion, so it's constantly pulling the trail files that the extract is creating to see if there's any new data. As soon as it sees new data, it'll packet it up and send it across the network to the receiver service. It can use a couple of different methods to do this. The most secure and recommended method is using a WebSocket secure connection or WSS. If you're going between a microservices and a classic architecture, you can actually tell the distribution service to send it using the classic architecture method. In that case, it's the OGG option when you're configuring the distribution service. There's also some unsecured methods that would send the trail files in plain text. The receiver service is then responsible for taking that data and rewriting it into the trail file on the target site. 02:23 Lois: Nick, what are some of the key features and responsibilities of the distribution service? Nick: It's responsible for command deployment. So any time that you're going to actually make a command to the distribution service, it gets handled there directly. It can handle multiple commands concurrently. It's going to dispatch trail files to one or more receiver servers so you can actually have a single distribution path, send trail files to multiple targets. It can provide some lightweight filtering so you can decide which tables get sent to the target system. And it also is integrated in with our data streams, our pub and subscribe model that we've added in GoldenGate 23ai. 03:01 Lois: Interesting. And are there any protocols to remember when using the distribution service? Nick: We always recommend a secure WebSocket. You also have proxy support for use within cloud environments. And then if you're going to a classic architecture GoldenGate, you would use the Oracle GoldenGate protocol. So in order to communicate with the distribution service and send it commands, you can communicate directly from any web browser, client software-- installation is not required-- or you can also do it through the admin client if necessary, but you can do it directly through browsers. 03:33 Nikita: Ok, let's move on to the target initiated path. Nick, what is it and what does it do essentially? Nick: This is used when you're communicating from a less secure environment to a more secure environment. Often, this requires going through some sort of DMZ. In these situations, a connection cannot be established from the less secure environment into the more secure environment. It actually needs to be established from the more secure environment out. And so if we need to replicate data into a more secure environment, we need to actually have the target GoldenGate environment initiate that connection so that it can be established.  And that's what a target-initiated path does. 04:12 Lois: And how do you set it up? Nick: It's pretty straightforward to set up. You actually don't even need to worry about it on the source side. You actually set it up and configure it from the target. The receiver service is responsible for receiving the trail file data and writing it to the local trail file. In this situation, we have a target-initiated path created. And so that receiver service is going to write the trail files locally and the replicat is going to apply that data into that target system. 04:37 Nikita: I also want to ask you about the Receiver service. What is it really? Nick: Receiver service is pretty straightforward. It's a centrally controlled service. It allows you to view the status of your distribution path and replaces target side collectors that were available in the classic architecture of GoldenGate. You can also get statistics about the receiver service directly from the web UI.  You can get detailed information about these paths by going into the receiver service and identifying information like network details, transfer protocols, how many bytes it's received, how many bytes it's sent out. If you need to issue commands from the admin client to the receiver service, you can use the info command to get details about it. Info all will tell you everything that's running. And you can see that your receiver service is up and running. 05:28 Are you working towards an Oracle Certification this year? Join us at one of our certification prep live events in the Oracle University Learning Community. Get insider tips from seasoned experts and learn from others who have already taken their certifications. Go to community.oracle.com/ou to jump-start your journey towards certification today! 05:53 Nikita: Welcome back. In the last section of today's episode, we'll cover what Initial Load is. Nick, can you break down the basics for us? Nick: So, the initial load is really used when you need to synchronize the source and target systems. Because GoldenGate is designed for 24/7 environments, we need to be able to do that initial load without taking downtime on the source. And so all the methods that we talk about do not require any downtime for that source database. 06:18 Lois: How do you do the initial load? Nick: So there's a couple of different ways to do the initial load. And it really depends on what your topology is. If I'm doing like-to-like replication in a homogeneous environment, we'll say Oracle-to-Oracle, the best options are to use something that's integrated with GoldenGate, some sort of precise instantiation method that does not require HandleCollisions. That's something like a database backup and restoring it to a specific SDN or CSN value using a Database Snapshot. Or in some cases, we can use Oracle Data Pump integration with GoldenGate. There are some less precise instantiation options, which do require HandleCollisions. We also have dissimilar initial load methods. And this is typically when you're going between heterogeneous environments. When my source and target databases don't match and there isn't any kind of fast unload or fast load utility that I could use between those two databases. In almost all cases, this does require HandleCollisions to be used. 07:16 Nikita: Got it. So, with so many options available, are there any advantages to using GoldenGate's own initial load method?  Nick: While some databases do have very good fast load and unload utilities, there are some advantages to using GoldenGate's own initial load method. One, it supports heterogeneous replication environments. So if I'm going from Postgres to Oracle, it'll do all the data type transformation, character set transformation for me. It doesn't require any downtime, if certain conditions are met.  It actually performs transformation as the data is loaded, too, as well as filtering. And so any transformation that you would be doing in your normal transaction log replication or CDC replication can also go through the same transformation for the initial load process. GoldenGate's initial load process does read directly from the source tables. And it fetches the data in arrays. It also uses parallel processing to speed up the replication. It does also handle activity on the source tables during the initial load process, so you do not need to worry about quiescing that source database. And a lot of the initial load methods directly built into GoldenGate support distributed application analytics targets, including things like Databricks, Snowflake, BigQuery. 08:28 Lois: And what about its limitations? Or to put it differently, when should users consider using different methods? Nick: So the first thing to consider is system proximity. We want to make sure that the two systems we're working with are close together. Or if not, how are we going to send the data across? One thing to keep in mind, when we do the initial load, the source database is not quiesced. So if it takes an hour to do the initial load or 10 hours, it really doesn't matter to GoldenGate. So that's something to keep in mind. Even though we talk about performance of this, the performance really isn't as critical as one might suspect. So the important thing about data system proximity is the proximity to the extract and replicat processes that are going to be pulling the data out and pushing it across. And then how much data is generated? Are we talking about a database that's just a couple of gigabytes? Or are we talking about a database that's hundreds of terabytes? Do we want to consider outage time? Would it be faster to take a little bit of outage and use some other method to move the data across? What kind of outage or downtime windows do we have for these environments? And then another consideration is disk space. As we're pulling the data out of that source database, we need to have somewhere to store it. And if we don't have enough disk space, we need to run to temporary space or to use multiple external drives to be able to support it. So these are all different considerations. 09:50 Nikita: I think we can wind up our episode with that. Thanks, Nick, for giving us your insights.  Lois: If you'd like to learn more about the topics we covered today, head over to mylearn.oracle.com and check out the Oracle GoldenGate 23ai: Fundamentals course. Nikita: In our next episode, Nick will take us through the Replicat process. Until then, this is Nikita Abraham… Lois: And, Lois Houston signing off! 10:14 That's all for this episode of the Oracle University Podcast. If you enjoyed listening, please click Subscribe to get all the latest episodes. We'd also love it if you would take a moment to rate and review us on your podcast app. See you again on the next episode of the Oracle University Podcast.

Video version of a delightful chat with Willa, an Australian woman who has made her home in Zürich, Switzerland. Willa's encounter took place five years ago in the Tarragona region of Spain. Early one morning, she took a stroll through her friend's garden and came face to face with some beings, whom she describes as 'forest spirits', sitting in three trees growing inside a spiral of arrangement of rocks. As Willa described: "I saw them, they seemed to be “looking” at me. My impression was they were aware I could see them. The situation...lasted only for about a minute before they seemed to fold in on themselves and disappear." Describing herself as a lifelong 'skeptical person', we discuss how coming into contact with these beings has made a subsequent impact on Willa's life and how she feels about visiting this location in the Tarragona region again, later in the year. We also discuss Willa's call, to aid people like me and you who have become homeless. Here she is volunteering during lockdown in the kitchen of the Pfuusbus in Zürich. If you would like to donate or find out more about the Pfarrer Sieber organisation here's the website: ⁠https://www.swsieber.ch/⁠In the UK there are several homelessness charities including ⁠Crisis⁠, ⁠Shelter⁠ and ⁠St Mungo's⁠ In America: Habitat for Humanity, The Salvation Army and Covenant House. The other episodes which I refer to re Tree Beings: https://www.scarlettofthefae.com/episode-2-a-call-to-the-otherworld/ https://www.scarlettofthefae.com/episode-33-tree-teacher-and-two-suns/ Joining Patreon: Please do not join via the Apple app which takes a third of my membership fee! please join instead via your browser at Patreon: ⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/themodernfairysightingspodcast/membership⁠ S U P P O R T T M F S P Become a Patron! We have a community called The Curious Crew. https://www.patreon.com/themodernfairysightingspodcast/membership If you are looking for exclusive bonus material, monthly zoom chats with like-minded folks, access to the Discord chat channels and joining in-person events with other members, please go to: https://www.patreon.com/themodernfairysightingspodcast/membership If you'd prefer to support the Modern Fairy Sightings with a one off donation, you can ‘buy me a coffee' and I'd be very grateful

A delightful chat with Willa, an Australian woman who has made her home in Zürich, Switzerland. A video version of this chat is on YouTube: https://youtu.be/oTsepRFupcc?si=5KGtwaH-N81DALqp Willa's encounter took place five years ago in the Tarragona region of Spain. Early one morning, she took a stroll through her friend's garden and came face to face with some beings, whom she describes as 'forest spirits', sitting in three trees growing inside a spiral of arrangement of rocks. As Willa described: "I saw them, they seemed to be “looking” at me. My impression was they were aware I could see them. The situation...lasted only for about a minute before they seemed to fold in on themselves and disappear." Describing herself as a lifelong 'skeptical person', we discuss how coming into contact with these beings has made a subsequent impact on Willa's life and how she feels about visiting this location in the Tarragona region again, later in the year. We also discuss Willa's call, to aid people like me and you who have become homeless. Here she is volunteering during lockdown in the kitchen of the Pfuusbus in Zürich. If you would like to donate or find out more about the Pfarrer Sieber organisation here's the website: https://www.swsieber.ch/In the UK there are several homelessness charities including Crisis, Shelter and St Mungo's In America: Habitat for Humanity, The Salvation Army and Covenant House. The other episodes which I refer to re Tree Beings: https://www.scarlettofthefae.com/episode-2-a-call-to-the-otherworld/ https://www.scarlettofthefae.com/episode-33-tree-teacher-and-two-suns/ S U P P O R T T M F S P Become a Patron! We have a community called The Curious Crew. https://www.patreon.com/themodernfairysightingspodcast If you are looking for exclusive bonus material, monthly zoom chats with like-minded folks, access to the Discord chat channels and joining in-person events with other members, please go to: https://www.patreon.com/themodernfairysightingspodcast If you'd prefer to support the Modern Fairy Sightings with a one off donation, you can ‘buy me a coffee' and I'd be very grateful

