Deep Geeks

WEKA
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Business
  • Updated Semimonthly

Tired of AI buzzword bingo? Sick of surface-level takes? Drowning in a sea of same? The Deep Geeks Podcast is your trusted source for smart discussions that go beyond the hype to provide you with deep insights, analysis, and practical advice to take your AI game to the next level. No shallow takes. No AI word salad. Just super smart geeks talking about the future of tech. Deeply. Hosted by WEKA, creators of the foundation for enterprise and agentic AI innovation.

Episodes

  1. 19h ago

    One Size Fits None: What Retail Reveals About AI

    Point AI at everything you own and it will find everything, including the outdated draft policy buried in SharePoint and the “final-final” table nobody ever removed. Dr. Serena Huang sits down with Veronika Durgin, VP of Data at Exemplar Luxury Group, who has spent two decades building the data foundations behind retail personalization. They unpack what actually powers those uncannily good recommendations, why a chatbot isn’t an agent, how AI surfaces the tacit knowledge teams never wrote down, and why the right first move for a new AI leader is old-fashioned prioritization instead of boiling the ocean. Plus Veronika’s dream for where retail goes next, and why the human part of shopping should stay human.  Timestamps: 0:48 - Meet Veronika 1:27 - How every vendor already knows what you want 3:09 - The machine learning we forgot about 4:19 - Why recommendations got so much better 5:17 - No free lunch: your data as barter 6:47 - Shopping assistants vs. actual agents 9:38 - Why everything with GenAI gets called an agent 11:09 - What AI should and shouldn't take off our plates 12:13 - The one thing Veronika won't outsource 13:33 - Drawing the solution by hand first 15:13 - AI exposes every imperfection in your platform 18:56 - Advice for the new AI leader: don't boil the ocean 20:51 - Cutting through the AI theater 25:11 - What data quality really means in retail 28:00 - Using AI as your QA assistant 29:40 - Personalization and the emotional side of shopping 31:26 - Where retail is headed   Links:  Connect with Serena Connect with Veronika Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    One Size Fits None: What Retail Reveals About AI

  2. Aug 26

    Nobody’s Done This Job Before

    In hypergrowth, process can either sharpen the engine or smother the innovation that got you there. Dr. Serena Huang sits down with Roopesh Panchasra, SVP of Global Talent Acquisition at NScale, and Iris Hermelin, Chief People Officer at WEKA, to unpack how they are thinking about hiring and building culture at companies growing explosively fast. They talk about adding interview rigor without slowing down, why they hire for potential over pedigree, and how AI is reshaping recruiting on both sides of the table. Timestamps: 0:30 - Meet Iris and Roopesh 2:15 - NScale's growth to 1,000 people 4:42 - What makes a good day in people operations 6:50 - Adding rigor without killing innovation 9:05 - Using data to test hiring assumptions 11:07 - Defining organizational health 16:46 - Keeping culture alive at scale 19:48 - Screening for empathy and values 22:39 - Hiring for potential vs. pedigree 29:37 - How AI is reshaping recruiting 33:04 - The fake applicant problem 35:35 - Hiring in the current market Links:  Connect with Serena Connect with Roopesh Connect with Iris Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Nobody’s Done This Job Before

  3. Aug 4

    Why Investors Today Count on Kilowatts

    AI can transform any business, but only if there's enough power to run it. Dr. Serena Huang sits down with Dave Easton, Partner in the Growth Equity team at Generation Investment Management and WEKA board member, to explore what investors now look for before betting on an AI company. They dig into how to measure AI ROI that your customers actually feel, why culture and the right incentives matter more than any metric, and how to get the most intelligence out of your energy use.  Timestamps: 0:29 - Meet Dave Easton of Generation Investment 5:00 - What investors ask now vs. 18 months ago 7:30 - Spotting pilots vs. real deployments 9:38 - The simplest ROI wins 12:39 - Why AI activity is not the only efficiency metric 17:12 - Creating a winning culture 19:46 - How companies are approaching sustainability in AI 29:26 - The next 18 months of AI investing 33:24 - Dave’s two magic AI metrics Links:  Connect with Serena Connect with Dave Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Why Investors Today Count on Kilowatts

