Agile Data N’ Info

In this episode of the Agile Data N’ Info Podcast, host Shane Gibson sits down with Benn Stancil, a founder of Mode and a data industry veteran with a decade of experience navigating the evolving landscape of analytics.
In this episode, the conversation explores the shifting boundaries and potential friction between data engineers, analytics engineers, and traditional analysts. Benn explains how the modern data stack and hyper-specialization have fundamentally altered the data workflow, lowering the cost of dashboard production but unintentionally flooding organizations with ad-hoc “junk”. By focusing on critical thinking and business context, Benn emphasizes the importance of keeping analysts dedicated to solving strategic business problems rather than just managing pipelines or churning out disposable reports.
The discussion also dives deep into the complexities of the emerging “metrics layer” (or semantic layer), clarifying how it shifts logical governance to help resolve friction between data modeling and pure analysis. Benn breaks down the current limitations of natural language AI querying, explaining that because business questions are inherently ambiguous, human analysts remain essential to providing context and preventing stakeholders from asking structurally flawed questions.
Whether you are curious about the dangers of hyper-specialization and team handoffs, how metrics layers are changing data governance, or want to learn why “T-shaped” cross-functional skills remain vital for agile data teams, this episode is packed with valuable insights for data professionals.
 
You can get in touch with Benn via LinkedIn or over at https://benn.substack.com/
If you want want to read a summary generated with GenAI, head over to:
https://agiledata.info/i/208316819/google-notebooklm-briefing
 
If you want to download the transcript for the podcast, head over to:
https://agiledata.info/i/208316819/transcript
 
Listen to more podcasts on applying Agile Data patterns over at https://podcast.agiledata.io/ Read more on the Agile Data Way of Working over at https://AgileDataGuides.com/
 
If you just want to talk about making magic happen with agile and data you can connect with Shane @shagility on LinkedIn.
 
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Simply Magical Data Ways of Working

Join Shane and guest Brian McMillian as they discuss the art of architecture in an agile data world.  We discuss 3 things:1. the 4x approach2. data vault3. everything is code
If you want to get in touch with Brian, contact him over on LinkedIn.If you fancy reading Brians book the Introduction to Data and Analytics Engineering, head over to https://www.minimumviablearchitecture.com/
 
Listen to more podcasts on applying AgileData techniques over at https://agiledata.io/podcasts/ or read more on our AgileData Way of Working over at https://wow.agiledata.io/way-of-working/
If you want to join us on the next podcast, get in touch over at https://agiledata.io/podcasts/#contact
Or if you just want to talk about making magic happen with agile and data you can connect with Shane @shagility or Nigel @nigelvining over on Twitter.
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Simply Magical Data

Join Shane and guest Raphael Branger as they discuss combining agile ways of working with the world of data and business intelligence (BI).
If you want to get in touch with Raphael, contact him over on LinkedIn.If you want to read a beta version of Raphael's AgileBI book go to:https://oikosofyseries.com/how-to-succeed-with-agile-bi-the-book-page Read Raphael's blogs over at:http://rbranger.wordpress.com/  http://blog.it-logix.ch/author/raphael-branger/
 
Listen to more podcasts on applying AgileData techniques over at https://agiledata.io/podcasts/ or read more on our AgileData Way of Working over at https://wow.agiledata.io/way-of-working/
If you want to join us on the next podcast, get in touch over at https://agiledata.io/podcasts/#contact
Or if you just want to talk about making magic happen with agile and data you can connect with Shane @shagility or Nigel @nigelvining over on Twitter.
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Simply Magical Data

Join Shane and special guest Shaun McGirr as they discuss the combining of agile ways of working with analytics teams.
 
If you want to get in touch with Shaun, contact him over on LinkedIn.
 
Listen to more podcasts on applying AgileData patterns over at https://agiledata.io/podcasts/ Read more on the AgileData Way of Working over at https://wow.agiledata.io/way-of-working/
 
If you want to join us on the next podcast, get in touch over at https://agiledata.io/podcasts/#contact
 
Or if you just want to talk about making magic happen with agile and data you can connect with Shane @shagility or Nigel @nigelvining on LinkedIn.
 
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Simply Magical Data

Join Shane and special guest Lynn Winterboer as they discuss the core differences between teams that leverage an agile way of working while managing data versus creating software.
Listen to more podcasts on applying AgileData techniques over at https://agiledata.io/podcasts/
If you have a suggestion on a subject you would like us to discuss on the next podcast, or even better you want to join us on the next podcast, send us a suggestion over at https://agiledata.io/podcasts/#contact
Or if you just want to talk about making magic happen with agile and data you can connect with Shane @shagility or Nigel @nigelvining over on Twitter.
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Simply Magical Data

Join Shane and Nigel as they discuss the many notions you should understand to start your journey on the DataOps and automated data testing path.
Listen to more podcasts from Shane and Nigel on applying AgileData techniques over at https://agiledata.io/podcasts/
If you have a suggestion on a subject you would like us to discuss on the next podcast, or even better you want to join us on the next podcast, send us a suggestion over at https://agiledata.io/podcasts/#contact
Or if you just want to talk about making magic happen with agile and data you can connect with Shane @shagility or Nigel @nigelvining over on Twitter.
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Simply Magical Data

Join Shane and Nigel as they discuss data lineage, what it is, why people want it and what it can actually be used for.
Listen to more podcasts from Shane and Nigel on applying AgileData techniques over at https://agiledata.io/podcasts/
If you have a suggestion on a subject you would like us to discuss on the next podcast, or even better you want to join us on the next podcast, send us a suggestion over at https://agiledata.io/podcasts/#contact
Or if you just want to talk about making magic happen with agile and data you can connect with Shane @shagility or Nigel @nigelvining over on Twitter.
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Simply Magical Data

Join Shane and Nigel as they discuss what serverless actually means, and the value of leveraging serverless components within your data platform.
Listen to more podcasts from Shane and Nigel on applying AgileData techniques over at https://agiledata.io/podcasts/
If you have a suggestion on a subject you would like us to discuss on the next podcast, or even better you want to join us on the next podcast, send us a suggestion over at https://agiledata.io/podcasts/#contact
Or if you just want to talk about making magic happen with agile and data you can connect with Shane @shagility or Nigel @nigelvining over on Twitter.
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Simply Magical Data

Join Shane and Nigel as they discuss what data layers and how we apply data layers as a core part of the AgileData.io Agile-Tecture.
Listen to more podcasts from Shane and Nigel on applying AgileData techniques over at https://agiledata.io/podcasts/
If you have a suggestion on a subject you would like us to discuss on the next podcast, or even better you want to join us on the next podcast, send us a suggestion over at https://agiledata.io/podcasts/#contact
Or if you just want to talk about making magic happen with agile and data you can connect with Shane @shagility or Nigel @nigelvining over on Twitter.
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Simply Magical Data

Join Shane and Nigel as they discuss what refactoring is and why you should always plan to refactor your data, code and platform from day one.
Listen to more podcasts from Shane and Nigel on applying AgileData techniques over at https://agiledata.io/podcasts/
If you have a suggestion on a subject you would like us to discuss on the next podcast, or even better you want to join us on the next podcast, send us a suggestion over at https://agiledata.io/podcasts/#contact
Or if you just want to talk about making magic happen with agile and data you can connect with Shane @shagility or Nigel @nigelvining over on Twitter.
Subscribe: iTunes, Spotify, Google Play
 
Simply Magical Data