How is 2024 going for you? Some people announced recently that the Modern Data Stack is dead, but is it once again one of those attempts

Intense start

I had a busy start to 2024. I wanted to come back on a few highlights of those two months.

The year started with IBM publishing the What is a data contract video. It was an instant hit with over 4,000 views in the first week (over 6,000 this morning). I wished they would put my LinkedIn in the comments or, even better, the link to Bitol. Check it out, the feedback has been very positive. (LinkedIn)

On January 15th, Manning Publications published Architecture Modernization, a comprehensive book I helped Nick Tune write. I love architecture and was honored to be associated with this grand project. I was an architect for many years in my career, and I loved those times, although I can understand why architects are not always loved… (LinkedIn)

In mid-January, I headed to Barcelona for IBM TechXchange. AIDA User Group had its Annual General Meeting (AGM), which is available on YouTube. (LinkedIn)

During TechXchange, I participated in a Data Mesh panel with Juan Carlos Vázquez, Ryan Dolley, Yuliia Tkachova, and Marta Diaz, animated by Scott Hirleman. It was a fantastic meetup at Glovo, organized by Mariana Noriega. I met Yuliia, Scott, and Ryan in person. They do exist in a three-dimensional world.

On January 20th, I published Data Contracts for all ages. I can now officially say that the for all ages is a series. The first of the for all ages series featured Data Mesh, and I meant it for kids. I later realized that it was even more loved by executives. With Data Contracts for all ages, I take you one step further in simplifying this vital element of AI readiness and success with fun & colorful illustrations. (LinkedIn)

TechXchange was a great time to discuss AI (mainly watsonx) and data contracts. For the anecdote, I was among the five winners of the first-ever watsonx challenge. IBM did not share the ranking of the winners. Still, I got 1.00/1.00 and 0.94/1.00 in the two challenges, despite my inability to follow directions and breaking their licensing server (to my detriment, not getting more tokens). (LinkedIn). Thanks to David Jenness and Nicholas Renotte, we also had an amazing TV show parody around AI, have fun on YouTube.

The same week, Eric Broda organized a very interesting debate with Ole Olesen-Bagneux and me about data catalogs and data marketplace. Who else than Ole would be the perfect guest? He is the author of The Enterprise Data Catalog, published by O’Reilly. But it was an excuse for Ole and I to play with LEGOs. Check it out on YouTube. (LinkedIn)

Right after Barcelona, I made a quick trip to the capital of Europe, Strasbourg, to see my family before going to Paris.

In Paris, I was invited by OCTO Technologies (Accenture) for a very interesting debate with the fantastic Charlotte Ledoux, a leading voice in Data Governance, along with Olivier Wulveryck, Olivier Acar, and Christian Fauré). As with any good debate in Paris, it was in French. Nevertheless, check it out on YouTube!

My friend Stéphane Heckel is organizing the Modern Data Stack meetups in Paris, and he invited me to join the fantastic event he organized with Criteo. Unfortunately, there is no recording of the great talks.

On February 13th, Yuliia and I animated a discussion about Data Contracts. You can find the video on YouTube. I love Yuliia and her straightforward, candid, East European way of cutting the BS to get to the facts. Special thanks to Alysa Turner for hosting us.

I finished the month, on the 26th, with Joe Reis and Matthew Housley on the Joe Reis show, talking about data contracts, Bitol, and more. Check out your favorite Podcast provider or LinkedIn.

Finally, the Data Mesh Learning community, a reference around Data Mesh, granted me the honor of becoming part of their first batch of Data Mesh MVP (LinkedIn). I share this privilege with Amy Raygada, Andrew Sharp, Wannes Rosiers, Karin Håkansson, Eric Broda, and Scott Hirleman.

Among other things, yes, I am still an IBM Champion, and now for the 16th consecutive year. It means I am a Lifetime IBM Champion, a PayPal Champion, and a Data Mesh MVP. Not too bad.

Bitol released the Open Data Contract Standard (ODCS) v2.2.1.

For those who know me a little more personally, I had surgery on Valentine’s Day. All is good. Memorial Sloane Kettering is a wonderful hospital with people who are personalizing empathy. Thanks again to all.

Recent-ish articles

I publish my more serious articles on Medium. Check out the recent and popular:

Takeaways

  • The European companies I met are in very different stages of maturity.
  • Everybody would like to do more of Modern Data Engineering practice.
  • Everybody wants to do AI, but it’s often out of the data organization. AI without data always makes me… laugh.

More links?

This article has so many links that all SEO consultants will tell you it’s a nightmare. Nevertheless, here are a few more.

What’s coming next?

Watch AbeaData. Just saying.

AI on Pi Day is the big one: twenty-four hours of AI and Data, from 00:01 GMT (00:01 am) to 23:59 GMT (11:59 pm), with about 50 talks & speakers.

I’ll be at the Open Data Science Conference (ODSC) in Boston at the end of April. Talking about the Open Data Contract Standard (ODCS) at ODSC sounds amusing.

I am planning a trip to Europe in April and hopefully in June. Things are still up in the air, but I would love to meet you and discuss your data contract, data product, and Data Mesh projects related to AI or analytics.

And you, how is your 2024 going?

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