DataTalks.Club

• Build a Strong Career in Data - Lavanya Gupta

  In this podcast episode, we talked with Lavanya Gupta about Building a Strong Career in Data.About the Speaker: Lavanya is a Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) alumni of the Language Technologies Institute (LTI). She works as a Sr. AI/ML Applied Associate at JPMorgan Chase in their specialized Machine Learning Center of Excellence (MLCOE) vertical. Her latest research on long-context evaluation of LLMs was published in EMNLP 2024. In addition to having a strong industrial research background of 5+ years, she is also an enthusiastic technical speaker. She has delivered talks at events such as Women in Data Science (WiDS) 2021, PyData, Illuminate AI 2021, TensorFlow User Group (TFUG), and MindHack! Summit. She also serves as a reviewer at top-tier NLP conferences (NeurIPS 2024, ICLR 2025, NAACL 2025). Additionally, through her collaborations with various prestigious organizations, like Anita BOrg and Women in Coding and Data Science (WiCDS), she is committed to mentoring aspiring machine learning enthusiasts.In this episode, we talk about Lavanya Gupta’s journey from software engineer to AI researcher. She shares how hackathons sparked her passion for machine learning, her transition into NLP, and her current work benchmarking large language models in finance. Tune in for practical insights on building a strong data career and navigating the evolving AI landscape.🕒 TIMECODES00:00 Lavanya’s journey from software engineer to AI researcher10:15 Benchmarking long context language models12:36 Limitations of large context models in real domains14:54 Handling large documents and publishing research in industry19:45 Building a data science career: publications, motivation, and mentorship25:01 Self-learning, hackathons, and networking33:24 Community work and Kaggle projects37:32 Mentorship and open-ended guidance51:28 Building a strong data science portfolio🔗 CONNECT WITH LAVANYALinkedIn -   / lgupta18  🔗 CONNECT WITH DataTalksClub Join the community - https://datatalks.club/slack.html Subscribe to our Google calendar to have all our events in your calendar - https://calendar.google.com/calendar/... Check other upcoming events - https://lu.ma/dtc-events LinkedIn -   / datatalks-club   Twitter -   / datatalksclub   Website - https://datatalks.club/

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• From Supply Chain Management to Digital Warehousing and FinOps - Eddy Zulkifly

  In this podcast episode, we talked with Eddy Zulkifly about From Supply Chain Management to Digital Warehousing and FinOpsAbout the Speaker: Eddy Zulkifly is a Staff Data Engineer at Kinaxis, building robust data platforms across Google Cloud, Azure, and AWS. With a decade of experience in data, he actively shares his expertise as a Mentor on ADPList and Teaching Assistant at Uplimit. Previously, he was a Senior Data Engineer at Home Depot, specializing in e-commerce and supply chain analytics. Currently pursuing a Master’s in Analytics at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Eddy is also passionate about open-source data projects and enjoys watching/exploring the analytics behind the Fantasy Premier League.In this episode, we dive into the world of data engineering and FinOps with Eddy Zulkifly, Staff Data Engineer at Kinaxis. Eddy shares his unconventional career journey—from optimizing physical warehouses with Excel to building digital data platforms in the cloud.🕒 TIMECODES0:00 Eddy’s career journey: From supply chain to data engineering8:18 Tools & learning: Excel, Docker, and transitioning to data engineering21:57 Physical vs. digital warehousing: Analogies and key differences31:40 Introduction to FinOps: Cloud cost optimization and vendor negotiations40:18 Resources for FinOps: Certifications and the FinOps Foundation45:12 Standardizing cloud cost reporting across AWS/GCP/Azure50:04 Eddy’s master’s degree and closing thoughts🔗 CONNECT WITH EDDYTwitter - https://x.com/eddariefLinkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eddyzulkifly/Github: https://github.com/eyzyly/eyzylyADPList: https://adplist.org/mentors/eddy-zulkifly🔗 CONNECT WITH DataTalksClubJoin the community - https://datatalks.club/slack.htmlSubscribe to our Google calendar to have all our events in your calendar - https://calendar.google.com/calendar/r?cid=ZjhxaWRqbnEwamhzY3A4ODA5azFlZ2hzNjBAZ3JvdXAuY2FsZW5kYXIuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbQCheck other upcoming events - https://lu.ma/dtc-events LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/datatalks-club/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/DataTalksClub Website - https://datatalks.club/

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• Data Intensive AI - Bartosz Mikulski