This week on the Black Lincoln Collective Comedy Podcast, the crew delivers laughs, tackles absurd topics, and shares unforgettable stories! This episode, titled "Brillo Nuts," features hilarious discussions on the trials of small-town pro wrestling, encounters with eccentric behavior, and side-splitting moments about Sydney Sweeney, snowflakes, and a whole lot more.Episode Notes0:00 - 10:00 - Introduction and banter about life humor, including a heated seat debate.10:01 - 25:00 - Turbo Pro Wrestling adventures, seating mishaps, and family-friendly wrestling chaos.25:01 - 40:00 - Tales about ice cream cone disasters at McDonald's and how to handle meltdowns in every sense.40:01 - 54:00 - Sydney Sweeney's "bathwater soap" saga, questionable inventions, and baffling money decisions.54:01 - End - Tips on checking your toilet flap, plus Fred's philosophy on a “50/50 chance” for almost everything in life. #blcpodcast #podcastingforthepeople #funny #podcast #greenvillesc #scpodcast #yeahthatgreenville Listen at: https://blc.world/ Tweet the Show: https://twitter.com/blcworld Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blcpodcast/ Check us out on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blcpodcast/ Buy Fred and Allan Beer: https://www.patreon.com/blcworld

Is your business ready for the next wave of AI — or about to be eaten by it?In this week's episode of The Leveraging AI Podcast, Isar Meitis breaks down the latest tectonic shifts in the AI landscape. From OpenAI's aggressive move into enterprise applications to self-improving AI models and FDA-approved cancer detection tools, this isn't just another week in tech — it's a glimpse into the near future of business.AI is no longer just evolving — it's learning how to evolve itself. That means faster innovation, deeper disruption, and greater opportunity for those paying attention. So if you're leading a company, making decisions, or just trying to stay ahead — you can't afford to miss this.Recommendation: If you're relying on dashboards and human analysts alone, it's time to consider the AI layer that's changing enterprise strategy across industries.In this session, you'll discover:Why OpenAI's enterprise push is terrifying startups — and possibly Google and MicrosoftHow Databricks and Snowflake are redefining BI with "systems of intelligence"What Mary Meeker's AI mega-report says about tech acceleration — and what's not acceleratingWhich AI model is rewriting its own code (yes, you read that right)How AI just helped the FDA approve a tool for early breast cancer detectionWhy layoffs tied to AI aren't slowing down — and why most leaders are still underestimating the shiftWhat's brewing at Microsoft, Meta, Apple, and Anthropic in the battle for enterprise dominanceHow new AI agents may eliminate the need for ad agencies and call centersAbout Leveraging AI The Ultimate AI Course for Business People: https://multiplai.ai/ai-course/ YouTube Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@Multiplai_AI/ Connect with Isar Meitis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isarmeitis/ Join our Live Sessions, AI Hangouts and newsletter: https://services.multiplai.ai/events If you've enjoyed or benefited from some of the insights of this episode, leave us a five-star review on your favorite podcast platform, and let us know what you learned, found helpful, or liked most about this show!

Logan sits down with Bipul Sinha, CEO and co-founder of Rubrik and former VC at Lightspeed and Blumberg Capital. Bipul shares what he learned transitioning from investor to founder, why intuition beats expertise, and how he built Rubrik into a category-defining business by betting on uncool ideas. They talk product-market fit in the AI era, what most VCs get wrong today, and why the enterprise IT market is still just getting started. It's a conversation packed with hard-earned wisdom and bold takes on building lasting companies. (00:00) Intro (01:42) Transitioning from VC to Founder (02:27) The Genesis of Rubrik (03:30) Navigating Uncertainty in Business (06:57) Product Market Fit and Early Success (08:56) Evolving with the Market (13:14) AI and Data Security (18:53) Leadership and Intuition (28:34) Building a Transparent Culture (31:52) Handling Tough Questions in Board Meetings (33:28) Changing Perspectives Over Time (34:57) Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs (36:46) The Future of Venture Capital and Startups (40:38) Balancing Forward and Lateral Motion in Business (42:35) The Impact of AI on Various Industries (01:00:28) The Evolution of Work and Technology (01:02:52) Fostering a Collaborative Company Culture (01:04:56) Looking Ahead: The Future of Rubrik Executive Producer: Rashad Assir Producer: Leah Clapper Mixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky Check out Unsupervised Learning, Redpoint's AI Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@UCUl-s_Vp-Kkk_XVyDylNwLA

This week, we discuss Apple reversioning macOS, the steady state of private cloud, and Snowflake's acquisition of CrunchyData. Plus, the eternal quest for a 5-star Uber rating. Watch the YouTube Live Recording of Episode (https://youtube.com/live/2_81_RK24u0?feature=share) 522 (https://youtube.com/live/2_81_RK24u0?feature=share) Runner-up Titles Saudi crypto money You know what humans like? Buses I think we need 10 stars Snow lion Maslow's hierarchy of enterprise needs The Alexandria datacenter for French Telecom Always be cobbling (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_vSirIJEsY) 20-plus years of Internetting Rundown Apple is reportedly going to rename all of its operating systems (https://www.theverge.com/news/675945/apple-operating-systems-new-name-year-ios-macos) Private Cloud Still a lot - private cloud check-in, Spring 2025 (https://newsletter.cote.io/p/still-a-lot-private-cloud-check-in) Private cloud still matters—but it doesn't matter most (https://www.infoworld.com/article/3999740/private-cloud-still-matters-but-it-doesnt-matter-most.html) Re: Still a lot of private cloud, numbers of cloud repatriation (higher than I thought) (https://newsletter.cote.io/p/re-still-a-lot-of-private-cloud-numbers?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbc49b775-41bb-4e71-807b-e6a892885c7f_1920x1080.png&open=false) Cloud Repatriation is Getting Complicated (https://www.lastweekinaws.com/blog/cloud-repatriation-is-getting-complicated/?ck_subscriber_id=512840665&utm_source=convertkit&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=[Last%20Week%20in%20AWS%20Extras]:%20Cloud%20Repatriation%20is%20Getting%20Complicated%20-%2017787123) Snowflake to Buy Crunchy Data for $250 Million (https://www.wsj.com/articles/snowflake-to-buy-crunchy-data-for-250-million-233543ab?mod=Searchresults_pos1&page=1) The AI browser wars are about to begin (https://www.platformer.news/ai-web-browsers-openai-perplexity-opera/?ref=platformer-newsletter&attribution_id=6838e4d00b5b820001b1eff6&attribution_type=post) An Interview with Cursor Co-Founder and CEO Michael Truell About Coding With AI (https://stratechery.com/2025/an-interview-with-cursor-co-founder-and-ceo-michael-truell-about-coding-with-ai/) After Klarna, Zoom's CEO also uses an AI avatar on quarterly call (https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/22/after-klarna-zooms-ceo-also-uses-an-ai-avatar-on-quarterly-call/) The OpenAI board drama is reportedly turning into a movie (https://techcrunch.com/2025/06/03/the-openai-board-drama-is-reportedly-turning-into-a-movie/) Lonny Ross (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0743622/?ref_=tt_cst_t_14) from 30 Rock Relevant to your Interests Exclusive: Meta splits AI team to move faster (https://www.axios.com/2025/05/27/meta-ai-restructure-2025-agi-llama?utm_source=superhuman&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=claude-gets-voice-mode&_bhlid=03c16bf9c459c21bcde136b3b7ddcda9c76bf8da) The Monster-Slaying Game You Can Play Almost Anywhere (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/21/arts/play-doom-ports.html?unlocked_article_code=1.KU8.W3qp.3oxjIeBU4gMc) DOGE Days (https://sahillavingia.com/doge) Thanks to AI, Gen Z is replacing pitch decks with pitchforks (https://thehustle.co/news/thanks-to-ai-gen-z-is-replacing-pitch-decks-with-pitch-forks) Mark Zuckerberg says Meta AI has 1 billion monthly active users (https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/28/zuckerberg-meta-ai-one-billion-monthly-users.html?utm_source=tldrai) The Future of Comments is Lies, I Guess (https://aphyr.com/posts/388-the-future-of-comments-is-lies-i-guess) Walmart Enters the Cloud Wars and Challenges Microsoft, Salesforce, Oracle, and SAP (https://cloudwars.com/cloud/walmart-enters-the-cloud-wars-and-challenges-microsoft-salesforce-oracle-and-sap/) It's Waymo's World. We're All Just Riding in It. (https://www.wsj.com/tech/waymo-cars-self-driving-robotaxi-tesla-uber-0777f570?st=uDVyF2&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink) Exclusive | Meta Aims to Fully Automate Ad Creation Using AI (https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/meta-aims-to-fully-automate-ad-creation-using-ai-7d82e249) Space Forge raises $30M Series A to make chip materials in space (https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/31/space-forge-raises-30m-series-a-to-make-chip-materials-in-space/) AI company files for bankruptcy after being exposed as 700 Indian engineers (https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/ai-company-files-for-bankruptcy-after-being-exposed-as-700-human-engineers-3208136/) Clouded Judgement 5.30.25 - Moats in the Age of AI (https://cloudedjudgement.substack.com/p/clouded-judgement-53025-moats-in?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=56878&post_id=164602647&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=2l9&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email) Reddit Sues Anthropic, Alleges Unauthorized Use of Site's Data (https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/reddit-lawsuit-anthropic-ai-3b9624dd?mod=tech_lead_pos1) Ciroos.AI Emerges From Stealth, Raises $21M To Scale Agentic AI Tool For Operations Teams (https://www.crn.com/news/networking/2025/ciroos-ai-emerges-from-stealth-raises-21m-to-scale-agentic-ai-tool-for-operations-teams) IBM Said to Have Pursued Informatica Ahead of Salesforce Deal (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-05/ibm-said-to-have-pursued-informatica-ahead-of-salesforce-deal?srnd=phx-deals) Gemini will now automatically summarize your long emails unless you opt out (https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/30/gemini-will-now-automatically-summarize-your-long-emails-unless-you-opt-out/) Nonsense WeatherStar 4000+ (https://weatherstar.netbymatt.com/?hazards-checkbox=true¤t-weather-checkbox=true&latest-observations-checkbox=true&hourly-checkbox=true&hourly-graph-checkbox=true&travel-checkbox=true®ional-forecast-checkbox=true&local-forecast-checkbox=true&extended-forecast-checkbox=true&almanac-checkbox=true&spc-outlook-checkbox=true&settings-wide-checkbox=false&settings-kiosk-checkbox=false&settings-scanLines-checkbox=true&settings-speed-select=1.00&settings-units-select=us&latLonQuery=78759%2C+Austin%2C+TX%2C+USA&latLon=%7B%22lat%22%3A30.4036%2C%22lon%22%3A-97.7519%7D) Conferences SREDay Cologne, June 12th, 2025 (https://sreday.com/2025-cologne-q2/#tickets) - Coté speaking, discount: CLG10, 10% off. SDT News & Community Join our Slack community (https://softwaredefinedtalk.slack.com/join/shared_invite/zt-1hn55iv5d-UTfN7mVX1D9D5ExRt3ZJYQ#/shared-invite/email) Email the show: questions@softwaredefinedtalk.com (mailto:questions@softwaredefinedtalk.com) Free stickers: Email your address to stickers@softwaredefinedtalk.com (mailto:stickers@softwaredefinedtalk.com) Follow us on social media: Twitter (https://twitter.com/softwaredeftalk), Threads (https://www.threads.net/@softwaredefinedtalk), Mastodon (https://hachyderm.io/@softwaredefinedtalk), LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/software-defined-talk/), BlueSky (https://bsky.app/profile/softwaredefinedtalk.com) Watch us on: Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/sdtpodcast), YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi3OJPV6h9tp-hbsGBLGsDQ/featured), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/softwaredefinedtalk/), TikTok (https://www.tiktok.com/@softwaredefinedtalk) Book offer: Use code SDT for $20 off "Digital WTF" by Coté (https://leanpub.com/digitalwtf/c/sdt) Sponsor the show (https://www.softwaredefinedtalk.com/ads): ads@softwaredefinedtalk.com (mailto:ads@softwaredefinedtalk.com) Recommendations Brandon: Snapware Pyrex 18-piece Glass Food Storage Set (https://www.costco.com/snapware-pyrex-18-piece-glass-food-storage-set.product.100358145.html) Matt: Rick Rubin: Vibe Coding is the Punk Rock of Software (https://a16z.simplecast.com/episodes/rick-rubin-vibe-coding-is-the-punk-rock-of-software-9QhxjZpI) (A16Z podcast) Photo Credits Header (https://unsplash.com/photos/man-driving-vehicle-with-gps-system-turned-on-kARZuSYMfrA)

