Making Data Simple

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Today, I'm your host, Katherine Mayne, and we’re joined by Neil Katz, Chief Product Officer at Valantor and co-founder of EyeLevel AI, who is building AI designed to tackle complex, messy enterprise documents. Be sure to listen to the end — Neil shares valuable insights on the future of AI document understanding that you won’t want to miss.
01:31 Introducing Neil Katz
 07:09 RAG Before RAG
 12:39 Visual Intelligence
 15:19 Custom Workflows
 16:52 RAG Details
 24:44 AI and the Future of Work
 32:30 Our Imagination is the Limit
 37:04 Models for Animal Language
 39:44 AI Optimism
 42:57 Where to find Neil
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilkatz
Website: https://valantor.ai/
Send us your ideas for the AI Optimist!
Want 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.
Want 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.

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Since this aired, Kumo has moved from GNNs to relational foundation models — the ‘secret sauce’ segment at 17:57 is where that story starts

Data’s everywhere, but so often it feels… stuck. Joining us today is Jure Leskovec, Co-Founder and Chief Scientist at Kumo and a Stanford Professor who pioneered Graph Neural Networks and fundamentally reshaped how we understand networks — from Pinterest’s recommendations to tracking the spread of disease. We unpack why structured data is lagging behind the AI revolution, how techniques like Graph Neural Networks are finally unlocking its potential, and how this all plays out in real-world applications.
00:57 Meet Jure Leskovec
 02:31 Knowing When to Move On
 04:01 Academia versus Industry
 07:30 Learnings from Pinterest
 10:28 The Kumo Pitch
 17:57 The Secret Sauce
 25:51 Monetization
 27:12 Only the Enterprise?
 29:49 The Sandbox to Try Before Buy
 31:42 The Best Use Cases
 35:00 Summarizing
 37:38 Predicting AI
 40:15 What’s True and No One Agrees
 41:19 Learning
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leskovec/
Website: https://kumo.ai/
Want 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.

Send us Fan Mail
Ever wondered why brilliant CEOs sometimes seem to stall? Andrea Petrone’s groundbreaking work reveals that success can actually become a trap, freezing leaders into outdated identities. In this episode we unpack Andrea’s 20+ years coaching over 250 CEOs – including those at Shell and Unilever – to understand how leaders can break free from pressure, rediscover their ‘throughline,’ and truly embody leadership.
01:20 Meet Andrea Petrone
05:54 Andrea's CEO Experience
09:25 Definition of a Leader
13:40 CEO Differentiation
22:29 Where to Start Coaching a CEO
25:47 Changes the Last 10 Years
30:32 First Tell of a Leader
33:15 Subtle, Great Leadership
38:13 Where CEOs Lie to Themselves
43:15 Ron Johnson
46:10 Reaching Andrea Petrone
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreapetrone/
Website: https://andreapetrone.com/
Want 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.

Send us Fan Mail
Most companies have bought the AI tools. Far fewer have changed how the work actually gets done. Ashley Gross, Founder & CEO of the AI Workforce Alliance and author of The AI Workweek, joins Al Martin to close that gap.

Ashley used AI to cut her own workweek from 40 hours to 15. Her AI Impact Alignment™ framework shows teams how to get there too: decide what to automate first, build a "digital staff" of agents, and give those agents the information they need to do real work. She and Al dig into what token costs and orchestration mean for your budget, when agents are ready to run on their own, and why data capture is largely solved while adoption is not.

If you've been told to "do AI" and aren't sure where to begin, jump to 38:58 for the workflows Ashley recommends starting with.

* 00:52 Introducing Ashley Gross
* 01:52 The Book: The AI Workweek
* 06:34 What to Automate First
* 09:06 The Digital Staff
* 12:06 Sharing of Info to Agents
* 17:58 Token Affordability & Orchestration
* 20:42 Autonomous Agents
* 23:12 Engagement with Ashley
* 27:58 Data Capture Solved, Adoption Not
* 30:30 Differentiation via Outcomes
* 38:58 Workflows to Start
* 40:38 Reaching Ashley

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theashleygross/
Website: https://www.aiworkforcealliance.com/
Want 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.

Send us Fan Mail
Unlock your full potential with Kate Mayne, Executive Coach and data expert! In this episode, Kate dives into the surprising ways our behaviors impact our data, offering actionable strategies for clarity and growth – insights you can put into practice today. Learn how to leverage your data for authentic leadership and strategic decision-making – explore more at www.experttoexec.com.
00:57 Meet Kate Mayne
01:55 Why and Exec Coach?
05:17 Why Pay for a Coach?
09:10 Certifications
12:10 Natural & Adaptive Behaviors
14:47 Top Coaching Tricks
32:18 Compromising Who You Are
35:24 Coaching Tricks
41:57 Recommended Books https://experttoexec.com/reading-list 
42:12 AI in Coaching
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherinemayne/
Website: www.experttoexec.com
Book report: 
Want 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.