#339 Modern Analytics with Mike Palmer, CEO at Sigma

26 snips

Jan 5, 2026

Mike Palmer, CEO of Sigma Computing, is an expert in cloud data analytics and has a rich background in scaling enterprise solutions. In this conversation, he shares insights on self-service analytics, emphasizing how AI and natural language tools are making data access easier. He discusses the balance between user freedom and governance, emerging skills like prompt engineering, and the expansion of data roles. Mike also highlights the importance of AI as an assistive tool and predicts which SaaS applications might be replaced by analytics apps.

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ADVICE

Prioritize High-ROI AI Work

Focus AI efforts where they'll produce the largest business outcome rather than trying small experiments everywhere.
Mike Palmer advises applying AI to the highest ROI use cases to ensure adoption and payoff.

INSIGHT

Language Lowers Data Barriers

Natural language plus spreadsheets drastically lowers the bar to data access across organizations.
Mike Palmer says democratization of data is now attainable because everyone can speak language.

INSIGHT

Stochastic Models Clash With Determinism

Generative models are stochastic and can return different answers for the same question over time.
Enterprises need deterministic, auditable outputs for structured-data queries and must balance accuracy versus flexibility.

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Self-service analytics has been a goal for data teams for years, but recent advances in AI are accelerating progress in unexpected ways. The combination of natural language interfaces and spreadsheet-like tools is lowering barriers to data access across organizations. But how do you balance the freedom of self-service with the need for governance and accuracy? What skills do analysts need to work effectively with AI systems that don't always produce the same results twice? And when AI-generated answers might be slightly off, how do you know when to trust them?

Mike Palmer is Chief Executive Officer of Sigma , where he leads the company’s strategy and growth as a cloud-native analytics and business intelligence platform. Since joining Sigma in 2020, he has focused on expanding access to cloud data by enabling business users to analyze data warehouses through familiar, spreadsheet-based workflows. Prior to Sigma, Mike served as Chief Product Officer at Druva, where he was part of the executive team scaling the company’s cloud data management platform and supporting rapid revenue growth. Before that, he was EVP and Chief Product Officer at Veritas Technologies, leading the transformation and modernization of a large enterprise data protection portfolio following its separation from Symantec. Earlier in his career, he held senior general management and executive roles at Seagate Technology and Verizon Enterprise Solutions, overseeing large-scale cloud, security, and enterprise infrastructure businesses. Mike is based in San Francisco and has spent his career building and operating enterprise data and analytics platforms at scale.

In the episode, Richie and Mike explore the journey towards self-service analytics, the role of AI in democratizing data access, the challenges of stochastic processes, the evolution of analytics applications, how businesses can leverage AI for personalized insights, the future of enterprise software, and much more.

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