The Data Exchange with Ben Lorica

A series of informal conversations with thought leaders, researchers, practitioners, and writers on a wide range of topics in technology, science, and of course big data, data science, artificial intelligence, and related applications. Anchored by Ben Lorica (@BigData), the Data Exchange also features a roundup of the most important stories from the worlds of data, machine learning and AI. Detailed show notes for each episode can be found on https://thedataexchange.media/ The Data Exchange podcast is a production of Gradient Flow [https://gradientflow.com/].

The Truth About Agents in Production

In this panel discussion from the PyTorch conference, Ben Lorica speaks with Samuel Colvin (Pydantic), Aparna Dhinakaran (Arize AI), Adam Jones (Anthropic), and Jerry Liu (LlamaIndex) about the current state of Agentic AI. Subscribe to the Gradient Flow Newsletter 📩 https://gradientflow.substack.com/ Subscribe: Apple · Spotify · Overcast · Pocket Casts · AntennaPod · Podcast Addict · Amazon · RSS. Detailed show notes - with links to many references - can be found on The Dat...

12-31
25:37

The best books we read this year 📚

To mark the season, we’re sharing twelve non-fiction selections for the twelve days of Christmas. These are books we enjoyed and found worth passing along, ranging from deep dives into semiconductor history to fresh looks at creative collaboration. Whether you’re looking for a companion for a long-haul flight, a thoughtful gift idea, or simply a quiet escape during the holidays, we hope you’ll find something in today’s episode worth your time. Detailed show notes - with links to the books we ...

12-24
15:21

The Developer’s Guide to LLM Security

Steve Wilson, Chief AI and Product Officer at Exabeam and lead of the OWASP GenAI Security Project, discusses the practical realities of securing Large Language Models and agentic workflows. Subscribe to the Gradient Flow Newsletter 📩 https://gradientflow.substack.com/ Subscribe: Apple · Spotify · Overcast · Pocket Casts · AntennaPod · Podcast Addict · Amazon · RSS. Detailed show notes - with links to many references - can be found on The Data Exchange web site.

12-18
40:12

Is AI a Utility? Defining Usability and Public Trust

In this episode, Ben Lorica and Evangelos Simoudis of Synapse Partners explore the complex reality behind AI-driven layoffs, from automation and upskilling gaps to strategic shifts in R&D. They also dive into the massive capital investments in AI, discussing the growing pressure for ROI and the emergence of LLMOps as a form of financial management. The conversation highlights practical strategies for enterprises, emphasizing the need to break down organizational silos to succeed in the AI...

12-13
44:26

How to Build AI Copilots That Teach Rather Than Automate

In this episode, host Ben Lorica talks with Sakana AI research scientist Stefania Druga, formerly a research scientist at Google DeepMind, about building AI tools for young learners and what that teaches us about AI design for everyone. Subscribe to the Gradient Flow Newsletter 📩 https://gradientflow.substack.com/ Subscribe: Apple · Spotify · Overcast · Pocket Casts · AntennaPod · Podcast Addict · Amazon · RSS. Detailed show notes - with links to many references - can be found on...

12-11
30:25

The AI Revolution Finally Comes to Structured Data

Stanford professor and Kumo.ai co-founder Jure Leskovec introduces the concept of a relational foundation model for structured enterprise data. Subscribe to the Gradient Flow Newsletter 📩 https://gradientflow.substack.com/ Subscribe: Apple · Spotify · Overcast · Pocket Casts · AntennaPod · Podcast Addict · Amazon · RSS. Detailed show notes - with links to many references - can be found on The Data Exchange web site.

12-04
47:45

Building the Knowledge Layer Your Agents Need

This episode features Philip Rathle, CTO of Neo4j, discussing the real-world state of Graph RAG and its journey from prototype to production in enterprise AI systems. Subscribe to the Gradient Flow Newsletter 📩 https://gradientflow.substack.com/ Subscribe: Apple · Spotify · Overcast · Pocket Casts · AntennaPod · Podcast Addict · Amazon · RSS. Detailed show notes - with links to many references - can be found on The Data Exchange web site.

11-26
47:40

How Language Models Actually Think

Emmanuel Ameisen, an interpretability researcher at Anthropic, joins the podcast to demystify how large language models work. Subscribe to the Gradient Flow Newsletter 📩 https://gradientflow.substack.com/ Subscribe: Apple · Spotify · Overcast · Pocket Casts · AntennaPod · Podcast Addict · Amazon · RSS. Detailed show notes - with links to many references - can be found on The Data Exchange web site.

11-20
26:20

How AI Is Reshaping Jobs, Budgets, and Data Centers

Ben Lorica and Evangelos Simoudis of Synapse Partners explore the complex reality behind AI-driven layoffs, from automation and upskilling gaps to strategic shifts in R&D. They also dive into the massive capital investments in AI, discussing the growing pressure for ROI and the emergence of LLMOps as a form of financial management. Subscribe to the Gradient Flow Newsletter 📩 https://gradientflow.substack.com/ Subscribe: Apple · Spotify · Overcast · Pocket Casts · AntennaPod · Podcas...

11-15
32:38

Making Data Engineering Safe for Automation and Agents

Ciro Greco, Co-founder & CEO at Bauplan, joins the podcast to discuss a new paradigm for data engineering rooted in software engineering principles. He explains how treating the data lakehouse like a software project — with version control, branching, and transactional pipelines — creates a robust and safe environment for development. Subscribe to the Gradient Flow Newsletter 📩 https://gradientflow.substack.com/ Subscribe: Apple · Spotify · Overcast · Pocket Casts · AntennaPod...

