This Is Not A Data Podcast

Brendan Ellis

We get too bogged down in thinking data is the be all and end all. It's all nonsense. The real power is when people bring it to life. That's what this podcast is all about. Data may be mentioned but we talk about everything that affects data, and that starts with people.

Episodes

  1. 1d ago

    Did Data Governance Just Get A Rebrand?

    Welcome back to This Is Definitely Not a Data Podcast, where Brendan sits back down with co-host Lenno, a Chief Data Officer freshly returned to the Hot Topics CDO list, for a conversation about everything that happens before AI gets to be the exciting part. Brendan and Lenno dig into why data governance gets written off as boring right up until someone rebrands it "AI enablement" — and why light, iterative guardrails tend to beat giant upfront frameworks that nobody ends up using. From an Excel spreadsheet that quietly wrecks someone else's day to the Rubik's Cube problem of every data decision rippling sideways, they trace how the post-COVID shift to screens has cost us the "collision conversations" that used to build trust before things went wrong. It all lands on the same place: data is the output, people are what bring it to life.

  2. Jul 17

    AI Will Never Again Be This Cheap

    Bren and Lenno pick up a conversation they'd normally have only behind closed doors, "what AI actually costs and what happens when the bill comes due?" Starting with pricing (why token costs, like mortgage rates or SaaS subscriptions, are unlikely to stay this low), is a price hike inevitable? And what happens if you have AI in critical processes when costs skyrocket?! A question that hits hard was if agentic AI can do the work of offshore teams, what happens to the people behind those jobs, and whose responsibility is it to plan for that? Warm, unscripted, and more than a little uneasy by the end.

  3. Jul 10

    Don't Walk Past The Broken Data

    Brendan and Lenno are back for another unfiltered conversation on This Is Definitely Not a Data Podcast. This episode tackles a question the data community has been circling for a decade without answering, "Who is actually accountable for data quality, and why does it never seem to stick with any one role?" Lenno shares a story from the world of a highly regulated chemicals business, asking when the data is wrong, whose responsibility is it to fix it? Both mull over data accountability and workplace safety culture, arguing that most people notice when something's broken and just expect someone else to deal with it. Finally, asking why the technical side of a data leader's job is often the easiest part. Honest, unpolished, and packed with real examples from the front line of enterprise data.

  4. Jun 26

    We're Definitely Not Talking About Data

    Welcome to the first episode of This Is Definitely Not a Data Podcast, where Brendan Ellis sits down with co-host Lenno, a Chief Data Officer with 25 years of experience, to tackle the conversations that usually happen behind closed doors. In this debut episode, they dig into why the data world keeps repeating the same mistakes decade after decade, and why the arrival of AI hasn't changed that as much as people think. From dashboards nobody uses to AI projects launched before anyone's asked the right questions, Brendan and Lenno make the case that technology isn't the problem...people are. They explore the growing tension between Gen Z entering a workplace they don't fully understand, and leaders who've stopped asking why in favour of getting answers faster. Is AI making us more curious, or quietly making us lazier thinkers? Warm, candid, and refreshingly honest, this is the conversation the conference stage never quite gets to.

  • 4 Episodes

About

We get too bogged down in thinking data is the be all and end all. It's all nonsense. The real power is when people bring it to life. That's what this podcast is all about. Data may be mentioned but we talk about everything that affects data, and that starts with people.

Information

  • Creator
    Brendan Ellis
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    4
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Brendan Ellis
  • Show Website
    This Is Not A Data Podcast