  4. Jul 16

    The Revenge of the Middle: Managers, Memory, and the Real AI Bottleneck

    AI spending is outpacing budgets, and most organizations don't know why. Dr. Serena Huang sits down with Val Bercovici of WEKA to unpack why enterprise AI costs keep rising despite falling model prices. They dig into the three tiers of enterprise token consumption, the memory shortage reshaping AI infrastructure, and how signal maxing can be a better metric for enterprise AI ROI. Timestamps: 1:30 - Meet Val Bercovici 3:44 - Jevons paradox: 100x cheaper per token, 100x higher net bill 6:52 - The real cost of agentic AI 8:31 - Three tiers of enterprise token consumption 11:16 - How agents learned to cut their own costs 16:48 - Understanding AI Pricing 18:25 - Signal maxing vs. token maxing 24:39 - AI Memory: The cost driver no one budgeted for 35:14 - What happens when AI subsidies end 47:34 - Revenge of middle management Links:  Connect with Serena Connect with Val Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    The Revenge of the Middle: Managers, Memory, and the Real AI Bottleneck

  5. Jun 24

    How AI Is Transforming Cancer Care at Memorial Sloan Kettering

    When the stakes are as high as cancer care, the infrastructure powering the research is becoming as critical as the science itself. Dr. Serena Huang sits down with Jessica Audette, Head of Enterprise Infrastructure Strategy and Transformation at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, to examine how MSK's supercomputer, Iris, is compressing years of research into months. They discuss how AI is transforming patient scheduling, clinical documentation, and at-home recovery, and what organizations in regulated industries need to consider before deploying agentic AI. Timestamps: 1:39 - Meet Jessica Audette 5:28 - Iris: MSK's supercomputer ranked #2 in the US 8:45 - AI-powered scheduling for patients 11:47 - AI dictation for clinicians 15:00 - Personalized medicine through wearables 17:35 - Meet Amelia: MSK's agentic help desk agent 20:55 - Safety, compliance, and working with InfoSec 22:47 - Strategy before deploying AI 29:58 - Rethinking what innovation really means Links:  Connect with Serena Connect with Jess Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    How AI Is Transforming Cancer Care at Memorial Sloan Kettering

  6. Jun 9

    Can AI Innovation Survive Its Own Energy Appetite?

    As AI scales, energy demands are growing 100x and efficiency is no longer optional. Dr. Serena Huang sits down with Daria Mukhortova, Head of Sustainability at Nebius, and Val Bercovici, Chief AI Officer at WEKA, to examine whether innovation can outpace its own energy appetite. They explore how efficiency at the infrastructure and software layer is becoming a business imperative and what organizations should demand of their AI providers.   Timestamps: (1:16) Meet Daria Mukhortova & Val Bercovici (4:14) Inside Nebius's Helsinki data center & heat recovery (6:36) What energy efficiency unlocks for AI customers (8:59) The metrics that actually matter (12:30) Goodput vs. throughput: are you measuring the right thing? (14:37) Software's hidden role in AI sustainability (19:23) How much energy does AI actually consume? (21:37) Common misconceptions about AI's environmental impact (26:31) How to choose an AI infrastructure provider   Links:  Connect with Serena Connect with Daria Connect with Val Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Can AI Innovation Survive Its Own Energy Appetite?

  7. Jun 2

    Welcome to Deep Geeks

    Are you tired of hype, hot takes, and headlines that overpromise and under-explain? I’m Dr. Serena Huang, and this is The Deep Geeks Podcast, where we go beyond the noise and into what actually matters in AI. In every episode, I sit down with the people who are shaping the future — builders, operators, and enterprise leaders — to unpack the ideas and innovations transforming the field. Clear thinking. Real expertise. Conversations that actually make you smarter. Because the future doesn’t belong to shallow thinking, it belongs to Deep Geeks. This podcast is brought to you by WEKA, the AI storage company building the foundation for enterprise and agentic AI innovation. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Tired of AI buzzword bingo? Sick of surface-level takes? Drowning in a sea of same? The Deep Geeks Podcast is your trusted source for smart discussions that go beyond the hype to provide you with deep insights, analysis, and practical advice to take your AI game to the next level. No shallow takes. No AI word salad. Just super smart geeks talking about the future of tech. Deeply. Hosted by WEKA, creators of the foundation for enterprise and agentic AI innovation.

Information

  • Creator
    WEKA
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    7
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 WEKA
  • Show Website
    Deep Geeks