Data in the D

Detroit's data community goes home for this one. Ryan and Aaron are joined by Mary Wilkerson (theology teacher with 25 years working with adolescents — and Aaron's wife) and John Breyer (Director of Partnerships at Longbeard, the Catholic AI company behind Magisterium AI) to talk about what AI is actually doing to kids in classrooms and living rooms. What we cover: - Why students genuinely...

This week on Data in the D , Ryan Dolley and Aaron Wilkerson sit down with Harini Rajagopal from AAA Life , Pete Cooney from Jackson National Life , and Jason Touleyrou from Parable to talk about what’s really happening in data engineering. Cloud modernization, AI pressure, cost control, ontology, enterprise architecture, and the messy reality behind the hype straight from practitioners building t...

Is the data job market broken — or just reshuffled? The vibes are all over the place. Some people have tons of opportunities; others have been job hunting for six months. What separates the two camps? Ryan and Aaron sit down with Jeff Wolgamuth and Michael Butts from Birchworks, a 19-year executive search firm specializing in data engineering, data science, and AI placements, to get the real story...

What's it like trying to build a data career in 2026? Lilah Kole is 26, based in metro Detroit, and has already stacked an impressive resume — from decision science at IPG Media Brands to Power Platform development at Webasto and Agri, with stops at startups and steel companies in between. Ryan and Aaron sit down with Lilah to get the perspective that most data podcasts miss: what it actually...

Scott Smith has spent 20 years leading analytics consulting at Wit Solutions in Detroit — from the Business Objects and Qlikview days through Power BI and now AI. In this episode, we dig into why just being "a data person" won't cut it anymore, what mid-market companies actually need from their data teams, how vibe coding is shaking up enterprise consulting, and Scott's blunt adv...

The founders of Data in the D share the story behind Detroit’s fastest-growing data community—why it started, how the conference came together, and what’s next for analytics data leaders, engineers, and BI teams in the Motor City. Follow us at datainthed.org Featuring Aaron Wilkerson, Ryan Dolley, Jason Touleyrou and Dom Leo.