The Rock Bottom Data Feed

In this final fourth series episode, John and Mark continue their conversation with Sam Spencer , CEO and co-founder of Aristotle Metadata . The focus this time is an experiment Sam's been running with the Australian government. We'll let Sam give the details, but the short version is that the Australian government spent a whole lot of money on a data initiative but didn't have a whole lot of resu...

In this episode of the Rock Bottom Data Feed , John and Mark go half-way around the world, literally, to bring you Sam Spencer , CEO and co-founder of Aristotle Metadata . Drawing on experiences ranging from nursing to public service to entrepreneurship, Sam advocates for a more assertive approach to governance that emphasizes accountability, ownership, and organizational responsibility. The wide-...

Christy Crute  returns to the  Rock Bottom Data Feed to discuss the growing importance of data literacy, critical thinking, and human judgment in an AI-enabled world. In addition to being Professor, Business Analytics at Grove City College, Dr. Crute has also been an executive at multiple Fortune 50 companies. In a wide-ranging conversation, she talks about how metrics can motivate employees, foun...

Who is best to educate corporate executives? How about a college professor who was once a corporate executive herself. John and Mark welcome Christy Crute to the Rock Bottom Data Feed . Former executive at multiple Fortune 50 companies; current Professor, Business Analytics at Grove City College. In the first of our two-part conversation, Dr. Crute shares her observations about how AI is shaping e...

John Ladley and Mark Cooper conclude their conversation with Jon Padfield . He's a an engineer turned State Representative, turned business professor, exploring how surveillance, data, AI, and corporate power are reshaping our world and what you can do about it. Check out and join the quarter-million subscribers to his YouTube channel, Business Reform . In this episode of the Rock Bottom Data Feed...

Joining John Ladley and Mark Cooper at Rock Bottom is Jon Padfield . He is an Assistant Professor of Business at Indiana University, Columbus, President of the Business Reform Media Group, and proprietor of the very successful Business Reform YouTube channel . In the first half of our conversation with him, he discusses ways that companies collect and use our data that we don't often think about,...

In this episode, John Ladley and Mark Cooper conclude their conversation with Tony Mazzarella . They discuss whether hiring a Chief Data Officer will "fix" data issues (hint: it won't), and look at governance as a social and cultural change initiative, not just a data catalog or glossary project. Tony also answers the "two questions" and plays the Famous Game Show. As always, if you have a suggest...

In this episode, John Ladley and Mark Cooper conclude their conversation with Tony Mazzarella . They discuss whether hiring a Chief Data Officer will "fix" data issues (hint: it won't), and look at governance as a social and cultural change initiative, not just a data catalog or glossary project. Tony also answers the "two questions" and plays the Famous Game Show. As always, if you have a suggest...

John Ladley and Mark Cooper welcome Tony Mazzarella to Rock Bottom! He just completed a Ph. D. focused on Data Governance, reframing it not as a static control layer but as a dynamic system that connects technology, people, and real-world outcomes. He'll explain all that, and much more, in this episode and the next. We also have a new Archedataology artifact, Data Poetry Slam, and advice from the...

In this episode, we continue our conversation with Stijn Christiaens , co-founder and Chief Data Citizen at Collibra. He talks more about what data really is, and why it's far more than just transactions. From user interactions and system logs to external data sets and entirely new data created by redesigned products, Stijn unpacks the expanding scope of data in modern organizations. Today we are...

John Ladley and Mark Cooper are back with the fourth series of The Rock Bottom Data Feed! We're introducing some new segments; some in this episode and more in upcoming episodes (we would tell you more, but we want them to be a surprise). Something else that we're trying this series is to do more long-form interviews. Instead of hours long episodes, though, we're splitting each conversation into t...

Series Three of the Rock Bottom Data Feed has been an exploration of AI and data. It's a big subject. Sometimes we got talking with our guests and next thing you know we've gone long or ventured into a topic that's beyond the scope of the episode. Never ones to let good conversation go to waste, we've accumulated those bits here. If you haven't already listened to the episodes in this series, go b...

It is our pleasure to welcome to Rock Bottom, Tony Shaw , Founder and CEO of DATAVERSITY , the premiere resource for data education, whether delivered live, recorded, virtual, or in person. It is clear that data is becoming increasingly important for AI success, and in many ways, corporate success. But while data education is also becoming increasingly important, it is still undervalued by too man...

