The Joe Reis Show
Joe Reis
What happens when a best-selling author and "recovering data scientist" gets a microphone? This podcast.
I'm Joe Reis, and each week I broadcast from wherever I am in the world, sharing candid thoughts on the data, tech, and AI industry.
Sometimes it's a solo rant. Other times, I'm chatting with the smartest people I know.
If you're looking for an unfiltered perspective on the state of AI, data, and tech, you've found it.
I'm Joe Reis, and each week I broadcast from wherever I am in the world, sharing candid thoughts on the data, tech, and AI industry.
Sometimes it's a solo rant. Other times, I'm chatting with the smartest people I know.
If you're looking for an unfiltered perspective on the state of AI, data, and tech, you've found it.
Episodes
Mentioned books
26 snips
Mar 10, 2026 • 52min
The OGs of AI Analytics: Building Data Agents Before It Was Cool w/ Paul Blankley and Ryan Janssen
Ryan Janssen, Zenlytic co-founder and product leader with LLM and VC experience, and Paul Blankley, Zenlytic co-founder and former data consultant focused on NLP, discuss building agent-driven analytics. They trace early Transformer work, the rise of agents managing code, model-driven architecture shifts, scaffolding strategies, and rapid vibe-coding of a CRM in real time.
10 snips
Mar 6, 2026 • 19min
Freestyle Fridays - The AI Skills and Competence Gap
A lively take on the difference between the AI skills gap and the competence gap. True stories of AI misuse in labs and classrooms highlight risks. Discussion of who adopts AI at work and why culture, hoarded knowledge, and bad data block success. A call to learn fundamentals like coding and architecture and to use AI to amplify, not replace, judgment.
15 snips
Mar 5, 2026 • 54min
Are Software Engineers the New Data Engineers? w/ Tim Delisle & Chris Crane (514)
Chris Crane, product lead and co-founder of 514, former data pipeline founder who built developer-first analytics tooling. Tim Delisle, CEO and co-founder of 514 and longtime data engineering leader. They discuss why software teams now own heavy analytics, the Moose Stack for local-first, code-first OLAP, how AI copilots speed development, and the idea of personal data lakes for privacy and local compute.
9 snips
Mar 3, 2026 • 44min
The AI Orchestrator & Building Human-Machine Teams w/ Sadie St. Lawrence
Sadie St. Lawrence, founder of the Human-Machine Collaboration Institute and former Women in Data leader, studies human-machine teams and AI orchestration. She explains the AI orchestrator mindset, how musical training shapes systems thinking, and why organizations need structural data design over tool chasing. She also covers AI-first workflows, agent-based project management, and practical vibe-coding projects.
21 snips
Feb 27, 2026 • 22min
Freestyle Fridays - The Great Data Reckoning
A reflection on a satirical piece that felt eerily accurate about the future of data. Discussion of tool proliferation, conference-driven hype, and venture playbooks. Fast AI progress reshaping careers and founder choices. Practical uses of AI to speed product work while preserving human taste and design. A push for data practitioners to move toward revenue-facing, indispensable roles.
9 snips
Feb 26, 2026 • 54min
Marketing to Developers During the AI Gold Rush w/ Prashant Sridharan
Prashant Sridharan, a 30-year product marketer who’s worked at Sun, Microsoft, AWS, Facebook and now Supabase, and author of Picks and Shovels. He explores the evolution of developer marketing, protecting communities from vendor overload, using AI to speed up mechanical marketing while keeping authentic storytelling, GEO for discoverability, and the thrill of live coding demos and keynote storytelling.
31 snips
Feb 20, 2026 • 15min
Freestyle Fridays - The Data Industry is the Definition of Insanity
A critique of four decades of repeated approaches in the data industry and why they keep failing. Discussion of survey findings: dominant warehouse and lakehouse setups, widespread AI tool use without deep adoption, and surprising regional trends. Exploration of modeling practices that fuel firefighting, persistent pain points like unclear ownership, and plans for community-driven research and events.
20 snips
Feb 17, 2026 • 50min
From ODBC to ADBC: Modernizing the Data Stack for AI and Analytics w/ Ian Cook
Ian Cook, co-founder of Columnar and longtime Apache Arrow contributor, modernizes database connectivity with ADBC. He explains why row-based protocols persist, the costs of converting columns to rows, and how keeping data columnar speeds analytics and AI. Ian also explores tabular data’s role in LLMs and the balance between rapid coding and stable open-source infrastructure.
20 snips
Feb 13, 2026 • 22min
Freestyle Fridays - The State of Data Engineering in 2026, Book Writing, and More
A deep dive into the 2026 State of Data Engineering survey and what 1,100+ responses reveal about tools and trends. Discussion of infrastructure realities like warehouses versus lakehouses and gaps in orchestration. Exploration of AI usage patterns, training demand for semantics and ontologies, and plans for community pulses and a hackathon. Reflections on book-writing progress and lessons learned.
12 snips
Feb 11, 2026 • 53min
Vibe Coding, Agents, and The Future of Streaming Data w/ Paul Dudley and Ricky Thomas (Streamkap)
Paul Dudley, CEO focused on streaming platforms and analytics, and Ricky Thomas, CTO experienced in DevOps and real-time systems, discuss vibe coding and AI-driven rapid prototyping. They explore why streaming data is crucial for agents to have fresh context, the move from dashboards to automated decisioning, and how streaming backbones and agent-first APIs will reshape SaaS and data workflows.