What's holding back enterprise adoption of blockchain?In this episode, Sergio from Sonar X joins Sam to explain why the missing piece is data infrastructure. Drawing from experience at Bloomberg and AWS (where he led Amazon Managed Blockchain), Sergio breaks down why most blockchain systems are broken at the data layer—and how Sonar X is building a scalable, multi-chain backend to fix it.From audit-grade historical data to real-time indexing across 30+ chains, Sonar X is laying the foundation for Web3's next growth wave.Key Timestamps[00:00:00] Introduction: Sergio's background and what Sonar X is solving.[00:01:30] Growing up as a fixer: From Italian banking to Bloomberg and AWS.[00:04:00] Falling in love with blockchain: MIT program and lightbulb moment.[00:05:30] The problem: Enterprise-grade infrastructure for blockchain data doesn't exist.[00:07:00] What Sonar X does: Reliable, multi-chain data infra for coverage, quality, and access.[00:09:00] Use cases: From DeFi indexes to forensics, custody, fund admin, and compliance.[00:12:00] The architecture: How Sonar X solves the CAP theorem limitations of blockchain.[00:15:00] Data standardization: Making 30+ chains interoperable via common schemas.[00:17:30] Indexing like Bloomberg: Creating a “market data” layer for all chains.[00:19:00] Data delivery: Snowflake, Databricks, CSV exports, and multi-cloud support.[00:20:00] Business model: Simple annual chain-based subscriptions, no usage limits.[00:22:00] Custom support: Engineering advisory to reduce compute costs for clients.[00:23:00] Challenges ahead: Scaling to meet 1M+ TPS chains and occasional-use customers.[00:25:00] Traditional finance: How blockchain will upgrade, not replace, infrastructure like DTCC or SWIFT.[00:27:00] Blockchain = the ultimate value exchange machine.[00:28:00] Data scale: Every new asset, chain, or protocol creates exponential complexity.[00:30:00] Final ask: Keep investing in product, preparing for GenAI, and expanding chain support.[00:33:00] The future: RWA tokenization, AI agents, and why reliable data will be the cornerstone.Connecthttps://www.sonarx.com/https://www.linkedin.com/company/sonarxhttps://x.com/sonarx_hqhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/sergiocapannaDisclaimerNothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research. Finally, it would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend.Be a guest on the podcast or contact us - https://www.web3pod.xyz/

Talking to kids about emotions is only going to make them soft snowflakes. Letting kids show their emotions opens them up to bullying or means they're going to walk all over us when they're mad. Right?Think again.In this episode, I'm calling out one of the biggest parenting myths around emotional intelligence, and breaking down why raising emotionally intelligent kids is the OPPOSITE of raising weak ones.I'm talking about:What real resilience actually looks like (and why “toughening up” is outdated)How emotional intelligence builds grit, problem-solving, and self-regulationThe dangerous behaviours that come from not teaching kids how to handle emotionsAnd how to raise kids who bounce back, think clearly under pressure, and own their emotions—instead of being ruled by them.Whether you're new to the EI approach or still battling a skeptical partner or in-law, this one's for you.PLUS — I'll share my own story, practical examples, and a crazy-simple analogy that'll reframe everything you thought you knew about “soft parenting.”

NWN Corporation has acquired InterVision Systems, a managed services provider known for its innovative IT solutions and a strong partnership with Amazon Web Services. This strategic acquisition aims to enhance NWN's offerings in customer experience, cybersecurity, and intelligent infrastructure, solidifying its position in the North American technology market. With the addition of 1,600 new accounts and approximately $470 million in sales, NWN is set to significantly improve its market presence and accelerate the digital transformation journeys of its clients. CEO Jim Sullivan emphasized that this move will allow NWN to provide a comprehensive suite of AI-managed services, positioning the company as a leader in the emerging AI-native platform MSP sector.Empath, a training and education platform for managed service providers, has successfully raised $2 million in funding backed entirely by industry insiders. This initiative aims to deepen community engagement and give MSPs a stake in the platform's growth. Co-founder Wes Spencer highlighted the importance of having funding from within the MSP ecosystem, fostering loyalty and advocacy among investors who are also customers. While the funding model is innovative, concerns remain regarding its scalability and governance, particularly as future funding rounds may require traditional venture capital or private equity involvement.The podcast also discusses the introduction of AI agents by major tech companies like Microsoft, Snowflake, and Google, which are reshaping the managed service provider landscape. These AI tools are designed to enhance data analysis and automate workflows, allowing businesses to operate more efficiently. As AI agents become more integrated into everyday operations, MSPs must adapt their service offerings to meet the evolving needs of their clients, focusing on governance, data management, and workflow alignment.Finally, the episode touches on a collaborative effort among major tech firms to create a public glossary for state-sponsored hacking groups and cybercriminals. While this initiative aims to reduce confusion in the cybersecurity landscape, critics argue that it does not address the underlying challenges of attribution and operational defense. The podcast emphasizes the need for standardized threat intelligence delivery to help MSPs navigate the complexities of cybersecurity and build trust with their customers.  Four things to know today  00:00 NWN's $470M InterVision Deal Signals Strategic Shift Toward End-to-End AI-Managed Services04:18 Empath Raises $2M from MSPs, Blending Customer Ownership with Startup Capital07:09 AI Agents Go Mainstream: From MSP Operations to M365 and Edge, the Stack Is Shifting10:19 Glossary Effort Shows Progress on Language, Not Yet on Coordination Supported by:  https://getnerdio.com/nerdio-manager-for-msp/ All our Sponsors: https://businessof.tech/sponsors/ Do you want the show on your podcast app or the written versions of the stories? Subscribe to the Business of Tech: https://www.businessof.tech/subscribe/Looking for a link from the stories? The entire script of the show, with links to articles, are posted in each story on https://www.businessof.tech/ Support the show on Patreon: https://patreon.com/mspradio/ Want to be a guest on Business of Tech: Daily 10-Minute IT Services Insights? Send Dave Sobel a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/businessoftech Want our stuff? Cool Merch? Wear “Why Do We Care?” - Visit https://mspradio.myspreadshop.com Follow us on:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/28908079/YouTube: https://youtube.com/mspradio/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mspradionews/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mspradio/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@businessoftechBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/businessof.tech

