Introducing DatAInnovators & Builders!

DatAInnovators & Builders is a podcast for data leaders navigating the gap between AI ambition and actual results.

Hosted by Saket Saurabh, CEO of Nexla, each episode features conversations with CDOs, CTOs, and data architects who’ve built systems at scale. No vendor pitches. No theoretical frameworks that fall apart in production. Just honest discussions about what works when you’re dealing with data variety, stuck AI pilots, or architectures that somehow got more complex in the cloud.

Why Should You Listen?

Most data content today falls into two camps: polished conference panels that skip the hard parts, or vendor-funded thought leadership that’s really just a sales pitch in disguise.

This podcast exists in the white space between them.

Every episode breaks down real architecture decisions, team structures, and hard-won lessons from leaders who’ve actually shipped. For example, why most AI adoption stalls at the process level, how to handle data variety across 1000+ business systems, or when to use fine-tuning vs RAG for production agents — the stuff that doesn’t make it into the case studies.

You’ll hear about:

• AI transformation that moves beyond pilots. How organizations take projects from proof-of-concept to production without getting stuck in integration limbo.
• Data variety at scale. Practical approaches to handling complexity across sources, formats, and systems without adding another tool to an already bloated stack.
• Team effectiveness without endless hiring. How leaders make their teams more productive when headcount isn’t the answer.
  Simplification strategies. Real examples of consolidating tools, reducing dependencies, and cutting through complexity that accumulated faster than anyone planned.
• The best insights don’t come from whitepapers. They come from people who’ve been in the trenches. That’s what you’ll get here.

When Can You Listen?

New episodes drop every two weeks on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.

Episode 1 features Robin Sutara, Field Chief Data Strategy Officer at Databricks, on why AI adoption stalls and how to fix it at the process level.

Coming up this season:

• Ashish Thusoo, Founder & CEO, CurieTech AI
• Alexander Page, Engineering Director of Applied AI, BigPanda
• Stephen Gatchell, VP of Data and AI Strategy, BigID
• Many more leaders tackling the problems you’re dealing with right now!

Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, or watch full episodes on our YouTube channel.

If you’re a data leader with a story worth sharing, reach out. We’re always looking for guests looking to share their lessons learned.