Data Transforming Business

We’re living in an age where new technology promises to improve everything with faster decisions, smarter workflows, and better outcomes. But behind that promise lies a quieter reality, and that is many organisations have that ambition, but readiness often lags behind. In this episode of Don’t Panic! It’s Just Data, host Christina Stathopoulos, Founder of Dare to Data, speaks with Pascal Bensoussan, Chief Product Officer at Ivalua.In this episode, they look at the growing excitement around AI and the reality many organisations face when trying to use it. While ambition is high, readiness often falls short. Focusing on procurement, the conversation explores why many AI initiatives struggle to move beyond early stages and what’s needed to turn that ambition into real, measurable value.Data: The Backbone of AISuccessful AI depends on high-quality, unified data. Fragmented sources, unclean data, and siloed systems make it difficult to build reliable AI applications. As Bensoussan explains

Artificial intelligence is everywhere right now, in boardrooms, strategy meetings, and product roadmaps. Organisations are investing heavily in machine learning, automation, and generative AI, all with the same promise: unlock new revenue and work smarter.In the latest episode of the Don’t Panic It’s Just Data podcast, EM360Tech’s Trisha Pillay explores this challenge with Chief Technology Officer Paul Brownell and Sergio Morales, Data and AI Engineering Leader from Growth Acceleration Partners. Their discussion unpacks why so many AI initiatives fail to translate into revenue and why the real starting point isn’t the model itself, but the data, governance, and engineering practices that make meaningful outcomes possible.But here’s the uncomfortable truth and that is many AI strategies look powerful on paper, but the real financial impact is often unclear. This disconnect, called the revenue data gap, highlights an issue many organisations overlook. AI doesn’t create va

Enterprise AI budgets are climbing, but the data foundations beneath them remain uneven. In this episode of Don’t Panic, It’s Just Data, Kevin Petrie, VP of Research at BARC, and Nathan Turajski, Senior Director, Product Marketing at Informatica, examine the findings of the CDO Insights 2026 report, which argues that executive confidence in AI may be outpacing organisational readiness. The study centres on what it describes as a growing “trust paradox” as Chief Data Officers are accelerating AI initiatives even as data quality, governance maturity, and AI literacy struggle to keep up. The Trust ParadoxThe report exposes a striking disconnect. Turajski points out that while around 65 per cent of data leaders believe employees trust the data powering AI, 75 per cent say upskilling in data and AI literacy is essential. In other words, confidence is high, but readiness is lagging.This is the trust paradox where employees increasingly rely on AI outputs, while data leaders r

What if the real advantage in AI lies not in having more data, but in having less?In this episode of the Don’t Panic, It’s Just Data podcast, host Shubhangi Dua, Podcast Producer and B2B Tech Journalist at EM360Tech, sits down with Herb Blecher, Research Director of Data and Analytics at Enterprise Management Associates (EMA). This conversation challenges a common belief in enterprise tech – that gathering everything ensures insight. Blecher, alluding to the modern-day AI craze, cautions the enterprise audience that just because you can access vast amounts of unstructured data doesn’t mean you should.What is the AI Gold Rush & Why It’s Risky?Unstructured data now fills the enterprise tech space — voice calls, financial documents, customer chats, images, logs, and emails. “With AI and machine learning, we’ve finally figured out how to access and organise it.”However, Blecher offers a stark reality check. AI doesn’t just increase insight; it increases error. When machines transition from calculating numbers

For years, enterprises have discussed data democratisation as if it were an inevitable end goal. An assumption was made that turning on dashboards and training the business would lead to insight following naturally. But according to Barry McCardel, Co-Founder and CEO of Hex Technologies, the reality has been much more complicated.In the recent episode of the Don’t Panic, It’s Just Data podcast, McCardel joined host Kevin Petrie, VP Research and Head of Data Management at BARC, to talk about why access alone has never been enough. He also discussed how artificial intelligence (AI) is forcing the analytics community to rethink the purpose of data. The conversation dives into a familiar issue: how can organisations empower non-technical users without compromising data trust or overwhelming the technical teams responsible for it?“We’ve spent a decade pretending the problem was solved by self-service,” McCardel says. “But what we actually did was move complexity around instead of removing it.”As AI becomes part of