Dive into the future of enterprise data with the latest episode of Tech-Driven Business. Mustansir Saifuddin welcomes Shawn Brown, of SAP, for Part 1 of an in-depth exploration of the SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC). If you're navigating the complexities of data management and analytics within the SAP ecosystem, this episode is unmissable. Shawn breaks down the fundamental 'why' behind BDC, revealing how it's engineered to drastically reduce data preparation time, cut costs, and empower businesses to make faster, more accurate decisions. Tune in to understand how you can your team can take advantage of all that BDC offers to SAP customers looking to unlock true value from their data. With over two decades of experience in SAP solutions, Shawn Brown currently serves as Senior Director for SAP's Center of Excellence. Known for expertly identifying customer needs, Mr. Brown excels in presenting tailored solutions involving Business Technology Platform, Business Data Cloud, S4HANA, and Business AI. A proven leader in demand generation and partner relationship management, Mr. Brown has successfully driven initiatives that enhance customer experience and streamline cloud solution adoption. Renowned as a thought leader and strategist, Mr. Brown frequently shares insights with CIOs and business influencers, fostering strong, trust-based relationships across multiple industries.   Connect with Us: LinkedIn: Shawn Brown:  Mustansir Saifuddin:  Innovative Solution Partners  X:  @Mmsaifuddin YouTube or learn more about our sponsor Innovative Solution Partners to schedule a free consultation.    Episode Transcript [00:00:00] Mustansir Saifuddin: Welcome to Tech- Driven Business, brought to you by Innovative Solution Partners. I'm honored to have Sean Brown of SAP join me to kick off an essential two part series to unpack a topic that's on every SAP user's mind. The Business Data Cloud or BDC. If you're looking to understand how BDC can transform your data landscape and drive real business value, you are in the right place. [00:00:32] . [00:00:32] Welcome to Tech- Driven Business, Shawn. How are you? [00:00:35] Shawn Brown: I am good. I'm good. Things are going well, staying busy. [00:00:38] Mustansir Saifuddin: That's awesome. That's awesome. So glad to have you on our show and I'm really excited for the topic that we are going to discuss today. You ready for it? [00:00:47] Shawn Brown: I am. I'm excited as well. [00:00:51] Mustansir Saifuddin: Yeah, so I, I know we had talked in the past a couple of times and right now , the hot topic everybody's talking about from SAP and in general is the whole idea, the concept, and now the actual product called Business Data Cloud and what it really means for SAP customers. I like to use this time to dig deeper into this conversation and have a better understanding of exactly what this brings, what kind of landscapes that are changing with this new product, and to expect, you know, if you're a customer interested into, in going forward with BDC. [00:01:28] Shawn Brown: -. [00:01:28] Sure. That sounds great. Yeah. [00:01:32] Mustansir Saifuddin: Awesome. Okay. So I think every time we, we have this new products, right? And SAP is really good about and talk, people talk about rebranding and all that. Let's talk about the why of why should SAP customers adopt BDC. What is different about BDC that SAP customers should be asking that question. [00:01:53] Why? [00:01:55] Shawn Brown: Yeah, this is, this is my favorite question to start. Anything in the space that is outside of packaged solutions, you know ERP, HR Supply Chain and, and the capabilities we have in those areas because the why is something that it, it should be the driver for everything. Right? And, and for BDC, I would say the first thing we wanna talk about is it's a, it's a new product. [00:02:24] But it's an evolution of everything that we've been doing for years. It's, it's capabilities that our customers already know about. And it's taking all of the capabilities that we have offered over the time that we've been, been in the data and analytics space. And it's the, I call it a next generation, right? [00:02:45] It's the next generation of what was. And so when we get into the why. I would say the first thing that we really gotta say is, is the reason for BDC is it is to short circuit the amount of time it takes to prepare from data to finally analytics and planning and all the steps in between, where we're often times organizations see it as this, this wheel that. [00:03:15] They start with the data that's in the source system. They're gonna extract a, transform it loaded profile it, catalog it you know, press governance on it. Maybe make it in, you know, in a marketplace setting. Organize it so that it can be easily digestible, create some standard analytics, and then now we can actually start analyzing it. [00:03:34] And the why is really about reducing the amount of time it takes to go around that whole wheel of, Data all the way around to analytics and planning and reduce the amount of prep time and increase the amount of analysis time. Because if we think about how much time a person gets to analyze the [00:04:00] data, let's say for example, and this is a, this is actually a number that is, has been verified with numerous customers and with, the analyst firms like Gartner and Forrester and TDWI is that it takes as much as 70% or more of the actual workload and investment to go from data to analytics. That's not, so that means the analytics is just 30% or less of the time. So if we think about how much each question costs. You have to add in all of that cost that even deliver up the analytical or, or deliver up the, the data in a way that it can be analyzed. [00:04:45] So BDCs goal is to shrink that time of preparation and actual delivery of data for the analyst purpose or for the AI purpose, or for any application purpose. Shrink it as much as possible so that, the questions that are asked are cheaper, and essentially we can ask more questions. We don't have to continue to reformat the data, deliver the data in a new way to get to the final answers that we're trying to seek. [00:05:20] So I would say savings and costs. Savings and money. More data, more, more analysis time. That's the why for BDC. [00:05:31] Mustansir Saifuddin: Yeah, it totally makes sense. I think one of the things that while you're talking about this that stuck out for me was, we always talk about time value, right? And, especially when it comes to analytics, It's such a critical part of any organization's path forward and the numbers that you're just sharing from Gartner and other resources, [00:05:51] where if the majority of the time is gone into the data collection, the data refinement, all that, there's no time left or a very minimal time for your analytics part, which makes it really difficult for organizations to make quick decisions. So I think what I'm hearing from you, the why: the time value becomes very important in this case. [00:06:13] Shawn Brown: Correct. Absolutely. [00:06:16] Mustansir Saifuddin: That's good because that kind of takes me into this conversation, like, Hey, benefits. When you have that, why understood, what are some of the benefits that BDC will provide to SAP customers who want to go on the journey? Because benefits is really the reason why it will make sense for them to move forward. [00:06:33] Shawn Brown: For sure, for sure. And this is the one that's always interesting for organizations because they're focused so much on the actual preparation of the data that oftentimes the benefits that they can glean from all of that effort are, are fleeting, so they look at the, the overall effort and they go, oh yeah, there's, there's a lot here that is really based on, on how much it took to get here. [00:07:01] And the faster we can deliver the capabilities for analysis purposes for any AI purposes, the faster we can make decisions. The faster we can adjust based on those decisions. And so when you think about the speed at which organizations operate, to be able to answer those questions faster is probably the number one benefit that you can get. [00:07:27] And then you also get into accuracy. What, what questions are we asking? And if we don't have to go through this rigorous effort of moving data from all of these source systems and joining it all back together, and then building all that business context. Data integrity, is that a, a concern? It is for most organizations, they're concerned about what this looks like at its end state. [00:07:57] And the other thing that still [00:08:00] exists in the world of business, especially in the analytics space, is the typical spread marked problem. Where people just take the data that they're looking for, they extract it out of whatever solution it's been delivered to them. Maybe it's cheap cloud storage on flat files, or maybe it's been all dumped into an ODS, an operational data store, and then they're accessing the data as they like. [00:08:26] If they don't understand the details of the data and the relationships that occur with the data, and they don't have the original business context that the data came from in its source system, then if they do extract it to whatever they like, then somebody can walk into a meeting with one version of the truth and another can walk in with another version of the truth. [00:08:48] They all can believe that they're accurate. They all can argue over why their version of truth is correct and the others is not. So the confidence in the data is the other thing. We take away a lot of those concerns, because when you have it coming from those source systems and the preparation of that data has been provided in this case by SAP, for SAP systems, at a minimum, you're going to have much more confidence that the data [00:09:17] is delivered to you in a way that respects all of the integrity that it came from. That the accuracy of the data is as accurate as it was entered into the business application upon which it was the source. So the speed of delivery, the accuracy of the data. These are, these are major advantages that you get with regards to using BDC versus [00:09:43] the, the older school, I'll call it older school 'cause I'm an old guy. The old days of Bill Inman and star schemas and relational database systems that we created. These massive data warehouses. It's an older school thought, and it was one that was born outta this idea that we had to get the data from those source systems because we couldn't query the source systems at runtime. [00:10:06] All those things contribute to, to today where we're curating the data for you. It's been curated by SAP from all SAP systems, so if you have any questions about the quality of the data, in that case, you then you should have questions about the quality of your data in its source. there's a bigger issue, so speed of delivery, accuracy of data. [00:10:32] Those are probably my, my two top benefits that customers are going to get out of this. [00:10:38] Mustansir Saifuddin: Absolutely. That makes total sense. I think one of the things that really stuck out for me was the whole concept of end-to-end governance . Does BDC do a better job? And how, is that integrated to this whole BDC realm of the different pieces that makes up BDC? How is data governance and security working within those parameters? [00:11:03] Shawn Brown: Yeah. So in BDC, you're getting role level security on all the data. At that point then you're asking questions like, where do I, how do my users access the data? What are they allowed to see? What are they not allowed to see? All those capabilities can be integrated into BDC. You, you can deliver all of those capabilities directly within BDC. [00:11:27] You start off by setting up some broader, who's the, who's the group? What systems are they accessing? So if I'm in finance and I'm looking at finance data, I probably have access to let's say S/4HANA as the backend system that is storing all this data. All the users within the finance team that have access to S/4HANA can have access to that space of data. [00:11:55] And I use that word space because this is a concept that, again, there's nothing [00:12:00] new. We've invited these concepts into our thinking a while ago, and now it's just another generation of what we're doing here. So that idea of a space is I can include the data that is necessary for a line of business hr, finance, supply chain, and that's what they can see. [00:12:20] And if I need to, all of the rest of the data is accessible through BDC. It's just a question of whether I want to provide the rights to access those other data sets to another line of business, for example. So if I said I wanted to join let's say expense information that's in Concur with employee information, that's in success factors, I can easily join those data sets [00:12:48] bring in forward, from one space to another. And decide at a row level and column level, what individual data set I need to join across groups or individuals, if you will. [00:13:06] Mustansir Saifuddin: I think that's super good because that's where a lot of the questions come in. You know, every time you do move your data from one environment to another environment that you need to have your own new set of governance and security and, it can be role level security or whatever else you wanna do, [00:13:21] you have to kind of redefine that. It seems like it's all built into the BDC portfolio. You're leveraging your source system objects and then be able to apply the same rules that you may have built in. [00:13:37] Shawn Brown: Yeah, the, the analogy I always liked was it's kind of like, and I don't know if they're really like this. I mean, maybe there are not. I just remember old movies that you'd have these Japanese styled homes and they were like, the walls that were almost paper thin, that you could, you almost felt like you could just push your hand right through the wall and just grab something that was in the other room. [00:13:57] I liken it a bit like that in terms of spaces. The spaces are separated in that way with a, a level of access that is very simple to provide when necessary, but distinctly in separate spaces, separate areas, so that that's the benefit. That's the simplicity of being able to access data from any LOB or any third party for that matter. [00:14:23] If you wanted to access that third party data in BDC to any other data that's in BDC as well, whether it's finance, hr, supply chain, whatever it may be, warehouse inventory, whatever it may be. [00:14:38] Mustansir Saifuddin: Totally. Now, since we talked about the benefits, let's look into the details. Like what steps are involved if someone wants to take on this journey and move to SAP BDC? [00:14:53] Shawn Brown: Much of that begins with where are they right now? Let's take a few different scenarios? if a customer is, let's say, already using some SAP solutions, I would say, let's go with the most rudimentary that has been around for a while now for SAP. Let's talk about, they're using HANA Enterprise. [00:15:09] They've, they've been taking a lot of data from their SAP systems and dropping it into HANA Enterprise on-prem. This is a natural next step to that on-premise approach where you said, all right, I, I don't necessarily wanna be in the position of housing systems like this myself and my own data centers. [00:15:28] I want to put them into the cloud. This is a simple transition , to take the data from a HANA Enterprise, drop it into BDC and start using that data in essentially what would be a component of BDC, Datasphere. But it's built on HANA Cloud. And HANA Cloud is built on the same technology that HANA Enterprise is built on that in terms of its capabilities, what it can do. [00:15:52] It's a natural transition for that case if you're talking about a customer that's already using let's say another old product from [00:16:00] SAP, BW. Right. BW has been a really challenging one for a lot of organizations because they've had such value and such benefit by using BW to access data in SAP with those BW extractors. [00:16:14] And in many cases, they've built a lot of and invested a lot in BW in the framework itself. Creating their own objects, creating their own cubes, creating asos, DSOs and so forth, depending on what versions of BW you're on. Not necessarily wanting to just abandon that investment. There's another great example of is, once you're, once you're at least BW 7.5 and above, we make it very simple for you to go ahead and take all of that in BW investment and move it directly into BDC in its format, in its same format as a BW environment. [00:16:54] BW for HANA, same thing, move it right into BDC, it would be in a cloud-based environment that way as well. And essentially all of those connections back to the source systems still persist. When we talk about how do we take advantage of the investments you have, that's where you say, all right, well, I can access them through the BDC framework in [00:17:16] BW that is now part of BDC and use it for whatever purpose I leave it in BW in that case, or I can start taking those particular assets that I have in BW and using the data product generator that is now part of BW embedded in BDC, I can then change those assets in BW to data products. Which is the lowest level form of data that we have in BDC, and in this case, just for those that may be listening and wondering, am I copying the data? [00:17:51] Yes . And we can come to this in a minute as to why you're copying the data, but we are copying the data from its source system, and we would be copying the data from BW as well, where we wanted to make it a data product in BDC. And we can talk about why that is in a minute. 