Systems | Development | Analytics | API | Testing

Ep 36 | Rebuilding AI from the Ground Up with Val Cook

When AI needs to think faster, the architecture beneath it matters more than ever. Val Cook, Chief Software Architect at Blaize, joins The AI Forecast to unpack how today’s AI systems demand more than raw compute, but more adaptable infrastructure. He and host Paul Muller explore the critical intersection of hardware and software, the growing importance of data flow machines, and the limits of traditional architectures in real-time environments.

Running Apache Iceberg For Financial Workloads At Affirm

Apache Iceberg unlocks the complex time travel requirements and intensive data validation needs that Affirm has as a financial company. Iceberg's write-once / read-anywhere paradigm simplifies Affirm’s governance by minimizing existing data sets — ensuring there is only ever one logical copy of a given data set, complete with a validation history, and tag-based time travel watermarks. This presentation recorded at Summit 2025 provides detail on the the way Affirm leverages Snowflake’s Open Catalog to power our Iceberg implementation, solving both operational and analytic challenges in the business.

Working Twice as Hard for Half the Progress? Then This Is For You

Databox CEO Pete Caputa nails a frustration most execs feel: the grind is getting harder while results feel smaller. In this clip, he shares the fork in the road every leadership team faces - and the choice that leads to predictable growth. That’s why he created a new methodology course called “Predictable Scale." Databox is Modern BI for teams that need answers now. It offers the best of business intelligence software, without the complicated setup, steep price, or long learning curve.

Confluent Champion: How Vineet Pursues Engineering Excellence in an Innovation Culture

Based in Delhi, India, Vineet Singh has worked as a Senior Software Engineer at Confluent for the past three years, and he has contributed to various parts of Confluent’s core data streaming engine. Now he’s part of the team that makes Apache Kafka cloud-native, serverless, and able to power robust and scalable solutions for Confluent Cloud customers. Learn more about Vineet’s experience and growth at Confluent and how his team and environment have set him up for success.

How to migrate AWS MSK to Express Brokers with Lenses K2K Replicator

AWS MSK has become popular because it deploys Kafka easily and bills alongside other AWS services. Over the past few years, AWS announced Express Brokers, a new cluster type that offers unlimited storage and separates brokers from storage resources. This simplifies scaling and reduces the time needed to rebalance topics when adding or removing brokers.

AI-Ready DataOps: Rethinking MDS for LLMs

AI is changing how data teams operate. Is your pipeline ready? Today, data isn't just powering insights, it's fueling real-time decisions and AI/ML models. That means teams now face stricter requirements around data freshness, reliability, orchestration, and delivery speed. In this webinar, Hugo Lu, Founder & CEO at Orchestra will explore what it really means to build AI-first data operations & how leading data teams are adapting their infrastructure, workflows, and tooling to support this new era of model-driven development.

Week 3 CFO Masterclass: Building Predictive Intelligence in Finance

Discover how finance teams can move beyond static reporting with predictive intelligence! In this masterclass preview, see how your team can evolve into proactive advisors by leveraging leading indicators and predictive insights. Watch our Week Three Masterclass and dive deeper with the full blog: “Beyond Financial Statements: Building Predictive Intelligence” for strategies to revolutionize your finance workflows.