In this episode of the Drill to Detail Podcast Mark Rittman is joined by special guest Tom Gardiner, CEO @ Embeddable.com to talk about Embeddable's mission to create the leading developer toolkit for building fast, interactive customer-facing analytics directly into your product in partnership with Cube.dev and Rittman Analytics. Trevor.io Embeddable.com Why Embeddable? Embeddable and Cube - Easy Embedded Analytics for Everyone Embeddable & Rittman Analytics Facility Solutions Group case st...
Feb 26, 2025•40 min•Ep 120•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Rittman is joined in this episode by Greg McKeon, Staff Product Manager at dbt Labs to talk about their recent acquisition of SDF Labs, the vision for dbt as the control plane for data collaboration at-scale and the upcoming drag-and-drop Visual Editor that’s soon to be part of dbt Cloud. dbt Cloud: The control plane for data collaboration at scale About the Visual Editor Coalesce 2024 and the Launch of dbt’s Visual Editing Experience dbt Labs Acquires SDF Labs to Introduce Robust SQL Compr...
Feb 12, 2025•41 min•Ep 119•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode, Sean Zinsmeister from Google joins Mark Rittman to discuss the latest developments for Looker including the integration of Looker Studio, new modeling capabilities and the exciting potential of generative AI for BI. We discuss how Looker is evolving to be a more open, composable platform that can power advanced analytics and data storytelling, with Sean sharing insights on Google's purpose-built Gemini models for natural language to SQL translation and how Looker customers can l...
Feb 03, 2025•51 min•Ep 118•Transcript available on Metacast Join Mark Rittman in this special end-of-year episode as he speaks with Noel Gomez, co-founder of DataCoves about the challenges and opportunities of orchestrating dbt and other tools within the open-source Modern Data Stack, navigating the evolving semantic layer landscape and the future of modular, vendor-agnostic data solutions. Datacoves Platform Overview Build vs Buy Analytics Platform: Hosting Open-Source Tools Scale the benefits of Core with dbt Cloud Dagster vs. Airflow...
Dec 20, 2024•51 min•Ep 117•Transcript available on Metacast Mark is joined in this episode by Johan Baltzar, previously Product Analytics Manager at Spotify and now co-founder and CEO at Steep to talk about the role analytics played in Spotify’s growth story, the startup scene in Stockholm, Sweden and Steep’s metrics-first approach to user-centric business analytics. The Kry founders factory: Meet 15 employees-turned-founders Steep homepage New in Steep : Cube and dbt Targets & BI - How hard can it be?...
Nov 18, 2024•40 min•Ep 116•Transcript available on Metacast Mark is joined in this latest Drill to Detail episode by Tobias (Toby) Mao, CTO and co-Founder at Tobiko Data to talk about SQLGlot, the innovation culture at Airbnb and the data engineering challenges solved by SQLMesh. SQLGlot Introducing Minerva — Airbnb’s Metric Platform SQLMesh homepage Tobiko Cloud Running dbt in SQLMesh dbt Mesh Dlt (Data Load Tool)...
Nov 01, 2024•34 min•Ep 115•Transcript available on Metacast Mark is joined in this episode by Christian Steinert to talk about his solo journey building Steinert Analytics, a data analytics consultancy transforming data into actionable revenue and cost-saving insights for Central Ohio's SaaS startups. Steinert Analytics homepage Christian Steinert LinkedIn Profile “Helping a Roofing Company Define Their Sales Process” “Transforming a Top 5 Fast Food Company's Operational Drive-Thru Reporting”...
Oct 23, 2024•45 min•Ep 114•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Rittman is joined in this episode by Ethan Aaron, Founder & CEO of Portable, to talk about what you should do if you’re the first data hire at a company, when and when not to hire a consultant, the founding story of Portable.io and the long tail (and economic model) of the data integration connectors market. Ethan Aaron LinkedIn Profile Portable.io Homepage “The biggest misconceptions about data integrations..” (LinkedIn) “You join a 100 person company as the head of data. What should y...
Oct 02, 2024•50 min•Ep 113•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Rittman is joined by returning guest David Jayatillake, VP of AI at Cube.dev, to talk about Delphi Labs’ journey from a standalone data analytics chatbot to now becoming the basis of Cube’s new AI features within its composable semantic model product. Drill to Detail Ep.102 'LLMs, Semantic Models and Bringing AI to the Modern Data Stack' with Special Guest David Jayatillake Drill to Detail Ep.107 'Cube, Headless BI and the AI Semantic Layer' with Special Guest Artyom Keydunov Introducing th...