'cause it's a shift. It, it's a bit of a shift in terms of what we've talked about in the past with regards to a whole play the data where it lies, federate versus materialize [00:18:18] that data in, what was Datasphere, which is now part of BDC. That idea of moving those assets from BW into BDC as data products, over time allows us to decommission those, those deployments of BW. So that's the benefit is, we now have a path for BW customers to migrate to BDC, [00:18:45] not give up those assets that they've created and leveraged for so many years in BDC, and then over time decommission BW altogether. Or, if you're really interested and you really like using BW, keep it. That's the other benefit of moving a BW 7.5 environment to BDC is, you're gonna get three more years of mainstream maintenance. [00:19:09] And for example, for BW/4HANA, we're pushing that end of life date all the way out to 2040. That's a long time that you can hold onto that BW environment if that's what you choose to do. But the benefit of BDC is that we're going to give you the mechanism to actually migrate it over and then as your backend systems, particularly like S4 changes, [00:19:31] you're gonna need to change a lot of what you're doing from a BW extraction anyway. Don't do it in BW anymore. Do it in BDC. Now, those are some of the SAP scenarios, but some of the ones that I get as well are, we already have a strategy with our SAP data. We're pulling it into S3 buckets. [00:19:55] Azure Data Factory, Snowflake , all of these third [00:20:00] party extraction destinations and why would I go ahead and use BDC in that case? And the reality is, you have to ask yourself this question where we started in the first place. How much time and energy are you spending going from data all the way around that wheel to analytics? [00:20:20] If you're like the typical organization and it's north of 70%, 80%, 90% as a CIO, I heard last week talking about this, 90% of their time is spent just moving data to get it prepared for analysis. How much do you want to continue to do that? And nobody likes to be looked at as a cost center. Everybody likes to be seen as somebody that is providing value to the organization. [00:20:50] If you're part of an organization and you are seen as a cost center, because the amount of energy it takes to get the data from where it sits to where it needs to be is exorbitant, nine tenths maybe of the overall cost of asking those questions. That's not a great place to be. If you can shrink that as much as possible, then you can actually live up to some of those things that everybody would like to say. [00:21:19] Like, data is the new gold, data is the new oil. The value of data is, is immeasurable. We can do so much with our business because of the data. We could be a data-driven organization. All of these things can become possible, but not so easy when nine tenths or eight tenths of the cost, it's just getting the data where it needs to be. [00:21:44] That's the big thing that needs to be focused on as it relates to some of these ideas that let's go ahead and do the, what I still call old school extract, transform, load, model, profile, catalog govern and, create all of the overhead that is necessary to actually deliver those analytics back to the organization. [00:22:07] And if, you're in a part of your organization where you think it's good enough for me to just extract all the data and drop it over here and let the business go have fun, that's another one where you're not providing additional value to the organization. [00:22:19] What the business community really wants is they want curated data that is business context aware, that is in a position to help them answer questions out of the box, push button. An actual software as a service. That's what we've got with BDC. So this idea that of you've already got a strategy in place, [00:22:44] it might be working right now because you did a ton of work to get you where you are. But here's the kicker. It's probably all going to change, maybe not next year, but maybe two years or three years, maybe the next time you do some major upgrade and we've become more efficient in terms of how we store the data in the business applications, or, [00:23:12] any of the other business applications that you use, they change their underlying architecture in how they are actually storing the data in those source systems. Guess what just changed with your data strategy? Potentially everything. And we have customers that this has happened to them. Where I've walked into a huge SAP customer and I had a conversation with him where I said, we're gonna go ahead, and this is before we had two separate entities of BDC and BTP. And I walked into this session with the customer and said, here's what we're gonna do. [00:23:43] We're gonna go ahead and tell you everything that we can do in the space of data and analytics and everything within the platform space. And the customer said, I don't think we really need to hear about your data and analytics strategy, because we're pretty well set on that. And I said, I want to talk to you about all these things and I need to talk to you [00:24:00] about this one as well. [00:24:01] This one's not negotiable. I need whoever's responsible for data and analytics to be in the room to discuss this. And that person did arrive and that person pretty much felt like they had everything figured out. They didn't wanna, engage in the conversation at all. Pretty much arms crossed throughout most of the most of the meeting. [00:24:19] And we finally got to a point where they said, all right, I can see that there's some benefits, you know, to how this works. But I'll tell you, they were on ECC on HANA. And so fast forward six months and they're negotiating the RISE opportunity with S4/HANA in a private cloud and RISE, and they now realize that everything needs to be changed. [00:24:50] It's good that we had this conversation with them about how you can access the SAP data through, at the time, Datasphere, which is now Business Data Cloud, because they now understand that for them to be able to get access to the data in the way they want, the fastest way they want, and for the fact that we're curating all that data for them, and then providing them out of the box insights with our insight apps. [00:25:14] This is pretty much a no brainer in their part. They knew that they had to explore it, and they knew they had to explore it for the SAP centric question, but also for the non SAP centric question where they want to pull smaller data sets to non SAP capabilities because we are gonna curate those scenarios through data products that will allow them to pull that data into those non SAP scenarios. [00:25:40] So this, these are some of the big plays, we've got that existing SAP solutions, we've got that non SAP centric approach. And then, ultimately, if you haven't got to the point that you're deciding what you're going to do or you haven't don't have a very mature data strategy, maybe you're a growing company, at some point you're going to need to go ahead and start asking those data and analytics questions. [00:26:05] Just know that it's very expensive, as I've said before, to move the data from one place to another, place it there, do all of those things that we've talked about in the past, and then deliver analytics, just pull it out of the box. The last comment I'll make is "that pull it out of the box" sometimes that's not as useful as we think it is. [00:26:25] If I said, you have to dig a hole, it's 10 feet deep and you started from ground level, you have 10 feet to dig. But if I gave you something that got you 50% of the way, I dug five feet for you, I dug six feet for you, would you rather just dig five more feet or four more feet, or would you just rather start from ground level and dig 10 feet on your own? [00:26:48] That's the value that we were trying to demonstrate through BDC. [00:26:53] Mustansir Saifuddin: Good explanation. And I think it is really clear that a lot of times conversations come up about SAP customers talking about their on-prem, their legacy systems and how they will benefit from BDC, but your examples went beyond HANA Enterprise to other non SAP solutions where customers have already been on the journey and they don't see the value at least at this point. [00:27:20] But, after seeing the example you use, it's very logical for them to start thinking in those terms. Also saying, Hey, I simplify my landscape? Still get , if not same, at least, the value that whatever else that BDC brings to the table, like the whole AI capability, all of that can be leveraged by adopting this platform. On a personal note how do you stay on top of, you know, this changing technology world, and business at the same time. How you keep up with all this? [00:27:58] Shawn Brown: Yeah, as you [00:28:00] might imagine in the space of SAP, oftentimes it's hard enough just staying on top of all of the different options we have and different things that we have in terms of technology. So one of the ways that I like to keep up in, in the SAP space is called the BTP Talk podcast, which is a pretty good one. [00:28:18] It actually goes to a number of different you know, platform and data analytics related scenarios. Data skeptics is another pretty good podcast that I get a kick out of. There's another one I'm trying to think of that I use from time to time as well. [00:28:32] Analytics Power Hour. That's it. Yeah, the Analytics Power Hour is another good one. And, I've been paying attention to Tech-Driven Business as well too, so I like this one too. But, you know, the thing that I've been finding too is that, these days, things move so quickly and we think we know where we're going and then something comes along and, and change makes us change direction again. [00:28:53] And AI has probably been the biggest driver to that. The thing that I would say that that it's probably most interesting in terms of how I've changed how I operate is I actually ask AI to provide resources for me on particular topics. For example mid early last year there was a lot of talk about vector engines and knowledge graphs. [00:29:14] And the easiest thing I found to really kind of get a little bit more, versed on the topics was AI itself. I started asking for resources and, and I'll use for example, ChatGPT in some cases I like using Grok as well. From time to time they seem to provide a little bit different types of approaches and levels of interaction. [00:29:35] I kinda like how, grok will ask me follow up questions, which is pretty neat as well. But that's a great way to learn about topics that you are wanting to become more versed in or learning where the resources are to find those topics. So those, those are some of the things that I like to use. [00:29:58] Mustansir Saifuddin: Great list of ideas to kind of keep up with the changing, I mean, just everywhere around us. taking from AI to just carries to anything else. A lot of conversations going on so many different directions. How do you even keep up with them? So I'd like your suggestions, and I know we've talked about a lot of different things today. What is the one thing or one takeaway that you want to leave our listeners with? [00:30:24] Shawn Brown: Hmm, probably in, in the audience of that are responsible for data and analytics. If you're a CDAO, or an analyst or somebody that's responsible for enterprise wide analytics: I would focus on two things because these two things are probably the most important to the people that you serve, your business community. [00:30:50] Point number one is, they want analytics quickly. They want to be able to ask questions quickly. They don't wanna wait. They don't want to say this report, these data sets that you've provided me, they look really interesting, but I'd like to add this and this and this, and when can I have that? [00:31:12] If you can't say you can have that now, then you're taking too long. The other point is. We need to stop being looked at as a cost center. We need to stop being looked at as a place that is a necessary evil. We gotta ask questions of the system. We've gotta extract data everywhere and put it in someplace that we can start answering questions or even not even doing to the extent of actually providing the analytics out of the box. [00:31:40] Instead, we're just providing data sets for people to access. We need to be able to offer real value to the business community. Those are the ones that are footing the bill. Those are the ones that are actually paying for everything. So we need to be in a position to deliver it very quickly, [00:32:00] and it needs to not be expensive, and it needs to be accurate. [00:32:06] Mustansir Saifuddin: Absolutely [00:32:07] Shawn Brown: Those are the elements I think are the key takeaways. That's really the foundation of what we're doing with Business Data Cloud. That's the whole purpose behind it. [00:32:16] Mustansir Saifuddin: Absolutely great advice and a great way to sum up the session. It's been a great conversation. There's so much to gain from this product and, and direction, that SAP's taking. I'd like to thank you very much for joining us today in our show, and look forward to having further detailed conversation with you. [00:32:36] Shawn Brown: Thanks, I appreciate your time as well. [00:32:39] Mustansir Saifuddin: Thanks for listening to Tech-Driven Business, brought to you by Innovative Solution Partners. We have covered the critical why behind BDC, the immense time and cost savings it promises, and the tangible benefits like enhanced speed and accuracy for SAP customers. Sean's key takeaway? Focus on delivering analytics quickly to your business community and strive to offer real accurate value moving away from being seen as just a cost center. [00:33:15] . We would love to hear from you. Continue the conversation by connecting with me on LinkedIn or X. Learn more about Innovative Solution Partners and schedule a free consultation by visiting isolutionpartners.com. Never miss a podcast by subscribing to our YouTube channel. Information is in the show notes.