Digital commerce teams rarely lack ideas. Most understand how AI, data, and personalisation could improve customer experiences. The problem, as explored in this episode of Don’t Panic, It’s Just Data, is turning those ideas into something that works at scale, in real time, and without slowing the business down.Hosted by Dana Gardner, Principal Analyst at Interarbor Solutions, the discussion brings together Jürgen Obermann, Senior GTM Leader EMEA and Piotr Kobziakowski, Senior Principal Solutions Architect from Vespa.ai. Rather than focusing on hype, the conversation centres on the everyday realities of modern e-commerce systems and why progress often feels harder than it should.When AI Meets Legacy Digital CommerceAI introduces new expectations around speed, relevance, and adaptability. As a result, many digital commerce platforms are built on foundations designed for a different era. Years of development have resulted in fragmented environments, often based on mic

In the recent episode of the Don’t Panic It’s Just Data podcast, Shubhangi Dua, Podcast Producer and B2B Tech journalist at EM360Tech, reports on the podcast shot live in London. Guest speakers, Pavel Dolezal, the CEO at Keboola, sit down with Vineta Bajaj, Group CFO, Holland & Barrett. They get specific about how modern finance leaders move faster: start with one governed source of truth, then layer automation, and only then AI. They explore how the CFO role is evolving. From reporting numbers to also owning the non-financial “whys” behind them.In the age of the AI boom, that shift turns every CFO into a product owner of data. But as Pavel Doležal puts it, without a clean, connected foundation, AI is just noise.According to Vineta Bajaj, Group CFO of Holland & Barrett, the role of the CFO has fundamentally changed. Today’s CFO must act as a product owner for data, not just owning the numbers but also determining how data is defined, structured, and used throughout the business.Finance and Data: A Com

We live in a world where technology moves faster than most organisations can keep up. Every boardroom conversation, every team meeting, even casual watercooler chats now include discussions about AI. But here’s the truth: AI isn’t magic. Its promise is only as strong as the data that powers it. Without trust in your data, AI projects will be built on shaky ground.In this episode of Don’t Panic, It’s Just Data podcast, Amy Horowitz, Group Vice President of Solution Specialist Sales and Business Development at Informatica, joins moderator Kevin Petrie, VP of Research at BARC, to tackle one of the most pressing topics in enterprise technology today: the role of trusted data in driving responsible AI. Their discussion goes beyond buzzwords to focus on actionable insights for organisations aiming to scale AI with confidence.Why Responsible AI Begins with DataAmy opens the conversation with a simple but powerful observation: “No longer is it okay to just have okay data.” This sets the

“What is the true value of our data and AI initiatives?” Too often, we drive all our energy into tools, processes, and outputs, but forget to ask ourselves how what we build actually makes a difference. For enterprises, this means looking beyond AI models and dashboards to see how our data drives real, measurable impact. Understanding the difference between output and outcome is what separates activity from transformation.In this episode of Don’t Panic, it's Just Data, host Doug Laney and Nadiem von Heydebrand, CEO and Co-founder of Mindfuel, explore how organisations can turn data and AI efforts into actionable business outcomes. They discuss the concept of the “value layer”, a framework connecting data initiatives to business needs, emphasising the importance of understanding business problems before developing solutions.Nadiem stresses that prioritising initiatives and fostering strong collaboration between business and data teams are critical to unlocking maximum value from d

As AI becomes a central pillar of business decision-making, enterprises face a new challenge, and that is making their data AI-ready. It’s no longer enough to collect and digitise information. For organisations, data must be structured, contextualised, discoverable, and usable—both by humans and intelligent systems.AI can only deliver if your data is truly ready, but most enterprises are drowning in fragmented, incomplete, or slow-to-update data. In this episode of Don't Panic, It's Just Data, host Doug Laney and Sushant Rai, Vice President of Product of AI and Data Strategy at Relito, explore how modern data unification strategies are changing enterprises, enabling AI to deliver faster, more reliable insights. They focus on the shift from traditional Master Data Management (MDM) to next-generation AI-ready data cores, uncovering the risks of fragmented data and the strategies to overcome them.Why AI-Ready Data MattersAI, especially large language models (LLMs), is changing