Sep 12, 2024•34 min•Ep 112•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Rittman is joined in this final episode of the current series of Drill to Detail by returning guest Jordan Tigani, Co-Founder & CEO at Motherduck to talk about the journey from big data to small data and bringing hybrid cloud execution to DuckDB. Big Data is Dead Teach Your Duckdb To Fly Announcing Motherduck: Hybrid Execution Scales Duckdb From Your Laptop Into The Cloud Drill to Detail Ep.64 ‘Google BigQuery, BI Engine and the Future of Data Warehousing’ with Special Guest Jordan Tiga...
Sep 07, 2023•48 min•Ep 111•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Rittman is joined in this special episode by previous Looker founder and inventor of the LookML language Lloyd Tabb together with Carlin Eng, Product Manager at Google Cloud to talk about Malloy, a new query language to replace SQL for analytics. Drill to Detail Ep.60 'A Deeper Look Into Looker' With Special Guest Lloyd Tabb Malloy : An experimental language for data A Sequel to SQL? An introduction to Malloy Why SQL syntax sucks, and why it matters Composing with Queries Dimensional Flexib...
Aug 14, 2023•53 min•Ep 110•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Rittman is joined in this episode by returning guest and Elementl Founder Nick Shrock to talk about Dagster's role in the modern data stack ecosystem and software defined assets, a new, declarative approach to managing data and orchestrating its maintenance. Introducing Software-Defined Assets Rethinking Orchestration as Reconciliation: Software-Defined Assets in Dagster Optimizing Data Materialization Using Dagster’s Policies How I use Dagster to orchestrate the production of social scienc...
Aug 03, 2023•54 min•Ep 109•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Rittman is joined in this special episode of Drill to Detail by Benn Stancil, CTO and Founder at Mode to talk about their recent acquisition by ThoughtSpot, the economics of the modern data stack and how AI and LLMs could likely become our industry’s next discontinuity. We don’t need another SQL chatbot The new philosophers ThoughtSpot acquires Mode Analytics, a BI platform, for $200M in cash and stock ChatGPT-Powered Data Analysis using Cube, Delphi and the Code Interpreter Plugin...
Jul 20, 2023•53 min•Ep 108•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Rittman is joined in this episode by Artyom Keydunov, Founder at Cube to talk about embedded analytics and Cube's origin story, headless BI, query acceleration and how Cube and Delphi enable an AI-powered conversational interface for the semantic layer. Empower uniquely insightful AI & LLM data experiences AI-powered conversational interface for the semantic layer Define metrics upstream to align your team How Rittman Analytics Delivers the Semantic Layer Today with Cube Rittman Analyti...
Jul 06, 2023•44 min•Ep 107•Transcript available on Metacast Hightouch co-Founder and co-CEO Tejas Manohar returns as special guest to talk with Mark Rittman about the reverse ETL market today, the evolution of the composable customer data platform and new featured in Hightouch to enrich customer profiles and drive personalization across marketing campaigns. Reverse ETL is Dead (Ethan Aaron LinkedIn Post) Customer 360 Data Warehousing and Sync to Hubspot You don't need the Modern Data Stack to get sh*t done Hightouch Customer Studio Hightouch Personalizat...
Jun 22, 2023•43 min•Ep 106•Transcript available on Metacast Mark is joined by Shinji Kim, Founder and CEO of Select Star to talk about their mission to re-invent data catalogs, data discovery and data lineage for the modern data stack Data Discovery vs. Data Observability: Understanding the Differences for Better DataOps Select Star and dbt Labs Partner for Better Data Discovery on dbt Select Star : Free Trial...
Jun 01, 2023•38 min•Ep 105•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Rittman is joined by Jason Pohl, Senior Director of Data Management at Databricks along with special co-host and Head of Customer Experience at Coalesce, Stewart Bryson to talk about data lakehouses, Databricks and helping to raise tigers in a Thai Tiger Temple. Databricks - A History What is a Delta Lake? The Databricks Lakehouse Platform Databricks SQL Jason Pohl LinkedIn Profile Lions and Tigers and a Bear named Maam Maam Stewart Bryson Github profile Coalesce.io...
May 17, 2023•47 min•Ep 104•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Rittman is joined by Twilio Segment Head of Product Kevin Niparko to talk about trends in the customer data platform market, Reverse ETL and Profiles Sync, the impact of LLMs (Large Language Models) on digital customer experience and Segment Unify, a consumer scale real-time identity resolution solution that provides complete, real-time, portable customer profiles. Segment Unify is here: complete, real-time, portable customer profiles Activate warehouse data in all of your destination tools...
Apr 26, 2023•31 min•Ep 103•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Rittman is joined by David Jayatillake, CEO and co-founder of Delphi Labs, to talk about the role of semantic models and the marketplace today, large language models and the phenomena that is ChatGPT, and how Delphi Labs are planning on bringing AI to Slack and the modern data stack. https://www.delphihq.com/#about https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-jayatillake/details/experience/ For B2B Generative AI Apps, Is Less More? LinkedIn post on rationale behind Delphi Labs product development Delp...