We return to the hippie commune from our Snowflake episode—this time for a wedding! Snowflake Johnson is finally tying the knot, and among the guests is his little sister: June Bug. The cartel, still reeling from their losses in the previous episode, hatches a plan to kidnap several high-profile DEA agents during the ceremony. Their new leader tries to get close by charming June Bug, but his plan unravels when he realizes too late he was pursuing the wrong Johnson.References and TranscriptSubscribe to the show:Apple PodcastsSpotifyRSSConnect with us:FacebookInstagramBlueskyMastodonThreadsDiscord

Plus, Germany's antitrust regulator flags Amazon's pricing mechanism. And the fight for AI agent customers heats up as cloud-based data-warehousing company Snowflake agrees to buy database startup Crunchy Data. Julie Chang hosts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

June could be a great opportunity in a few stocks and if we pull back, it might be a "buy the dip" month. ⁠⁠SAVE ON TRENDSPIDER ⁠⁠

Sachin Kansal is chief product officer at Uber, where he oversees the Rider, Driver, Delivery, Grocery, and New Verticals product lines used for 33 million daily trips worldwide. He's been in product for over 25 years (at Google, Palm, Flywheel, and now Uber). He is known for his “extreme dogfooding” ethos—personally completing almost a thousand Uber driving and delivery trips to sharpen his product insight and user empathy—and his “ship, ship, ship” mantra, which drives rapid iteration across Uber's global teams.What you will learn:1. Dogfooding at scale2. “Ship, ship, ship” as a cultural mantra3. Obsession with inputs over outputs4. Uber's hybrid marketplace vision for autonomy5. How Uber changed its culture to focus on profitability6. What to do when data says “no” but your gut says “yes”7. Career advice: maximize cycles8. AI as a research assistant, not an oracle9. Uber rider etiquette tips—Brought to you by:• Paragon—Ship every SaaS integration your customers want• Stripe—Financial infrastructure to grow your revenue• Coda—The all-in-one collaborative workspace—Where to find Sachin Kansal:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sachinkansal/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Sachin's background(05:00) Dogfooding in practice(11:24) Empathy and understanding drivers(20:18) Balancing metrics and user experience(22:04) Operationalizing dogfooding(24:26) Challenges and solutions in dogfooding(29:49) The motto: “ship, ship, ship”(36:37) Product announcements and live demos(40:49) Career advice for product managers(43:51) The evolution of product management with AI(46:55) Collaboration between engineers and product managers(49:36) Uber's vision for self-driving cars(55:59) Uber's path to profitability(01:01:58) Balancing data and gut decisions(01:07:21) AI tools in product management(01:10:14) Failure corner(01:13:48) Lightning round and final thoughts—Referenced:• Uber: https://www.uber.com/• Oracle: https://www.oracle.com/• Snowflake: https://www.snowflake.com/en/• Fivetran: https://go.fivetran.com/• Uber for Business: https://www.uber.com/us/en/business• McDonald's: https://www.mcdonalds.com/• Domino's: https://www.dominos.com• PalmPilot: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PalmPilot• Praveen Neppalli Naga on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pneppalli/• May Mobility: https://maymobility.com/• Uber strikes deal with May Mobility to deploy ‘thousands' of robotaxis: https://www.theverge.com/news/659563/uber-may-mobility-autonomous-ridehail-partnership• Waymo: https://waymo.com/• WeRide: https://www.weride.ai/• Uber and Avride Announce Autonomous Delivery and Mobility Partnership: https://investor.uber.com/news-events/news/press-release-details/2024/Uber-and-Avride-Announce-Autonomous-Delivery-and-Mobility-Partnership/default.aspx• Dara Khosrowshahi on X: https://x.com/dkhos• Uber Elevate: https://www.uber.com/us/en/elevate/vision/• Uber AV: https://www.uber.com/us/en/autonomous/• Uber Reserve: https://www.uber.com/us/en/ride/how-it-works/reserve/• Uber for teens: https://www.uber.com/us/en/ride/teens/• Flywheel: https://www.flywheel.com/• ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/• Gemini: https://gemini.google.com/app• NotebookLM: https://notebooklm.google/• Behind the product: NotebookLM | Raiza Martin (Senior Product Manager, AI @ Google Labs): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/googles-notebooklm-raiza-martin• BlackBerry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlackBerry• Peaky Blinders on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80002479• Deep research: https://openai.com/index/introducing-deep-research/—Recommended books:• Blitzscaling: The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies: https://www.amazon.com/Blitzscaling-Lightning-Fast-Building-Massively-Companies/dp/1524761419• Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t: Why That Is And What You Can Do About It: https://www.amazon.com/Nobody-Wants-Read-Your-Sh-ebook/dp/B01GZ1TJBI• Steve Jobs: https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Walter-Isaacson/dp/1451648537• Elon Musk: https://www.amazon.com/Elon-Musk-Walter-Isaacson/dp/1982181281• The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers―Straight Talk on the Challenges of Entrepreneurship: https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Thing-About-Things-Building/dp/0062273205—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Rick Smith (CEO, Axon) joined Logan to share the 30-year journey of building a nearly $50B public company behind the TASER, police body cameras, and now AI-powered tools like Draft One. He talks about taking Axon public in the early 2000s, navigating intense public scrutiny, and evolving from a controversial hardware startup into a software and AI pioneer. Rick also reflects on leadership lessons, regulatory battles, and his long-term mission to make the bullet obsolete. It's a candid and compelling conversation with one of the most unconventional founders in tech. (00:00) Intro (01:31) Axon: Reducing Violence Through Technology (02:12) The Evolution of Axon: From Taser to Body Cameras (04:56) Challenges and Triumphs: Going Public and Beyond (07:17) The Impact of Ferguson and the Rise of Body Cameras (11:16) Navigating Cultural and Business Shifts (17:04) The Role of AI and Future Innovations (25:26) The Taser: Technology and Purpose (34:17) Making the Bullet Obsolete: Future of Law Enforcement (37:10) Consumer Market Evolution (37:59) Proving Taser's Viability (40:17) Targeting Gun Owners (41:45) Taser-Related Deaths and Media Perception (48:07) Employee Taser Experience (50:59) Impact of Body Cameras (52:43) AI Innovations in Law Enforcement (56:15) Challenges in Product Development (01:04:27) Regulatory Hurdles (01:11:31) Leadership and Company Culture (01:14:58) Future Vision for Axon Executive Producer: Rashad Assir Producer: Leah Clapper Mixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky Check out Unsupervised Learning, Redpoint's AI Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@UCUl-s_Vp-Kkk_XVyDylNwLA

