Screaming in the Cloud

In this podcast, Corey Quinn hosts an AMA session, answering questions about his public persona, consulting on AWS bills, favorite breakfast foods, and more. He shares insights into monetizing his public persona without compromising his opinions, favorite and least favorite AWS services, and tips for re:Invent. The podcast also covers topics like cloud migration challenges, managing AWS costs, and data exfiltration incidents.

David Colebatch, CEO of Tidal, discusses Tidal's shift to a product-led approach and the importance of customer empathy. They talk about the challenges of growing the company from scratch, cost-savings measures in cloud, constant migrations, and the impact of generative AI on tech and creative content.

Valerie Singer, GM of Global Education at AWS, discusses AWS's cloud computing education programs for learners of all skill levels. They cover topics such as generative AI in education, upskilling existing staff, and the different educational programs offered by AWS. They also highlight collaborations with tech alliances and the importance of marketable skills in the cloud industry.

Steve Tuck, Co-Founder & CEO of Oxide Computer Company, talks about making computers cloud-friendly, their own switch, demand for on-prem cloud-capable computers, and Oxide's approach to technology adoption.

Wes Miller, Research VP at Directions on Microsoft, discusses the intricacies of Microsoft licensing and the challenges faced by customers. They also explore engaging customer conversations and the constant evolution of Microsoft products. Wesley Miller shares his expertise in Microsoft licensing and his commitment to advocating for customers in negotiations.

Thomas LaRock, Principal Developer Evangelist at Selector AI, joins Corey on Screaming in the Cloud to discuss why he loves having a career in data and his most recent undertaking at Selector AI. Thomas explains how his new role aligned perfectly with his career goals in his recent job search, and why Selector AI is not in competition with other data analysis tools. Corey and Thomas discuss the benefits and drawbacks to going back to school for additional degrees, and why it’s important to maintain a healthy balance of education and practical experience. Thomas also highlights the impact that data can have on peoples’ lives, and why he finds his career in data so meaningful. About ThomasThomas’ career and life experiences are best described as follows: he takes things that are hard and makes them simple for others to understand. Thomas is a highly experienced data professional with over 25 years of expertise in diverse roles, from individual contributor to team lead. He is passionate about simplifying complex challenges for others and leading with empathy, challenging assumptions, and embracing a systems-thinking approach. Thomas has strong analytical reasoning skills and expertise to identify trends and opportunities for significant impact, and is a builder of cohesive teams by breaking down silos resulting in increased efficiencies and collective success. He has a track record of driving revenue growth, spearheading industry-leading events, and fostering valuable relationships with major tech players like Microsoft and VMware. Links Referenced:Selector: https://www.selector.ai/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sqlrockstar/