Apr 14, 2023•52 min•Ep 102•Transcript available on Metacast Joining Mark Rittman for this 101st Episode Special for the Drill to Detail Podcast is Tristan Handy, CEO and Founder of dbt Labs talking about what went right at RJ Metrics, how the Analyst Collective led to today’s community around the open-source dbt project and his personal journey from being in the lab building Fishtown Analytics to CEO of today’s hottest data analytics startup … and why he secretly wishes he was Mark (according to Mark). Ep.100 Special ‘Past, Present and Future of the Mode...
Mar 22, 2023•43 min•Ep 101•Transcript available on Metacast Joining Mark Rittman for this 100th Episode Special are Keenan Rice (previously Founding Team, GTM Executive at Looker, now GM at Firebolt), Stewart Bryson (previously CEO at Red Pill Analytics, now Head of Customer Experience at Coalesce) and joining us mid-way through the show as our even more special mystery guest, Jake Stein (previously Co-Founder and COO at RJ Metrics, CEO and Co-Founder at Stitch and now CEO and Co-Founder at Common Paper. Drill to Detail Past Episodes discussed on the sho...
Mar 07, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Ep 100•Transcript available on Metacast Feb 15, 2023•49 min•Ep 99•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Rittman is joined by Izzy Miller to talk about Hex, a collaborative data platform that brings everyone together to explore, analyze, and share … and why the future of notebooks isn’t just about notebooks. Hex website Public app gallery of example Hex projects . Dataframe SQL announcement Hex for Analytics Engineers Tweet thread about why the python / sql debate is boring " The Sharing Gap "...
May 24, 2022•55 min•Ep 98•Transcript available on Metacast We’re joined on this episode of Drill to Detail by fellow Brightonian Daniel Perry-Reed from Measurelab, talking with Mark about the new Google Analytics 4 release and its role within the future Marketing Technology stack. From the wild west of data collection to conversion modelling The sun is setting on Universal Analytics MeasureFest April 2022: The role of GA in the future MarTech stack Event-Based Analytics (and BigQuery Export) comes to Google Analytics 4; How Does It Work… and What’s the ...
May 12, 2022•54 min•Ep 97•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Rittman is joined in this very special episode by Colin Zima, ex-Head of Analytics at Looker and now co-founder of Omni, a new analytics startup looking to become the fastest way to ask the first 100 questions. Introducing Omni: The fastest way to turn SQL into intelligence Omni Analytics Homepage...
Apr 26, 2022•37 min•Ep 96•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Rittman is joined in this episode by Peter Fishman to talk about Mozart Data, the modern data stack and the need to automate the role of the analytics engineer. MozartData website Data Bites: A Virtual Lunch and Learn with Powered by Fivetran, Snowflake and Mozart Data Launch HN: Mozart Data (YC S20) – One-stop shop for a modern data pipeline...
Apr 07, 2022•39 min•Ep 95•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Rittman is joined by Eric Dodds to talk about Rudderstack's founding story and open-source roots, Segment compatibility and event-based pricing vs. MTUs and Rudderstack's "Warehouse-First" approach to building customer data platforms. Rudderstack's Data Stack : Deep Dive Introducing RudderStack Cloud: The Warehouse-First CDP for Developers Rudderstack, Snowplow and Open-Source CDP Alternatives to Segment How Twilio is Shaping Segment Event-Based Analytics (and BigQuery Export) comes to Goog...
Mar 22, 2022•55 min•Ep 94•Transcript available on Metacast In this first episode of a new series, Mark Rittman is joined by Katie Hindson to talk about Lightdash, a new open-source alternative to Looker that uses dbt as its metrics layer and semantic model. Lightdash.com What is the dbt Metrics Layer? Lightdash, Looker and dbt as the BI Tool Metrics Layer...
Mar 09, 2022•47 min•Ep 93•Transcript available on Metacast We're joined on this episode of Drill to Detail by Dylan Baker and Josh Temple to talk about developing multi-layer modern data stack projects, Spectacles’ recently released integration with dbt and what's now possible with their new public API Extending Spectacles with API-Triggered Runs Synchronizing Looker and dbt™ with Spectacles Drill to Detail Ep.82 'Looker Development, Automated Testing and Spectacles' with Special Guest Josh Temple Adding Looker Regression Tests to the dbtCloud CI/CD Tes...
Jun 23, 2021•46 min•Ep 92•Transcript available on Metacast Mark Rittman is joined in this episode by Nick Schrock, ex-Facebook Engineer and now Founder of Elementl to talk about GraphQL, data platform engineers and @dagsterio, a data orchestrator for machine learning, analytics, and ETL. Introducing Dagster Dagster homepage Elementl homepage Orchestrating dbt with Dagster Moving past Airflow: Why Dagster is the next-generation data orchestrator...
Jun 01, 2021•41 min•Ep 91•Transcript available on Metacast 
