Archives: Podcasts

The Elevator Pitch for Power BI, w/ Microsoft MVP Belinda Allen

On today’s episode, we sit down with 11-time Microsoft MVP Belinda Allen. As the co-author of two books and a prolific Power Platform blogger, Belinda has a unique perspective on business intrigue, data discoveries, and reporting solutions. With her penchant for pivot tables, she is a classic example of a citizen developer, and she generously shares her knowledge with the communities at large through her writing, public speaking, and training.

Written by on November 29, 2022

Something Bigger than Yourself, w/ Microsoft’s Miguel Escobar

Today, we reunite two old friends with a penchant for writing books for people adjacent to tech as we welcome Miguel Escobar to the show. If you use Power Query or Power BI, you might have heard of Miguel. He is the co-author of several books on Power Query, Power BI, Power Pivot, and DAX. He is also part of the expert trifecta that created Skill Wave training and he is now an integral part of Microsoft working to make Power Query better for all users.

Written by on November 22, 2022

A Guest Fit for the 100th Episode, w/ Justin Mannhardt

P3 Adaptive’s own Justin Mannhardt gives the inside scoop on delivering results and backing into data infrastructure, aka the origin story of P3 Adaptive’s Solutions Architect Team and the impact it can have on an analytics project. Justin explains the expanded focus to fulfill analytics needs through a more holistic approach to drive adoption and deliver results. With his own experience, he explains how results must sometimes come first as a proof of concept but once results are verified, more support is often needed to ensure a smooth functioning process. Rob often refers to this as the faucet first analogy, and it has the power to convince the exec team that analytics can be fruitful for businesses of all sizes.

Written by on November 10, 2022

Power Query Saves Christmas w/ Gus Miranda

Today’s guest, Gus Miranda, shares his story of how reducing friction and creating automation introduced even non-data people to the concept that data quality matters. Most importantly, though, today you will learn the underdog story of how Power Query saved Christmas during the Kronos Hack of 2021. Get the inside scoop from crisis meeting to crisis meeting until the moment when Gus stood up to save the day. While other multi-million-dollar companies were paralyzed, shocked, and attempting to ad-hoc calculate payroll and vacations, often incorrectly, Gus’s task force used Power Query to create an effective solution in time to prevent employees from missing Christmas with their families.

Written by on November 1, 2022

Why is Everything So Slow w/ Scott Louvau

Today we welcome to the show Scott Louvau, twice retired from Microsoft and now focused on his Relentless Optimizer blog! How exactly did Scott go from a small vineyard in North California to being twice retired from Microsoft and what set him on the technological path? It isn’t all programming and coding today though, as we also delve into Starbucks Cold Brew Refill Hacks and using AI to dominate game levels.  Stuck on a level of Kingdom Rush? You can find a solution for that and more, in this episode.

Written by on October 25, 2022

Soaring the Skies of OPTIMIZEDAX(), w/ Narayana Windenberger

Narayana Windenberger sits down for a chat on data, travel, and the ethics of the financial markets. Nar is a 5-year veteran of P3 with an unforgettable name and a penchant for being a digital nomad. Whether he is working from the Midwest, Germany, or enjoying hang gliding in San Diego, Nar puts the remote in remote work and regardless of his location, still creates epic analytic masterpieces.  Nar also has the distinction of being the author of a P3 Adaptive blog that shook the Power BI world to its core in 2020 and earned him the title of Power BI Super Villain.

Written by on October 19, 2022

Career Switchers Have the Power (Platform), w/ Microsoft’s April Dunnam

Today we welcome, a Microsoft MVP and Power Platform advocacy team lead, and a true Power Platform aficionado: April Dunnam. In the realm of social media, April is known as the Woman who Codes, the SharePoint Siren, and the Karaoke Queen with a passion for all things Power: Power BI, Power Apps, Power Automate, Power Virtual Agents, and Power Pages. In this episode we get April’s origin story, starting with the moment she was the intern tossed into the deep end of the SharePoint pool, all the way to her personal discovery of the better way.

Written by on October 4, 2022

Cloud Services Used to Be Really Dumb w/ Eric Vigesaa

In today’s episode, we welcome Eric Vigesaa of Microsoft to the show. Rob describes Eric as one of the rare breeds that enjoy the excitement of building an emergency solution. Someone who prefers a shorter distance between the software and the problem. The closer he is to impact, the more satisfying the solution becomes to him. Sardonically, Eric is also like the groundhog of Microsoft, emerging from IT, looking around, seeing the shadow, and returning back to IT: empowered, passionate, and skilled. Eric describes his non-IT time as an evolutionary course that allowed him to explore and grow his aptitude.

Written by on September 27, 2022

Women In Data w/ Sadie St. Lawrence

On this episode, we are bringing in a true leader in workplace diversity, Sadie St. Lawrence from Women in Data! Be prepared to be surprised when you learn that Sadie’s idea of diversity is more of a value-driven balance that benefits all people regardless of gender. Improvements, she points out, made in the workplace under the guise of removing gender disparity enhance the workplace for all employees, not just for a single demographic.

Written by on September 20, 2022

The Cloud is Powered by People w/ Jeff DeVerter

Have you ever been curious about what moving to the cloud really means? Is it a one-and-done move or is it more? Today’s guest, Jeff DeVerter, Chief Technology Evangelist of RackSpace, breaks down the cloud, cloud-based services, and how it can impact your business. From an engineering point of view to the creation of a supply chain for data, Jeff describes the trends and implications facing ingress, egress, and utilization of the ever-growing volume of data that companies curate.

Written by on September 6, 2022