Nearly a hundred thousand corporate employees have been terminated in mass layoffs this year. Most just in the past few months. And ostensibly because of AI. We're not convinced. Our scheduled guest was unexpectedly unavailable (and in case you're worried, we can confirm that he was not replaced by AI), so in this episode, John and Mark discuss these recent events and some of what the future holds...

In our first series, Doug Laney introduced us to Datanomics . He is also the author of Data Juice . In this episode he returns to Rock Bottom to go into more detail about the approaches and metrics companies can use to truly treat data as an asset. To do that, we need to introduce data into the C-Suite. Most companies approach Data Governance through the CIO or CDO, and that has been moderately su...

The Rock Bottom Data Feed gang is back for another series, and for much of this series we will be focused on AI. Just like the internet and Six Sigma, we think it's here to stay. So, what are its ramifications for the data area? How can we make AI work for us, not against us? How can we get something useful from it? In this episode we welcome Kelle O'Neal and Gregg Loos from First San Francisco Pa...

Welcome back for this, the third series of the Rock Bottom Data Feed. Previously, John and Mark did a four-part radio play following Nick Guy, Data Detective, as he investigated the death of Consolidated International and the role that Jen AI may have played in its demise. The reception from our listeners was very enthusiastic, so in this special episode we present the full, uninterrupted radio pl...

In this very special twentieth episode of the Rock Bottom Data Feed, John Ladley and Mark Cooper welcome John Ladley and Mark Cooper to the show. Two blokes chatting at the kitchen table about data as anthropology and AI. Isn't that what everybody talks about at the kitchen table? You'll also hear your hosts answering the two questions asked of every Rock Bottom Data Feed guest and playing the fam...

We are excited to welcome Nicola Askham to Rock Bottom. She is an award-winning Data Governance expert, coach, consultant, and trainer. Her website has a wealth of useful information, including a list of the 10 biggest mistakes companies make when implementing data governance. How many look familiar to you? In this episode, Nicola shares best practices and stories from the front lines of Data Gove...

Principles and policies live at the intersection of Data Governance and Data Ethics. It's a place many companies could use some help. Providing that help in this episode of the Rock Bottom Data Feed is Malcolm Chisholm , President of Data Millennium, and author of Successful and Sustainable Data Policies . He introduces us to the Data Policy Lifecycle, required not only for Data Policies (as its n...

In this episode, we return to the subject of Data Ethics. The title may have given it away. We are pleased to welcome to Rock Bottom Katrina Ingram , Founder and CEO of Ethically Aligned AI, and author of the Dataversity column Ask a Data Ethicist . We met Katrina at DGIQ in Washington, DC. She joins us here to share practical advice about making AI responsible, safe, and ethical. We also continue...

This week we introduce Nick Guy, Data Detective. A knock at the door. A new client. And a mystery that will take us through the next several episodes. Maybe Nick wishes he had grabbed dinner earlier. Or maybe not. Joining John and Mark is Irene Dirks , one of the passers-by that sat down and actually talked with us at DGIQ. She has some very creative and engaging ideas for using Lego sets to get a...

Will Todd Corporate and Senator Ostik come to blows or will they find common ground? Find out as the Secretary of Data confirmation hearing wraps up. This episode also concludes our three-part Data Governance arc. John and Mark welcome Bob Seiner , speaker, advisor, and prolific writer on the topic of Data Governance, including the recently published book Non-Invasive Data Governance Unleashed: Em...

A recent CDO Magazine article begins, "Data governance, as it is currently practiced, is failing. Despite being positioned as essential for data quality, regulatory compliance, and strategic decision-making, data governance often falls short." In this episode we continue our exploration of how and why Data Governance isn't working out so well for most companies. We'll also check in on Todd Corpora...

Would anybody disagree that Data Governance isn't working out the way we had all hoped? Yes, we've seen successes, but for the most part it's been like trying to throw an angel food cake under water. As long as you're pushing there's movement. As soon as you stop everything falls away. This episode is the first in a three part series that takes a hard look at Data Governance. We are honored to wel...