We're back! After four years of making The Bi Pod, we thought it was time to reintroduce ourselves. In this episode, we talk about our paths to bisexuality, a few tidbits from our day-to-day lives, and some of our favorite episodes from the archive. Whether you're new here or a longtime listener, welcome (back) to the pod.Show Notes:Mentioned in this episode:

Anthony Marcus AGM and Snowflake on News Radio KKOBSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we're joined by Nate Moran, Senior Director of Growth, Digital Strategy & Analytics at Edgewell Personal Care—the company behind brands like Schick, Banana Boat, Wet Ones, and more. With a career spanning Red Bull, Newell, Unilever, and now Edgewell, Nate brings a sharp perspective on what it takes to turn data into decisions and insights into impact.In this conversation, Nate and host Dave Feinleib explore the evolving relationship between analytics, creative, performance marketing, and AI. They dig into how Nate and his team think about data strategy, omnichannel planning, and the question on every marketer's mind: where should we spend the next dollar?If you're navigating retail media, e-commerce, or digital growth today, this episode offers a smart, candid look at the challenges—and opportunities—of scaling modern brand performance.Key Takeaways & Episode HighlightsWhy profitability, performance, and category management need to work together in an omnichannel world—and how Edgewell ties these functions across the business.What “the next best dollar” means at Edgewell, and how the team balances incrementality, ROAS, and long-term brand health.Lessons from managing 30,000+ SKUs at Amazon (before APIs made it easy) and how those scrappy skills still apply today.The role of a clear, focused data strategy—and why owning your data is critical for AI readiness and true self-serve analytics.How AI and generative tools like ChatGPT and Snowflake are reshaping workflows, and why agentic AI might be the real unlock for the future.Why creative still matters: performance spend alone won't build trust or brand love—and how to balance emotional storytelling with analytics-driven media.Rapid Rundown QuestionsFavorite Edgewell product: Jack Black Dual Defense SPF MoisturizerBrand that's nailing it creatively: Liquid DeathGo-to tech tools: ChatGPT and SnowflakeFavorite read/listen: The Long and the Short of It by Les Binet and Peter FieldFavorite way to recharge: Mountain biking and snowboarding in Bend, OregonConnect with Nate: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanmoran/Get the It'sRapid Creative Automation Playbook: https://itsrapid.ai/creative-workflow-automation-playbook/Take It'sRapid's Creative Workflow Automation with AI survey: https://www.proprofs.com/survey/t/?title=ffgvdEmail us at sales@rapidads.io with code “BEYOND2025” to find out how you can save more than $1,000 on our Digital Sell Sheets and Retail Media Automation solutionsTheme music: "Happy" by Mixaud - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comProducer: Jake Musiker

Marcos Rivera is the founder of Pricing I/O and author of "Street Pricing." He brings 25 years of pricing experience, including a three-year tenure as an operating executive at Vista Equity Partners where he worked on pricing strategies across multiple portfolio companies. He's been running Pricing.io since 2019 and is passionate about the intersection of pricing and AI. In this episode, Marcos shares his insights on the evolving landscape of pricing in the age of AI, the importance of capturing value, and how companies can differentiate themselves in a competitive market. Together, they discuss the shift from traditional pricing models to outcome-based pricing and the role of AI in enhancing pricing strategies.   Why you have to check out today's podcast: Discover how AI is changing the pricing landscape and what it means for businesses.  Explore the relationship between pricing, value, and customer outcomes. Learn about the importance of low-friction entry points in pricing strategies.   “AI forces you to walk the walk versus talk the talk.” – Marcos Rivera   Topics Covered: 02:48 – The evolution of pricing in SaaS where the system gets credit for capturing more value using AI. 05:36 – The significance of capturing value quickly and efficiently. 08:09 – Differentiation in a competitive market and the role of pricing power. 12:16 – The importance of entry points and reducing friction for customers. 14:44 – How product design and pricing design are interconnected. 17:07 – The challenges of pricing in the AI landscape. 18:59 – Marcos's approach to using AI in pricing strategies. 28:56 – Pricing advice from Marcos.   Key Takeaways: “Pricing is about capturing value, and AI opens up new opportunities for that.” – Marcos Rivera  “Entry points matter; make them as low friction as possible.” – Marcos Rivera  “Understanding how to differentiate your offering is crucial in a crowded market.” – Marcos Rivera   People and Resources Mentioned: Steven Forth: https://impactpricing.com/podcast/691-pricing-in-the-agent-economy-the-future-beyond-subscriptions-with-steven-forth/ Vista Equity Partners: https://www.vistaequitypartners.com/ Pricing.io: https://www.pricingio.com/ Finn AI: https://www.glia.com/ Zendesk: https://www.zendesk.com/ Cursor: https://www.cursor.com/ HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com/ Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com/ Snowflake: https://www.snowflake.com/en/ Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/ Slack: https://slack.com/ 99designs: https://99designs.com/ DeepSeek: https://www.deepseek.com/en ChatGPT: https://openai.com/ Claude: https://claude.ai/ Grok: https://grok.com/ Perplexity: https://www.perplexity.ai/   Connect with Marcos Rivera: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcoslrivera/ Website: https://www.pricingio.com/    Connect with Mark Stiving: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/  Email: mark@impactpricing.com  

Serving SMB mid-market customers is one thing, but when you go upstream to enterprise sales, everything changes: go-to-market strategy, the sales process, how you structure deals, even how you define customer value. Today's guest, Andrew Casey, has helped scale four SaaS companies: ServiceNow, WalkMe, Lacework, and his current company, Amplitude. At ServiceNow, he worked closely with Snowflake's Mike Scarpelli and Coatue's David Schneider, and he was instrumental in establishing the company's deal desk to support its sales motion. As an operationally focused CFO, he shares a wealth of knowledge on the importance of staying close to the customer, structuring deals that work for both sides, establishing transparency in usage-based pricing, aligning incentives and strategy in sales, the pros and cons of multi-year deals, the problem with auto-renewals and what to do instead, and how to adapt your go-to-market strategy when moving from SMB mid-market to enterprise.—LINKS:Andrew Casey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-casey-6b14875/Amplitude: https://amplitude.comServiceNow: https://www.servicenow.comCJ on X (@cjgustafson222): https://x.com/cjgustafson222Mostly metrics: http://mostlymetrics.comRELATED EPISODES:Gaining Strategic Advantage in Vertical SaaS With Guidewire's CFO, Jeff Cooper"Steal Your Boss's Job”: Calendly CFO John McCauley on Leadership, Ownership & GrowthThe Largest Software IPO Ever: How Snowflake Still Left Money on the Table —TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Preview and Intro(02:40) Sponsor – Tropic | NetSuite | Planful | Tabs(08:45) Becoming an Operationally Focused CFO(11:50) Staying Close to the Customer as a CFO(16:37) Sponsor – Rippling Spend | Pulley | MUFG(20:34) Running Towards a Challenging Market at ServiceNow(24:15) How He Established the Deal Desk at ServiceNow(26:13) Structuring a Deal That Works for Both Sides(29:08) Transparency in Usage-Based Pricing(32:39) A Client's “Budget Problem”: Cash or Expense Issue(36:42) Lessons From Building Out the Deal Desk at ServiceNow(40:53) Pros and Cons of Multi-Year Deals(43:57) Auto-Renewals: Do This Instead(46:10) Adapting the Go-to-Market Strategy for Enterprise Sales(55:33) Selling to CIOs Whose Jobs Are at Stake(58:18) What Defines “Enterprise”(59:43) The Most Important Thing To Get Right in Enterprise Sales(1:01:01) Lessons From Andrew's Background in Corporate Finance(1:03:12) The Story of How Andrew Got His Job at ServiceNow(1:07:57) Long-Ass Lightning Round: A Big Mistake(1:10:31) Advice to Younger Self(1:11:17) Finance Software Stack(1:14:47) Craziest Expense Story—SPONSORS:Tropic is an intelligent spend management solution that consolidates your spend data and processes into one unified offering, enabling insights and decisive action. Take control of your spend with intelligent spend management at tropicapp.io/mostlymetrics.NetSuite is an AI-powered business management suite, encompassing ERP/Financials, CRM, and ecommerce for more than 41,000 customers. If you're looking for an ERP, head to https://netsuite.com/metrics and get the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning.Planful's financial planning software can transform your FP&A function. Built for speed, accuracy, and confidence, you'll be planning your way to success and have time left over to actually put it to work. Find out more at www.planful.com/metrics.Tabs is a platform that brings all of your revenue-facing data and workflows - billing, AR, payments, rev rec, and reporting - onto a single system so you can automate and be more flexible. Find out more at: tabs.inc/metrics.Rippling Spend is a spend management software that gives you complete visibility and automated policy controls across every type of spend, saving you time and money. Get a demo to see how much time your org would save at rippling.com/metrics.Pulley is the cap table management platform built for CFOs and finance leaders who need reliable, audit-ready data and intuitive workflows, without the hidden fees or unreliable support. Switch in as little as 5 days and get 25% off your first year: pulley.com/mostlymetrics.MUFG is a global banking powerhouse that provides comprehensive banking services for VC-backed, PE-backed, and public companies with revenues starting at $40M. Accelerate your growth trajectory. Contact group head Bob Blee at bblee@us.mufg.jp to find out more.#SMBtoEnterprise, #gotomarketstrategy #scalingSaaS #dealdesk #ServiceNow Get full access to Mostly metrics at www.mostlymetrics.com/subscribe

