Saturday's digest #7

Hello everyone,

I am back from Japan and we are jumping straight into our Saturday digest. As always, the articles selected was published this week and are fully accessible.

#1 - Joe Reis from Practical Data Modeling - WTF is a data team?

https://joereis.substack.com/p/joes-nerdy-weekend-reads-11

This is a really useful read if you're confused when talking to peers from other industries or companies.

Product Managers/Product Management, while having the same set of core skills and responsibilities, can mean different things depending on the company you work for. It's the same for data teams.

In this post, Joe highlights the difference between a data team viewed as Enterprise/IT-as-a-cost versus a data team viewed as Product Management/Data-driven products.

#2 - Benn Stancil from been.substack - The important thing for you to know is that it’s not my fault.

What a treat. If you work in the enterprise side, you may have to follow regular training related to certifications and accreditations. You may have to read some indigestible documents on software best practices.

In his article, Benn points out the reality behind the software security industrial complex: it’s not about security, it’s about blame. When everything goes up in flames, you don’t want to be on the other side of the pointing fingers.

#3 - Lizz Bacon from Lizz at Devise - Everything is always changing

While not being a fan of coping mechanisms as a way to withstand the absurdity of work, especially in the current data & AI space, dealing with change is a useful skill set. In this article, Lizz provides a few strategies to deal with the change you will experience in your workplace.

#4 - Tom Kerwin from Trigger Strategy - A strategic plan is really a marketing brochure

From my experience, the most technically gifted individuals have a hard time decoding the real ask when their managers are requesting a plan to solve a very complex problem. Through a few stories, Tom should help you understand what you're not getting.

#5 - OnlyCFO from… OnlyCFO - Winning the AI Platform Shift

Spoiler alert: OnlyCFO doesn’t have the secret sauce. While as a data or AI professional you may not have leverage on the financial side, you should keep an eye on the money. AI is disrupting the software industry and you want to be aware of this change. Improving your data pipeline or providing a great AI product is moot if your company doesn’t sell or adapt its pricing model.

See you next week!