Tony Baer, Principal at dbInsight, joins Corey on Screaming in the Cloud to discuss his definition of what is and isn’t a database, and the trends he’s seeing in the industry. Tony explains why it’s important to try and have an outsider’s perspective when evaluating new ideas, and the growing awareness of the impact data has on our daily lives. Corey and Tony discuss the importance of working towards true operational simplicity in the cloud, and Tony also shares why explainability in generative AI is so crucial as the technology advances. About TonyTony Baer, the founder and CEO of dbInsight, is a recognized industry expert in extending data management practices, governance, and advanced analytics to address the desire of enterprises to generate meaningful value from data-driven transformation. His combined expertise in both legacy database technologies and emerging cloud and analytics technologies shapes how clients go to market in an industry undergoing significant transformation. During his 10 years as a principal analyst at Ovum, he established successful research practices in the firm’s fastest growing categories, including big data, cloud data management, and product lifecycle management. He advised Ovum clients regarding product roadmap, positioning, and messaging and helped them understand how to evolve data management and analytic strategies as the cloud, big data, and AI moved the goal posts. Baer was one of Ovum’s most heavily-billed analysts and provided strategic counsel to enterprises spanning the Fortune 100 to fast-growing privately held companies.With the cloud transforming the competitive landscape for database and analytics providers, Baer led deep dive research on the data platform portfolios of AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, and on how cloud transformation changed the roadmaps for incumbents such as Oracle, IBM, SAP, and Teradata. While at Ovum, he originated the term “Fast Data” which has since become synonymous with real-time streaming analytics.Baer’s thought leadership and broad market influence in big data and analytics has been formally recognized on numerous occasions. Analytics Insight named him one of the 2019 Top 100 Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Influencers. Previous citations include Onalytica, which named Baer as one of the world’s Top 20 thought leaders and influencers on Data Science; Analytics Week, which named him as one of 200 top thought leaders in Big Data and Analytics; and by KDnuggets, which listed Baer as one of the Top 12 top data analytics thought leaders on Twitter. While at Ovum, Baer was Ovum’s IT’s most visible and publicly quoted analyst, and was cited by Ovum’s parent company Informa as Brand Ambassador in 2017. In raw numbers, Baer has 14,000 followers on Twitter, and his ZDnet “Big on Data” posts are read 20,000 – 30,000 times monthly. He is also a frequent speaker at industry conferences such as Strata Data and Spark Summit.Links Referenced:dbInsight: https://dbinsight.io/

Bret Fisher, DevOps Dude & Cloud-Native Trainer, joins Corey on Screaming in the Cloud to discuss what it’s like being a practitioner and a content creator in the world of cloud. Bret shares why he feels it’s so critical to get his hands dirty so his content remains relevant, and also how he has to choose where to focus his efforts to grow his community. Corey and Bret discuss the importance of finding the joy in your work, and also the advantages and downfalls of the latest AI advancements. About BretFor 25 years Bret has built and operated distributed systems, and helped over 350,000 people learn dev and ops topics. He's a freelance DevOps and Cloud Native consultant, trainer, speaker, and open source volunteer working from Virginia Beach, USA. Bret's also a Docker Captain and the author of the popular Docker Mastery and Kubernetes Mastery series on Udemy. He hosts a weekly DevOps YouTube Live Show, a container podcast, and runs the popular devops.fan Discord chat server.Links Referenced:Twitter: https://twitter.com/BretFisherYouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BretFisherWebsite: https://www.bretfisher.com

Austin Parker, Community Maintainer at OpenTelemetry, discusses the evolution and commercial offering of OpenTelemetry, the book they wrote on the tool, and the potential of generative AI in observability. They also delve into the impact of technology on society and express gratitude towards the interviewee.

Alex Gallego, CEO & Founder of Redpanda, joins Corey on Screaming in the Cloud to discuss his experience founding and scaling a successful data streaming company over the past 4 years. Alex explains how it’s been a fun and humbling journey to go from being an engineer to being a founder, and how he’s built a team he trusts to hand the production off to. Corey and Alex discuss the benefits and various applications of Redpanda’s data streaming services, and Alex reveals why it was so important to him to focus on doing one thing really well when it comes to his product strategy. Alex also shares details on the Hack the Planet scholarship program he founded for individuals in underrepresented communities. About AlexAlex Gallego is the founder and CEO of Redpanda, the streaming data platform for developers. Alex has spent his career immersed in deeply technical environments, and is passionate about finding and building solutions to the challenges of modern data streaming. Prior to Redpanda, Alex was a principal engineer at Akamai, as well as co-founder and CTO of Concord.io, a high-performance stream-processing engine acquired by Akamai in 2016. He has also engineered software at Factset Research Systems, Forex Capital Markets and Yieldmo; and holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and cryptography from NYU. Links Referenced:Redpanda: https://redpanda.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/emaxerrnoRedpanda community Slack: https://redpandacommunity.slack.com/join/shared_invite/zt-1xq6m0ucj-nI41I7dXWB13aQ2iKBDvDwHack The Planet Scholarship: https://redpanda.com/scholarship