265: From Anxiety to Advantage: Navigating Data’s AI Revolution with Barry McCardel of Hex

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Oct 8, 2025

Barry McCardel, CEO and co-founder of Hex, shares insights on the transformative power of AI on data teams. He discusses how AI can cause anxiety yet foster excitement among professionals, emphasizing the need for adaptability. Barry explains Hex's shift to integrate AI across teams, enhancing workflows and redefining roles. He highlights the increasing demand for data insights and explores the potential for AI to increase team impact. The conversation touches on industry consolidation trends and future directions in the data landscape.

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INSIGHT

Central AI Teams Become Bottlenecks

Dedicated AI teams bottleneck company-wide adoption and slow feature volume.
Barry explains early centralized AI teams made sense, but become limiting as AI must be embedded broadly.

ADVICE

Embed AI In Product Teams

Integrate AI into every product team rather than isolating it as a separate feature team.
Barry recommends a platform team to provide AI primitives while product teams own AI features end-to-end.

ANECDOTE

Sections Feature Used By Agents

Hex launched a simple Sections feature and later discovered users mostly asked agents to organize sections.
Barry admits building with AI in mind from the start would have improved the design.

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This week on The Data Stack Show, Barry McCardel, CEO and Co-Founder of Hex, joins Eric Dodds and John Wessel to discuss the transformative impact of AI on data teams and the broader data industry. The conversation explores how AI is reshaping workflows, team structures, and the very definition of data roles, while also addressing the anxieties and opportunities that come with rapid change. Barry shares Hex’s journey from having a dedicated AI team to fully integrating AI across the product, and offers insights on industry consolidation, the infinite demand for data insights, and the importance of embracing change. Key takeaways include the need for data professionals to adapt and focus on problem-solving, the growing value of context and curation, the competitive advantage for organizations that leverage AI-driven tools and foster a culture of innovation, and so much more.

Highlights from this week’s conversation include:

Welcoming Back Barry to The Show (1:07)
Discussing Change, Uncertainty, And Anxiety In Data Roles (3:13)
Exploring Excitement And Opportunity In AI Adoption (6:20)
Redefining Data Roles And The Infinite Demand For Insight (9:37)
The Impact Of AI On Data Workflows And Team Mindset (12:52)
Evolving Team Structures And The End Of The Magic Team (16:49)
Integrating AI Into Product Development At Hex (20:44)
Comparing Industry Approaches To AI Features (24:56)
How AI Changes Daily Workflows For Data Teams (28:52)
The Virtuous Cycle Of Context, Curation, And Self-Serve (32:39)
Managing Context And Evaluating AI Agent Performance (36:52)
The Expanding Role Of Data Professionals In The AI Era (40:45)
Industry Consolidation And The Modern Data Stack (44:32)
Lessons From Acquisitions And Platform Shifts (48:18)
Key Takeaways And Looking Ahead To Future Episodes (52:16)

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