Into the Hopper

Getting to Know Tim Hopper with Brenton Mallen

In a role reversal, my friend and former colleague Brenton Mallon interviews me about my life, from growing up in West Virginia to my winding path through grad school, data science, and beyond.

AI-Assisted SQL Generation with Till Döhmen

I sit down with Till Döhmen, AI Lead at MotherDuck, to explore the evolving landscape of AI-assisted SQL generation. Till brings a unique perspective from his PhD research in databases and his work building AI features at MotherDuck, the serverless data warehouse built on DuckDB.We discuss how text-to-SQL has matured from academic benchmarks to practical tools, the importance of documentation and schema context for agents, and the emerging role of MCP servers and skills in customizing agent behavior. Till shares insights on building trust in agent-generated queries, why thinking about what a new hire would need to know helps you build better AI workflows, and how agents are reshaping the analyst's role from SQL writing to question refinement.

The Evolution of AI Agents with Ben Labaschin

Links Ben's Twitter [Ben’s Website]https://econoben.dev/) WorkHelix What Are AI Agents - O'Reilly Book Managing Memory for AI Agents - O'Reilly Book Bead Development Tool Subscribe RSS Feed Apple Podcasts Spotify Overcast In this episode of Into the Hopper, Tim talks with Ben Labishin from WorkHelix about AI agents and their impact on software development. Ben discusses AI memory management, practical strategies for using large language models, and the evolving role of developers in the age of AI. The conversation also addresses the balance between automation and foundational skills for junior engineers, offering valuable insights for professionals navigating this transformative landscape.

Writing a Math Textbook with Claude with Professor Ghrist

Find out more at podcast.tdhopper.com.

Building a Startup with AI with Jowanza Joseph

Find out more at podcast.tdhopper.com.