Making Data Simple

🎙️ The Hidden Cost of Disengagement: Dave Garrison on Leadership That Sparks Innovation

Send us a text📝 Show Notes: What if the biggest barrier to your company’s growth isn’t your strategy — but your people’s belief in it?In Part 1 of this powerful two-part episode, we welcome Dave Garrison, seasoned CEO, board member, and leadership strategist with over 25 years of experience driving real-world results. Dave pulls back the curtain on what employee engagement really means — and why it's the key to reducing turnover, boosting innovation, and transforming your business from the inside out.Whether you’re leading a small team or an entire enterprise, this episode delivers practical, battle-tested strategies to move your people from burnout to buy-in.💥 Expect real talk, not fluff. Practical steps, not platitudes. Because leadership isn’t about charisma — it’s about connection.🔗 Connect with Dave on LinkedIn 📘 Check out his book: buyinbook.com🕒 Episode Breakdown:01:43 Meet Dave Garrison06:02 Why is Strategy Hard07:34 What is Engagement?15:48 Trust is a Prerequisite to Conflict19:34 Connecting with "Human Beings"20:45 Creating Friday Night Lights Moments26:46 Slowing Down to Speed Up29:35 The Real Cost of Disengagement🔥 Hashtags: #MakingDataSimple #LeadershipStrategy #EmployeeEngagement #DaveGarrison #BusinessGrowth #TrustAndLeadership #OrganizationalHealth #TeamCulture #WorkplaceInnovation #BuyInNotBurnoutWant to be featured as a guest on Making Data Simple? Reach out to us at almartintalksdata@gmail.com and tell us why you should be next. The Making Data Simple Podcast is hosted by Al Martin, WW VP Technical Sales, IBM, where we explore trending technologies, business innovation, and leadership ... while keeping it simple & fun.

From 9× Safer Cars to Hallucination-Free LLMs: Inside Sama with Duncan Curtis SVP for GenAI & AI Product + Technology

Send us a textFrom Elephant Butts to Ethical AI — Duncan Curtis on De-Risking GenAI at SamaEpisode intro Duncan Curtis, SVP for GenAI & AI Product + Technology at Sama, has shipped everything from autonomous-vehicle platforms at Zoox to game-changing data products at Google. Today he leads a 160-person team that’s reinventing how training data is curated, labeled, and audited so enterprises can ship production-ready GenAI—without the lurking model risk. Sama’s newest release, Sama Automate, is already cutting annotation time by 40 percent while keeping quality above SLAs, and Duncan says they’re “aiming for a 10× improvement by 2025.” (aiuserconference.com, sama.com)If you want the inside track on AI ROI, ethical guardrails, and why A’s hire A’s (but B’s hire C’s!), lean in—this one’s for you. (And yes, we do get to elephant butts.)Timestamped roadmap00:46 Meet Duncan Curtis03:51 The Duncan Brand05:52 Making Time for Yourself08:47 Autonomous Cars — 9× Safer12:21 Favorite Jobs13:24 Inside Sama14:39 Data & LLM Training16:04 De-Risking Models19:08 Ethical AI22:43 Stopping Hallucinations27:18 Data Labeling Deep-Dive31:56 Production-Ready GenAI33:44 AGI Horizons35:34 What Makes Sama Different36:31 Calculating AI ROI38:50 State of the LLMs44:48 Elephant Butts & Closing ThoughtsQuick linksLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/duncan-curtis/Sama: https://www.sama.com/Latest blog: “Sama Introduces New Data Automation Platform” (sama.com)Hear more: Duncan on “Human Guardrails in Generative AI” (DataCamp podcast) (datacamp.com)Hashtags#MakingDataSimple #AIProduct #GenAI #DataLabeling #EthicalAI #AIROI #AutonomousVehicles #PodcastWant to be featured as a guest on Making Data Simple? Reach out to us at almartintalksdata@gmail.com and tell us why you should be next. The Making Data Simple Podcast is hosted by Al Martin, WW VP Technical Sales, IBM, where we explore trending technologies, business innovation, and leadership ... while keeping it simple & fun.

CEO David Hirschfeld of Tekyz on the Startup Lie That’s Killing Your Company. Hint: It’s not about the tech — it’s about the problem you're solving.