¡Emprendeduros! En este episodio Rodrigo nos da una actualización de mercado donde habla del estatus del mercado, del viaje de Trump al Medio Oriente, de la baja de calificacion de los bonos soberanos, de la nueva propuesta de baja de impuestos y de los riesgos de deuda. Nos da los reportes de ingresos de Alibaba, Walmart, Home Depot, Palo Alto Networks y Snowflake. Después habla de las fusiones y adquisiciones de esta semana en el mercado. Finalmente, en la actualizacion de crypto habla de Coinbase y sus muy activas dos semanas. ¡Síguenos en Instagram! Alejandro: https://www.instagram.com/salomondrin Rodrigo: https://www.instagram.com/rodnavarro Emprendeduros: https://www.instagram.com/losemprendeduros

Logan sits down with Jeffrey Katzenberg, Hollywood legend and co-founder of DreamWorks, and Sujay Jaswa, former CFO of Dropbox - together, the duo behind WndrCo. They talk about building enduring companies, bridging tech and media, and what makes a great CEO partnership. The conversation also touches on storytelling as a business superpower and lessons from scaling at different stages. Whether you're a founder or a media nerd, there's something here for you. (00:00) Intro (04:26) The Genesis of the Partnership (13:06) Building and Investing in Companies (20:27) The Team and Their Roles (26:52) Decision-Making Process (33:25) Balancing Dreams and Skepticism (35:06) The Dynamics of Partnerships (37:25) Transitioning to Tech (38:45) Cultural Differences in Industries (41:26) The Value of Failure and Success (44:37) Excitement in Emerging Technologies (48:23) The Venture Capital Game (56:42) The Dropbox Talent Network (01:01:20) AI's Impact on Media and Creativity (01:06:18) Transitioning to CG Animation at DreamWorks (01:08:39) Embracing Change in the Intelligence Revolution (01:11:52) The Role of AI in Enhancing Productivity (01:14:11) Building a Consumer Cybersecurity Business (01:23:49) The Mission to Protect Children Online (01:35:17) Reflections on Partnership and Innovation Executive Producer: Rashad Assir Producer: Leah Clapper Mixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky Check out Unsupervised Learning, Redpoint's AI Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@UCUl-s_Vp-Kkk_XVyDylNwLA

Gopal Krishnamurthy is the founder and CEO of Lumel, which has a suite of products focused on enterprise performance management (EPM). Their apps allow users to plan, report, and analyze data using the modern native app framework vs. traditional SaaS on top of modern cloud data platforms such as Microsoft Fabric, Snowflake, Databricks, and others. Lumel's products provide a full stack of integrated Planning, BI & data apps on the customers' data platforms. He grew his enterprise services company, Visual BI, to over 200 employees and sold that company to Atos in 2021, as he described in his first Practical Founders podcast interview in 2023. Gopal self-funded Lumel with a VC-sized investment and has grown it to over 300 employees in four years. Lumel is already at a revenue run rate of over $12M ARR and is growing fast. Lumel is building its apps using modern cloud data platforms, not siloed SaaS databases, allowing it to manage real-time data across applications. This bold new vision and architecture for enterprise software apps align with modern data approaches supporting AI, creating a billion-dollar opportunity for Lumel in the future. In this episode, Gopal also discusses: The challenge of transitioning from custom services to a no-touch product-led approach selling to enterprises Why VCs wouldn't understand their technology bet and why their patience is paying off What it's like to grow a fast-growth and innovative technology company as a bootstrapper Quote from Gopal Krishnamurthy, founder and CEO of Lumel “The main thing is it's a big market. It's not like we are just trying to get our first $10 million revenue. We have done that with Lumel already. We are looking at how we can get to a billion-dollar ARR business. That's the big, bold vision. We have invested tens of millions already, and we are almost profitable. “We think we can absolutely create a billion-dollar business based on our customer feedback and traction from 3,000 customers. So, it's not a question of product market fit. We worked with hundreds of our enterprise customers and perfected our data app products. “The other thing is that our products can work for smaller and medium-sized businesses because of our architecture and approach. It's completely horizontal: it works for all industries and all customers of all sizes.” Links Gopal Krishnamurthy on LinkedIn Lumel on LinkedIn Lumel website Power BI website The Practical Founders Podcast Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app or view on our YouTube channel. Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com.

Carl Quintanilla, Jim Cramer and David Faber led off the show with market reaction to the House passing President Trump's big tax and spending cuts bill: The 30-year bond yield rose above 5.1-percent and solar stocks plunged. New data from across the Atlantic show China's BYD sold more fully electric vehicles in Europe than Tesla last month for the first time. Also in focus: a fresh record high for Bitcoin, OpenAI buys former Apple executive Jony Ive's AI startup, Snowflake surges, Faber reacts to the Indiana Pacers' stunning comeback victory over the New York Knicks in the NBA Playoffs.Squawk on the Street Disclaimer

Stocks drifted lower and yields moved higher as investors digested cautious signals across the markets. Barbara Doran of BD8 and Scott Chronert, Citi U.S. Equity Strategist join to break down the day's pullback and explain why defensive positioning remains in focus. Snowflake and Zoom Video report earnings, while Urban Outfitters offered a fresh read on the retail consumer. White House crypto czar David Sacks joins to discuss the stablecoin vote in Congress and the evolving AI landscape. AT&T CEO John Stankey on the company's acquisition of Lumen's fiber business for nearly $6B. Our Phil LeBeau on a surprising stat: the average age of a U.S. car has hit an all-time high of 12.8 years, signaling deeper trends in consumer behavior and the auto industry. 

Dan Nathan is joined by Brad Erickson, an internet analyst at RBC Capital Markets, at the RBC Capital Private Tech Conference. They discuss the performance and outlook of key tech stocks like Google and Meta amidst market volatility and AI developments. The conversation highlights the impact of AI search on Google's revenue and the competitive landscape between Google and Apple. Erickson also touches on Meta's growth in advertising efficiency and new product rollouts. After the break, Dan dives into the broader effects of generative AI on other software companies like ServiceNow and Snowflake with Matt Hedberg, Managing Director and Head of Software Research at RBCCM. Hedberg elaborates on the early monetization of AI in software, the long-term potential of companies like Snowflake and ServiceNow, and the strategic importance of cybersecurity firms like CrowdStrike and Palo Alto in an evolving tech landscape. —FOLLOW USYouTube: @RiskReversalMediaInstagram: @riskreversalmediaTwitter: @RiskReversalLinkedIn: RiskReversal Media

This is episode 758. Read the complete transcription on the Sales Game Changers Podcast website. Read more about the Institute for Effective Professional Selling Premier Women in Sales Employer (PWISE) designation and program here. Purchase Fred Diamond's best-sellers Love, Hope, Lyme: What Family Members, Partners, and Friends Who Love a Chronic Lyme Survivor Need to Know and Insights for Sales Game Changers now! Today's show featured an interview with Kevin Davis, President of Public Sector at OpenText, and his daughter Taylor Davis, a Federal Account Executive at Snowflake. IEPS Women in Sales Program Director Gina Stracuzzi also co-hosted the interview. Find Kevin on LinkedIn. Find Taylor on LinkedIn. KEVIN'S TIP: “Everything you do, especially in sales, is a reflection. Be coachable. Protect your brand.” TAYLOR'S TIP: “I was obsessed with being the best version of myself. The athlete's drive carries over into sales.”  

In this wholly sponsored Soap Box edition of the show, Patrick Gray chats with Adam Bateman and Luke Jennings from Push Security. Push has built an identity security platform that collects identity information and events from your users' browsers. It can detect phish kits and shut down phishing attempts, protect SSO credentials, and find shadow/personal account that a user has spun up. It's extremely difficult to bypass. That's because when you're in the browser it doesn't matter how a phishing link arrives, or how a threat actor has concealed it from your detection stack – if the user sees it, Push sees it. There are solutions for protecting your users SSO credentials, like passkeys. But what about all the SaaS in your environment? Even if it's enrolled into your SSO, are you sure that's how your users are authenticating to it? What about the automation platforms your developers and admins use? What about data platforms like Snowflake? Are your using setting up passkeys for those accounts? How would you know, and what problems can it cause if those accounts are vulnerable? This is a fun one! This episode is also available on Youtube. Show notes