
The Data Scientist Show - Daliana Liu
A deep dive into data scientists' day-to-day work, tools and models they use, how they tackle problems, and their career journeys. This podcast helps you grow a successful career in data science. Listening to an episode is like having lunch with an experienced mentor. Guests are data science practitioners from various industries, AI researchers, economists, and CTOs of AI companies. Host: Daliana Liu, an ex-Amazon senior data scientist with 180k followers on Linkedin.
Join 20k subscribers at www.dalianaliu.com to learn more about data science, career, and this show. Twitter @DalianaLiu.
Latest episodes

Apr 21, 2025 • 44min
Why I’m ending this show. Death, afterlife, Chinese philosophy, and what’s next? Daliana Liu ft. Tina Huang #92
I had a fun “funeral” of this show with Tina Huang, we talked about death, afterlife, and the various transitions as content creators. Get coached by Daliana:• DS/ML Career Accelerator• Personal Branding Accelerator• Join the newsletter with 20k readers to read my career stories here.

Apr 1, 2025 • 1h 34min
Unfiltered advice - How to advance your career in data science & ML - The Data Scientist Show with Daliana Liu and Jon Krohn #091
Jon Kron, host of the Super Data Science podcast, shares insights on accelerating careers in data science and machine learning. He discusses the importance of personal branding and navigating industry changes, including overcoming impostor syndrome and burnout. The conversation touches on mentoring and the need for self-advocacy in a rapidly evolving field. Kron emphasizes the significance of soft skills, networking, and aligning capabilities with market demands to enhance career progression. Personal growth is highlighted as essential for achieving success in tech.

11 snips
Feb 17, 2025 • 1h 2min
From Meta to independent data consultant, Seattle Data Guy moved to Denver, Ben Rogojan, the data scientist show #090
Ben Rogojan, known as the Seattle Data Guy, is a former Meta data engineer turned independent consultant and popular YouTuber with a strong online presence. He dives into his transition from traditional employment to consulting, sharing insights on the evolving landscape of data engineering influenced by AI and low-code tools. Ben discusses the importance of effective stakeholder engagement and personal branding in building client trust. He reflects on the diverse tech cultures of Seattle, San Francisco, and Denver while emphasizing the need for work-life balance and taking time off.

37 snips
Apr 17, 2024 • 42min
Why data scientists are tired, six real data scientists' frustrations - The Data Scientist Show #089
Data scientist Daliana interviews 6 data scientists about their frustrations. They discuss challenges in healthcare, finance, data quality, and AI. Topics include advocating for yourself, aligning with managers, and prioritizing data quality over advanced AI techniques in the pharmaceutical industry. They also talk about navigating stakeholder requests, project challenges, communication, and career growth in the banking industry.

23 snips
Apr 8, 2024 • 44min
Why 80% of A/B tests fail, how to 10X your experimentation velocity - Kristi Angel - The Data Scientist Show #088
Kristi Angel shares expertise on boosting experimentation velocity, designing impactful experiments, and building knowledge repos. Topics include choosing metrics, team structures, reducing noise with CUPED, future of A/B testing, and scaling experimentation programs.

Mar 30, 2024 • 46min
From physics PhD to data science leader, unexpected challenges in survey data, Python vs R, EDA best practices, building MLOps toolkit - Julia Silge - The Data Scientist Show #087
Julia Silge, former astrophysicist turned data science leader, discusses challenges in survey data, Python vs. R, EDA best practices, and building MLOps tools. Topics include text analysis, balancing data science and engineering, and her journey from physics PhD to engineering manager at Posit PBC.

Mar 22, 2024 • 52min
Why he created Pandas, the future of data systems, why he left his CTO role to become a chief architect - Wes McKinney - The Data Scientist Show #086
Wes McKinney, creator of Pandas, shares how it started, benefits of user-friendly data tools, challenges in building products, transitioning to a top architect role, improving open source, and using ChatGPT for learning, with a focus on future impact goals and career excitement.