  In this podcast episode, we talked with Bartosz Mikulski about Data Intensive AI.About the Speaker:Bartosz is an AI and data engineer. He specializes in moving AI projects from the good-enough-for-a-demo phase to production by building a testing infrastructure and fixing the issues detected by tests. On top of that, he teaches programmers and non-programmers how to use AI. He contributed one chapter to the book 97 Things Every Data Engineer Should Know, and he was a speaker at several conferences, including Data Natives, Berlin Buzzwords, and Global AI Developer Days. In this episode, we discuss Bartosz’s career journey, the importance of testing in data pipelines, and how AI tools like ChatGPT and Cursor are transforming development workflows. From prompt engineering to building Chrome extensions with AI, we dive into practical use cases, tools, and insights for anyone working in data-intensive AI projects. Whether you’re a data engineer, AI enthusiast, or just curious about the future of AI in tech, this episode offers valuable takeaways and real-world experiences.0:00 Introduction to Bartosz and his background4:00 Bartosz’s career journey from Java development to AI engineering9:05 The importance of testing in data engineering11:19 How to create tests for data pipelines13:14 Tools and approaches for testing data pipelines17:10 Choosing Spark for data engineering projects19:05 The connection between data engineering and AI tools21:39 Use cases of AI in data engineering and MLOps25:13 Prompt engineering techniques and best practices31:45 Prompt compression and caching in AI models33:35 Thoughts on DeepSeek and open-source AI models35:54 Using AI for lead classification and LinkedIn automation41:04 Building Chrome extensions with AI integration43:51 Comparing Cursor and GitHub Copilot for coding47:11 Using ChatGPT and Perplexity for AI-assisted tasks52:09 Hosting static websites and using AI for development54:27 How blogging helps attract clients and share knowledge58:15 Using AI to assist with writing and content creation🔗 CONNECT WITH BartoszLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikulskibartosz/ Github: https://github.com/mikulskibartoszWebsite: https://mikulskibartosz.name/blog/🔗 CONNECT WITH DataTalksClub Join the community - https://datatalks.club/slack.html Subscribe to our Google calendar to have all our events in your calendar - https://calendar.google.com/calendar/r?cid=ZjhxaWRqbnEwamhzY3A4ODA5azFlZ2hzNjBAZ3JvdXAuY2FsZW5kYXIuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbQ Check other upcoming events - https://lu.ma/dtc-events LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/datatalks-club/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/DataTalksClub Website - https://datatalks.club/

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• MLOps in Corporations and Startups - Nemanja Radojkovic

  In this podcast episode, we talked with Nemanja Radojkovic about MLOps in Corporations and Startups.About the Speaker: Nemanja Radojkovic is Senior Machine Learning Engineer at Euroclear.In this event,we’re diving into the world of MLOps, comparing life in startups versus big corporations. Joining us again is Nemanja, a seasoned machine learning engineer with experience spanning Fortune 500 companies and agile startups. We explore the challenges of scaling MLOps on a shoestring budget, the trade-offs between corporate stability and startup agility, and practical advice for engineers deciding between these two career paths. Whether you’re navigating legacy frameworks or experimenting with cutting-edge tools.1:00 MLOps in corporations versus startups6:03 The agility and pace of startups7:54 MLOps on a shoestring budget12:54 Cloud solutions for startups15:06 Challenges of cloud complexity versus on-premise19:19 Selecting tools and avoiding vendor lock-in22:22 Choosing between a startup and a corporation27:30 Flexibility and risks in startups29:37 Bureaucracy and processes in corporations33:17 The role of frameworks in corporations34:32 Advantages of large teams in corporations40:01 Challenges of technical debt in startups43:12 Career advice for junior data scientists44:10 Tools and frameworks for MLOps projects49:00 Balancing new and old technologies in skill development55:43 Data engineering challenges and reliability in LLMs57:09 On-premise vs. cloud solutions in data-sensitive industries59:29 Alternatives like Dask for distributed systems🔗 CONNECT WITH NEMANJALinkedIn -   / radojkovic  Github - https://github.com/baskervilski🔗 CONNECT WITH DataTalksClubJoin the community - https://datatalks.club/slack.htmlSubscribe to our Google calendar to have all our events in your calendar - https://calendar.google.com/calendar/...Check other upcoming events - https://lu.ma/dtc-events LinkedIn -   / datatalks-club   Twitter -   / datatalksclub   Website - https://datatalks.club/ 

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• Trends in Data Engineering – Adrian Brudaru

  In this podcast episode, we talked with Adrian Brudaru about ​the past, present and future of data engineering.About the speaker:Adrian Brudaru studied economics in Romania but soon got bored with how creative the industry was, and chose to go instead for the more factual side. He ended up in Berlin at the age of 25 and started a role as a business analyst. At the age of 30, he had enough of startups and decided to join a corporation, but quickly found out that it did not provide the challenge he wanted.As going back to startups was not a desirable option either, he decided to postpone his decision by taking freelance work and has never looked back since. Five years later, he co-founded a company in the data space to try new things. This company is also looking to release open source tools to help democratize data engineering.0:00 Introduction to DataTalks.Club1:05 Discussing trends in data engineering with Adrian2:03 Adrian's background and journey into data engineering5:04 Growth and updates on Adrian's company, DLT Hub9:05 Challenges and specialization in data engineering today13:00 Opportunities for data engineers entering the field15:00 The "Modern Data Stack" and its evolution17:25 Emerging trends: AI integration and Iceberg technology27:40 DuckDB and the emergence of portable, cost-effective data stacks32:14 The rise and impact of dbt in data engineering34:08 Alternatives to dbt: SQLMesh and others35:25 Workflow orchestration tools: Airflow, Dagster, Prefect, and GitHub Actions37:20 Audience questions: Career focus in data roles and AI engineering overlaps39:00 The role of semantics in data and AI workflows41:11 Focusing on learning concepts over tools when entering the field 45:15 Transitioning from backend to data engineering: challenges and opportunities 47:48 Current state of the data engineering job market in Europe and beyond 49:05 Introduction to Apache Iceberg, Delta, and Hudi file formats 50:40 Suitability of these formats for batch and streaming workloads 52:29 Tools for streaming: Kafka, SQS, and related trends 58:07 Building AI agents and enabling intelligent data applications 59:09Closing discussion on the place of tools like DBT in the ecosystem🔗 CONNECT WITH ADRIAN BRUDARULinkedin -  / data-team   Website - https://adrian.brudaru.com/ 🔗 CONNECT WITH DataTalksClubJoin the community - https://datatalks.club/slack.html Subscribe to our Google calendar to have all our events in your calendar - https://calendar.google.com/calendar/... Check other upcoming events - https://lu.ma/dtc-events LinkedIn -  /datatalks-club   Twitter -  /datatalksclub   Website - https://datatalks.club/

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