Send us a text🎧 Episode Description: This week on Making Data Simple, we welcome David Hirschfeld, Founder and CEO of Tekyz. With a background spanning major tech firms and startup trenches, David brings grounded, data-backed insight into what makes or breaks a startup. From tackling the #1 reason startups fail to exploring the value of validation and the real meaning of product-market fit, this episode is a no-fluff masterclass in entrepreneurial strategy. David’s message is clear: "Don’t focus on your product. Focus on the client’s problem."Whether you're a first-time founder or scaling your next venture, David offers hard-earned truths, including surprising takes on unicorns, VCs, and what really matters more — the founder or the technology?⏱ Time Markers: 01:20 – Meet David Hirschfeld 05:55 – THE Reason Startups Fail 08:50 – Lifetime Value 11:33 – The Value of Validation 14:48 – What Do the VCs Say? 16:20 – Startup Success Rate 17:10 – Tekyz 23:01 – Product Market Fit 29:18 – Startup Ideation 31:37 – Unicorns 38:12 – Unexpected Truths 42:45 – Founder or Technology?🔗 Connect with David: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidhirschfeldWebsite: https://tekyz.com #MakingDataSimple #StartupAdvice #ProductMarketFit #TechLeadership #VCInsights #FoundersJourney #Entrepreneurship #DataDrivenDecisions #StartupFailure #Innovation #ClientCentric #PodcastWant to be featured as a guest on Making Data Simple? Reach out to us at almartintalksdata@gmail.com and tell us why you should be next. The Making Data Simple Podcast is hosted by Al Martin, WW VP Technical Sales, IBM, where we explore trending technologies, business innovation, and leadership ... while keeping it simple & fun.

🎯 Strategic Sales, AI Smarts & Pixar Roots: Ralph Gootee CTO of TigerEye Tells All

Send us a textThis week on Making Data Simple, we welcome Ralph Gootee, CTO and co-founder of TigerEye, a company reshaping strategic sales intelligence with a data-driven edge. Ralph’s journey spans Pixar, Sony, and PlanGrid — and now he’s building tools to help sales leaders see around corners. From the secrets behind TigerEye's intuitive reporting to the realities of entrepreneurship and the affordability of LLMs, this episode hits both the business brain and the tech heart.00:52 Meet Ralph Gootee 01:43 TigerEye 04:49 PlanGrid 07:43 Monetization 08:50 TigerEye's Objective 12:38 Reinventing Reporting 17:06 How it Works 22:21 The Secret Sauce 27:48 LLM Affordability 34:14 Last Call 38:57 The Entrepreneur Dilemma 39:47 Where to Reach TigerEye 40:07 Do Code Assistants Work? 47:32 For Fun🔗 Connect with Ralph & TigerEye LinkedIn: Ralph Gootee Website: TigerEye Blog: TigerEye Blog#MakingDataSimple #SalesIntelligence #AIinSales #EntrepreneurMindset #LLMs #StartupLife #PixarToPipeline #DataDrivenDecisions #TechLeadership #TigerEyeWant to be featured as a guest on Making Data Simple? Reach out to us at almartintalksdata@gmail.com and tell us why you should be next. The Making Data Simple Podcast is hosted by Al Martin, WW VP Technical Sales, IBM, where we explore trending technologies, business innovation, and leadership ... while keeping it simple & fun.

In case you missed it....The Future of Risk, Powered by AI with Kathy Stares, EVP of North America at Provenir

Send us a text🎧 REPLAY ALERT: The Future of Risk, Powered by AI In case you missed it the first time — we’re bringing back this incredible conversation with Kathy Stares, EVP of North America at Provenir.Kathy dives into how Provenir’s AI-powered risk decisioning software processes over 4 billion transactions annually across 50+ countries. From fintech to traditional banking, learn how this platform is shaking up risk strategies with automation, innovation, and global reach.🌍 Why does risk decisioning need AI? 🚀 What’s driving the next wave of banking transformation? 📊 How can Gen Z shape the future of financial services?Timestamps: 01:14 Meet Kathy Stares 04:34 The Start of Summer 08:01 AI-Powered Risk Decisioning 11:31 The Tech Behind Provenir 13:42 Models 14:32 Data Source 16:43 The Business Problem 17:33 Banking Strategies 18:48 Platform Scope 20:28 Automation 21:46 Provenir’s Differentiator 22:47 Millennials & Gen Z 29:05 Trends to Watch 31:57 Kathy’s Takeaway 33:28 Connect with Provenir 35:25 The Wealthy Barber🎙️ Guest: Kathy Stares 🔗 Learn more: provenir.com#AIinFinance #FintechInnovation #RiskDecisioning #FinancialServices #AIReplay #Automation #FutureOfBanking #GenZFinance #WomenInTech #MakingDataSimple #TechPodcast #ProvenirAI #PodcastReplayWant to be featured as a guest on Making Data Simple? Reach out to us at almartintalksdata@gmail.com and tell us why you should be next. The Making Data Simple Podcast is hosted by Al Martin, WW VP Technical Sales, IBM, where we explore trending technologies, business innovation, and leadership ... while keeping it simple & fun.