11-13
49:41

Is Your Database Ready for an Army of AI Agents?

Mike Freedman and Ajay Kulkarni, founders of Tiger Data, join the podcast to unveil Agentic Postgres, a database re-imagined for AI agents. Subscribe to the Gradient Flow Newsletter 📩 https://gradientflow.substack.com/ Subscribe: Apple · Spotify · Overcast · Pocket Casts · AntennaPod · Podcast Addict · Amazon · RSS. Detailed show notes - with links to many references - can be found on The Data Exchange web site.

11-06
55:36

Beyond the Dashboard: Collaborative Analytics in Slack

Nick Schrock, CTO of Dagster, discusses the critical role of data orchestration in the AI era, framing “context pipelines” as the new data pipelines that form the foundation of any AI strategy. He introduces Compass, a new Slack-native tool for collaborative, exploratory data analysis designed to replace the 80% of ad-hoc BI dashboards. Subscribe to the Gradient Flow Newsletter 📩 https://gradientflow.substack.com/ Subscribe: Apple · Spotify · Overcast · Pocket Casts · AntennaPod ·...

10-30
45:56

Stop Piloting, Start Shipping: A Playbook for Measurable AI

Ben Lorica and Evangelos Simoudis discuss AI-bubble signals (runaway revenue multiples, circular financing), why many enterprise pilots stall, and what separates leaders (use-case matrices, cross-functional ownership, hard metrics). They also examine U.S.–China tech competition in robotics and semiconductors, and offer a pragmatic view on humanoid robots — what works now versus what’s still research-grade. Subscribe to the Gradient Flow Newsletter 📩 https://gradientflow.substack.com/ Su...

10-25
29:41

Databases for Machines, Not People

Luke Wroblewski of Sutter Hill Ventures joins the podcast to discuss the paradigm shift in building AI applications. He explains how the traditional model of “code + database” is being replaced by “URL + model,” where the AI agent itself becomes the application logic. Subscribe to the Gradient Flow Newsletter 📩 https://gradientflow.substack.com/ Subscribe: Apple · Spotify · Overcast · Pocket Casts · AntennaPod · Podcast Addict · Amazon · RSS. Detailed show notes - with link...

10-23
27:42

When AI Agents Need to Talk: Inside the A2A Protocol

Heiko Hotz and Sokratis Kartakis of Google Cloud discuss the Agent-to-Agent (A2A) protocol, a new standard for enabling collaboration between AI agents built on different frameworks. Subscribe to the Gradient Flow Newsletter 📩 https://gradientflow.substack.com/ Subscribe: Apple · Spotify · Overcast · Pocket Casts · AntennaPod · Podcast Addict · Amazon · RSS. Detailed show notes - with links to many references - can be found on The Data Exchange web site.

10-16
29:23

The Infrastructure for Production AI

Zhen Lu, CEO of Runpod, joins the podcast to discuss what it means to build an “AI-first” cloud, moving beyond the architectures of the Web 2.0 era. Subscribe to the Gradient Flow Newsletter 📩 https://gradientflow.substack.com/ Subscribe: Apple · Spotify · Overcast · Pocket Casts · AntennaPod · Podcast Addict · Amazon · RSS. Detailed show notes - with links to many references - can be found on The Data Exchange web site.

10-09
47:32

How to Make Your Data Truly AI-Ready

Yoni Leitersdorf, CEO of Solid, joins the podcast to demystify why simply pointing an LLM at a database for text-to-SQL doesn’t work. He explains the critical need for a semantic layer to provide business context, turning raw data into a “Rosetta Stone” that AI can actually understand. Subscribe to the Gradient Flow Newsletter 📩 https://gradientflow.substack.com/ Subscribe: Apple · Spotify · Overcast · Pocket Casts · AntennaPod · Podcast Addict · Amazon · RSS. Detailed show...

10-02
45:49

Beyond the Agent Hype

Ben Lorica and Evangelos Simoudis discuss some takeaways for AI practitioners from the recent AI Conference. They cover the disconnect between the hype and reality of AI agents in the enterprise, the critical importance of building reliable and trustworthy AI applications, and the potential impact of new H-1B visa policies on tech startups and innovation. Subscribe to the Gradient Flow Newsletter 📩 https://gradientflow.substack.com/ Subscribe: Apple · Spotify · Overcast · Pocket Casts ·...

09-27
29:35

How to Build and Optimize AI Research Agents

Jakub Zavrel, CEO of Zeta Alpha, joins the podcast to discuss the practical evolution from traditional enterprise search to powerful “deep research” systems. Subscribe to the Gradient Flow Newsletter 📩 https://gradientflow.substack.com/ Subscribe: Apple · Spotify · Overcast · Pocket Casts · AntennaPod · Podcast Addict · Amazon · RSS. Detailed show notes - with links to many references - can be found on The Data Exchange web site.

09-25
38:41

Why Digital Work is the Perfect Training Ground for AI Agents

Andrew Rabinovich, CTO and Head of AI at Upwork, discusses how digital work marketplaces serve as ideal testing grounds for AI agents, exploring their custom reinforcement learning approach called RLEF (Reinforcement Learning from Experience). Subscribe to the Gradient Flow Newsletter 📩 https://gradientflow.substack.com/ Subscribe: Apple · Spotify · Overcast · Pocket Casts · AntennaPod · Podcast Addict · Amazon · RSS. Detailed show notes - with links to many references - ca...

09-18
42:16

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