While the role of a chief data officers (CDOs) was traditionally focused on regulatory compliance, it has now expanded to empowering the consistent and effective use of data across organizations to improve business outcomes. One of the most effective ways for CDOs to demonstrate their value is by developing a data strategy that is closely aligned with business goals, processes, and outcomes. In the latest episode of Tech Transformed, host Kevin Petrie, VP of Research at BARC, speaks with Brett Roscoe, Senior Vice President and GM of Cloud Data Governance and Cloud Ops at Informatica, about the evolving role of CDOs. Their conversation explores how CDOs are transitioning from data stewards to strategic leaders, the importance of data governance, and the challenges of managing unstructured data.The Role of the CDO in the Agentic EraAs Roscoe notes, “CDOs are now pivotal in AI strategy,” reflecting how the role has grown from compliance oversight to guiding enterprise initiativ

The challenge all organisations, big and small, face is answering and implementing solutions to solve this key question: How can finance and accounting teams work faster, smarter and more accurately?In the recent episode of the Don’t Panic It’s Just Data podcast, host Scott Taylor, The Data Whisperer and Principal Consultant at MetaMeta Consulting, speaks with Kevin Gibson, CPA and Principal Solutions Engineer at insightsoftware. They talk about the constantly changing nature of financial reporting. Additionally, they discuss the pros and cons of modern financial reporting and the importance of connecting financial data with familiar tools like Excel. The conversation also touches on the future of financial reporting technology and the need for organisations to adapt to changing data access needs.Uncertainty in a Data-Driven World“With all this uncertainty, companies are being asked to look at their data in different ways. They want to pivot it, slice it, and dice it,” Gibson tel

"A flaw of warehouses is that you need to move all your data into them so you can keep it going, and for a lot of organisations that's a big hassle,” says Will Martin, EMEA Evangelist at Dremio. “It can take a long time, it can be expensive, and you ultimately can end up ripping up processes that are there."In this episode of the Don’t Panic It’s Just Data podcast, recorded live at Big Data LDN (BDL) 2025, Will Martin, EMEA Evangelist at Dremio, joins Shubhangi Dua, Podcast Host and Tech Journalist at EM360Tech. They talk about how enterprises can enable the Agentic AI Lakehouse on Apache Iceberg and why query performance is critical for efficient data analysis. "If you have a data silo, it exists for a reason—something's feeding information to it. You usually have other processes feeding off of it. So if you shift all that to a warehouse, it disrupts a lot of your business," Martin tells Dua. This is where a lakehouse comes into play. Organisations can federate th

At Big Data LDN (BDL) 2025, Keboola CEO Pavel Dolezal presented a new data agent designed for all business users, not just engineers. With a mission to make AI, automation, and data easy to access, relevant, and useful across the organisation, Dolezal revealed that the data agent has been embedded with contextual intelligence and generative AI.“While we typically assist data engineers with building the pipeline, we took the same data agent and built a different environment for it — a chat-like environment. By default, the chat has context, knows what to do, knows where not to go,” the Keboola CEO unveiled on the Don’t Panic It’s Just Data podcast. In the EM360Tech podcast recorded live at BDL, Dolezal spoke to Christina Stathopoulos, the Founder of Dare to Data in the recent episode of the Don’t Panic It’s Just Data podcast. They talked about the new Keboola Data Agent and it plays a key role in AI-backed change and the growth of large language models (LLMs) in bus

With an ever-changing business climate, companies have begun to shift their focus to unstructured data. In the past, unstructured data was challenging to deal with, considering the volume, governance and compliance, so organisations mainly focused on structured datasets. However, with the rise of generative AI and large language models (LLMs), Reece Williams Griffiths, Field CTO of Collibra, says that we can no longer overlook 80 percent of enterprise content—from transcripts and PDFs to emails and images.In this episode of the Don't Panic It's Just Data podcast, host John Santaferraro, CEO and Head Research Analyst at Ferraro Consulting, talks with Griffiths, also Co-Founder and CEO of Deasy Labs (acquired by Collibra). They also talk about the change brought to Collibra after acquiring Deasy Labs. Governing Structured & Unstructured DataFollowing Collibra’s acquisition of Griffiths firm, Deasy Labs, he explains how this merger is making AI truly achievable for business

