Berlin PyData 2025 Conference Interviews

Sep 26, 2025

Guest

Mehdi Ouazza

In this engaging discussion, Selim Nowicki, founder of Distill Labs, shares how they're making specialized LLMs faster and more accessible through knowledge distillation. Yashasvi Mishra, a data engineer at Pure Storage, emphasizes the importance of explainable AI, focusing on accountability and compliance in real-world applications. Mehdi Ouazza, a developer advocate at MotherDuck, talks about leveraging creative content and workshops to drive the adoption of open-source tools like DuckDB.

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INSIGHT

Combining LLMs With Knowledge Graphs

Igor Kvachenok combines LLMs with RDF knowledge graphs to extract structured data from semi-structured industry documents.
He finds a simple graph-RAG approach works robustly compared to using raw LLM outputs.

INSIGHT

MLOps Is Evolving Toward LLMs

Procube builds an MLOps platform on Kubernetes and Kubeflow for training, inference and fine-tuning.
Igor sees MLOps shifting toward LLM-focused workflows rather than disappearing entirely.

ANECDOTE

Pain Of Setting Up MLOps Infrastructure

Igor recalls painful experiences setting up KServe and debugging Knative dependencies while building MLOps platforms.
He notes solving such problems repeatedly builds intuition that makes future setups easier.

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At PyData Berlin, community members and industry voices highlighted how AI and data tooling are evolving across knowledge graphs, MLOps, small-model fine-tuning, explainability, and developer advocacy.

- Igor Kvachenok (Leuphana University / ProKube) combined knowledge graphs with LLMs for structured data extraction in the polymer industry, and noted how MLOps is shifting toward LLM-focused workflows.

- Selim Nowicki (Distill Labs) introduced a platform that uses knowledge distillation to fine-tune smaller models efficiently, making model specialization faster and more accessible.

- Gülsah Durmaz (Architect & Developer) shared her transition from architecture to coding, creating Python tools for design automation and volunteering with PyData through PyLadies.

- Yashasvi Misra (Pure Storage) spoke on explainable AI, stressing accountability and compliance, and shared her perspective as both a data engineer and active Python community organizer.

- Mehdi Ouazza (MotherDuck) reflected on developer advocacy through video, workshops, and branding, showing how creative communication boosts adoption of open-source tools like DuckDB.

Igor Kvachenok

Master’s student in Data Science at Leuphana University of Lüneburg, writing a thesis on LLM-enhanced data extraction for the polymer industry. Builds RDF knowledge graphs from semi-structured documents and works at ProKube on MLOps platforms powered by Kubeflow and Kubernetes.

Connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/igor-kvachenok/

Selim Nowicki

Founder of Distill Labs, a startup making small-model fine-tuning simple and fast with knowledge distillation. Previously led data teams at Berlin startups like Delivery Hero, Trade Republic, and Tier Mobility. Sees parallels between today’s ML tooling and dbt’s impact on analytics.

Connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/selim-nowicki/

Gülsah Durmaz

Architect turned developer, creating Python-based tools for architectural design automation with Rhino and Grasshopper. Active in PyLadies and a volunteer at PyData Berlin, she values the community for networking and learning, and aims to bring ML into architecture workflows.

Connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gulsah-durmaz/

Yashasvi (Yashi) Misra

Data Engineer at Pure Storage, community organizer with PyLadies India, PyCon India, and Women Techmakers. Advocates for inclusive spaces in tech and speaks on explainable AI, bridging her day-to-day in data engineering with her passion for ethical ML.

Connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/misrayashasvi/

Mehdi Ouazza

Developer Advocate at MotherDuck, formerly a data engineer, now focused on building community and education around DuckDB. Runs popular YouTube channels ("mehdio DataTV" and "MotherDuck") and delivered a hands-on workshop at PyData Berlin. Blends technical clarity with creative storytelling.

Connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mehd-io/