Mar 15, 2024 • 1h 14min
From financial analyst to director of analytics, how to get promoted quickly, 7 elements of influence - Christopher Fricker - The Data Scientist Show #085
Christopher Fricker is a senior director in analytics and BI at Renaissance Learning. He started his career in finance and later became a data science consultant working with Meta, Netflix, and pre-IPO tech companies doing analytics. We talked about the mental models that helped him grow from a finance analyst to an analytics leader.
Subscribe to Daliana's newsletter on www.dalianaliu.com for more on data science and career.
Chris’ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherfricker/
Daliana's Twitter: https://twitter.com/DalianaLiu
Daliana’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalianaliu/
(00:00:00) Introduction
(00:01:46) How to get promoted quickly
(00:08:40) Power vs authority
(00:11:21) First principal thinking
(00:32:34) ROI of a data team
(00:40:29) How to be persuasive
(00:54:52) All Data is wrong
(00:56:22) How he audits the data
(01:00:52) How to make someone help you at work

Mar 8, 2024 • 53min
Adapters: the game changer for fine-tuning - Geoffrey Angus - The Data Scientist Show #084
I interviewed Geoffery Angus, ML team lead @Predibase to talk about why adapter-based training is a game changer. We started with an overview of fine-tuning and then discussed five reasons why adapters are the future of LLMs. Later we also shared a demo and answered questions from the live audience. Try fine-tuning for free: https://pbase.ai/GetStarted
Geoffrey’s LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffreyangus
Daliana's Twitter: https://twitter.com/DalianaLiu
Daliana’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalianaliu/
Daliana's Twitter: https://twitter.com/DalianaLiu
Daliana’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalianaliu/
Geoffrey’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffreyangus
Try finetuning for free: https://pbase.ai/GetStarted
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:01:19) What is Fine-tuning?
(00:08:18) Utilizing Adapters for Finetuning Enhancement
(00:09:50) 5 reasons why adapters are the future of LLMs
(00:26:34) Common Mistakes in Adapters Usage
(00:28:34) Training Your Own Adapter
(00:32:23) Behind the Scenes of the Adapter Training Process
(00:37:51) Config File Guidance for Fine-Tuning
(00:39:41) Debugging Strategies for Suboptimal Fine-Tuning Results
(00:42:23) User Queries: Creating a LoRa Adapter and Future Support
(00:51:06) Key Takeaways and Recap

Feb 29, 2024 • 36min
Landing a job by analyzing Seattle's crime data, from data scientist to founder of interview query, building a lifestyle business - Jay Feng - The Data Scientist Show #083
Jay Feng created a viral project using Seattle crime data and later got into data science. He later founded "Interview Query" helping data scientists get jobs. We'll talk about how he landed his data science job through his blog, and his journey from data scientist to founder. Subscribe to Daliana's newsletter on www.dalianaliu.com for more on data science and career.
Daliana's Twitter: https://twitter.com/DalianaLiu
Daliana’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalianaliu/
Jay Feng's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jay-feng-ab66b049/
Jay Feng's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DataScienceJay
(00:00:00) Introduction
(00:01:11) From engineer to data scientist
(00:03:10) Got a job through a project
(00:05:35) Daliana's portfolio project with Zillow
(00:09:13) From data scientist to entreprenuer
(00:13:19) "Tinder" for job
(00:15:01) How he chose companies to work for
(00:15:56) Why he became an entreprenuer
(00:17:37) How many hours does he work
(00:18:54) Challenges when building "interview query"
(00:20:18) Speed vs scale
(00:22:11) Growth hacks he used
(00:24:22) YouTube vs newsletter
(00:27:21) Lessons he learned as a CEO
(00:29:16) How to grow from tech employee to founder
(00:31:59) How he defines success
(00:34:38) If you have a business idea for Jay