Organizations are increasingly exploring new technologies to improve their operations, but adoption comes with real challenges. In the latest episode of Don’t Panic, It’s Just Data, host Trisha Pillay speaks with Kevin Petrie, VP of Research at BARC, about the practical realities of integrating these emerging technologies into business operations, particularly when it comes to data stewardship, strategy, and operational oversight.Real-World Applications and GovernancePetrie begins by noting that these technologies are already delivering real value today, particularly in areas like software development and customer service. The key, he emphasizes, is starting with strong oversight. “Governance starts with data,” he says, pointing out that reliable, well-managed data is the foundation for successful adoption.Human oversight is equally important; automation alone cannot replace careful monitoring and decision-making. Effective governance also needs to extend beyond structured data to inc

"Most companies still juggle with multiple different platforms; the communication between these tools and these platforms is happening in spreadsheets, and that is tedious, it's error-prone,” states Søren Lundtoft, Sr. Director of Product Management at Stibo Systems.On the Don't Panic, It's Just Data podcast, host Doug Laney and Søren Lundtoft dive into how business leaders can overcome digital-first challenges, especially when managing product information across a fragmented landscape. They discuss how PXDC—Product Experience Data Cloud—provides a unified, cloud-native solution for centralizing, governing, and syndicating product data. PXDC eliminates manual bottlenecks, automates data onboarding, and ensures every stakeholder works from a single source of truth, enabling faster launches and more consistent brand experiences.The conversation explores the future of product experience, highlighting how AI and agentic workflows are transforming data management. PXDC leverages AI to automate content creation, lo

With an erratic and fast business environment, finance teams are facing high pressure to process reports. The main challenge lies in how mid-market firms achieve digital transformation, not by abandoning familiar tools but by making them more effective. In this episode of the Don't Panic It's Just Data podcast, host Kevin Petrie, Vice President, Research and Head of Data Management Practice, BARC, speaks with Maeghan Carriere, Divisional Vice President, Software Sales NA, insightsoftware; and Nate Cook, Director of Product Marketing, insightsoftware. They discuss the importance of automation, the role of CFOs as strategic leaders, and, most importantly, how mid-market companies can leverage tools like Spreadsheet Server for digital transformation. The conversation also spotlights the need for finance professionals to upskill in AI and data analysis to remain competitive.All speakers agree that the key is in equipping finance professionals with direct, real-time access to their data in

Welcome back to Meeting of the Minds, a special podcast episode series by EM360Tech, where we talk about the future of tech.In this Big Data special episode of the Meeting of the Minds, our expert panel – Ravit Jain, Podcast host,  Christina Stathopoulos of Dare to Data and a data and AI evangelist, Wayne Eckerson, data strategy consultant and president of the Eckerson Group and Kevin Petrie VP of Research at BARC, come together again to discuss the key data and AI trends, particularly focusing on data ethics. They discuss ethical issues related to using AI, the need for data governance and guidelines, and the essential role of data quality in AI success. The speakers also look at how organisations can measure the value of AI through different KPIs, stressing the need for a balance between technical achievements and business results. Our data experts examine the changing role of AI across various sectors, with a focus on success metrics, the effects on product

Generative AI has captured global attention, powering everything from chatbots to intelligent assistants. Yet in the enterprise, its promise often hits a dead end. According to Gartner, 80 per cent of enterprise data remains unused or “dark,” because conventional AI struggles to interpret complex, domain-specific information.In this episode of the Don't Panic It's Just Data podcast, EM360Tech host Trisha Pillay speaks with Andreas Blumauer, Senior Vice President at Graphwise, about how retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and its advanced application, Graph RAG, are levelling up enterprise AI. Together, they explore the limitations of traditional AI, the critical role of knowledge graphs in improving data accuracy, and what it takes for organisations to successfully adopt these technologies.Why Graph RAG MattersWhile RAG enhances Generative AI by enabling it to retrieve relevant data from large knowledge bases, Graph RAG takes it further. By integrating knowledge graphs, Graph RAG preserves the rela