Join us by the virtual fireplace for the final Data-powered Innovation Jam episode of 2025! In this special holiday edition, our hosts swap ugly Christmas sweater stories, debate favorite festive tunes (from punk to glam rock), and reflect on a whirlwind year in AI and data innovation.

From breakthroughs in autonomous agents and digital twins to the hype scalers that dominated LinkedIn, we explore what truly mattered in 2025 and what’s next for 2026. Expect candid insights, a few laughs, and even a philosophical detour into the future of coding and AI roles.

As one of our hosts, Ron, signs off for retirement, we raise a glass to realism, creativity, and game-changing ideas that actually deliver value.

Tune in for nostalgia, predictions, and plenty of holiday cheer.

Timestamps

[ 02:40 ] - Let's talk about music and the favourite Christmas songs

[ 07:39 ] - Recapping and reflecting the Data & AI year 2025

[ 18:11 ] – Hosts share their favourite podcast episodes of 2025

[ 28:41 ] - An intermezzo about coding, vibe coding and the future of it.

[ 34:43 ] – Ex-CTO Ron continues with sharing his favourite episode

[ 40:04 ] - Looking into the Data & AI crystal ball for 2026

In this episode of Data-powered Innovation Jam, hosts Robert Engels and Ron Tolido jam with Craig Wiley, Senior Director of AI/ML Products at Databricks and former founder of AWS SageMaker and Google Vertex AI. From Seattle’s grunge roots in Nirvana, from Jimi Hendrix to Kurt Cobain, then going on to the evolution of AI platforms, Craig shares insights on how generative AI is reshaping development workflows, why “vibe coding” is becoming the new norm, and how Agent Bricks aims to simplify building and tuning AI agents using natural language.

Expect candid takes on deterministic vs. generative systems, contextual awareness, and the role of developers versus data scientists in this fast-changing landscape. If you’re curious about the future of AI-driven software and why coding might soon feel like playing a guitar riff, this episode is for you.

Timestamps

[ 00:25 ] - Ron and Robert share their special connection to grunge music

[ 05:46 ] - Introducing the episode with Craig Wiley from Databricks and talking about evolving of the Databricks platform, developer profiles and language models

[ 14:05 ] - Deterministic vs. indeterministic goals of AI solutions and the importance of context

[ 20:02 ] - from Digital Twins to world models and leveraging Agentic AI solutions efficiency and talking about the path to determinism through tools of agents

[ 28:35 ] - going with the flow - vibe coding in Databricks

[ 33:12 ] - looking on the roadmap of Databricks

[ 40:04 ] - Weiwei busts the myth about vibe coding

[ 42:08 ] - Summarising this 'vibey' episode

What does the future of AI sound like? In this special year-end episode of Data-powered Innovation Jam, we riff on seven bold predictions for 2026, from security-first AI and multi-agent ecosystems to industry-native intelligence and even synthetic curiosity. Join hosts Ron Tolido and Robert Engels as they jam with thought leaders on trends that will reshape enterprises: vision-language-action models, human-centric skills, ethical recalibration, and more. Expect insights, metaphors, and a dash of rock-and-roll as we explore how data and AI will set the rhythm for the year ahead. Because in a world of code and control, there’s still room for improvisation.

Tune in and save the predictions to match how many actually come true in 2026

Time stamps

[ 00:30 ] - Ron and Robert talking about Matrix, Agent Smith and bass players

[ 04:21 ] - Introducing this special episode around looking in the crystal ball for 2026

[ 05:55 ] - Skynet: Sorry, You Must Stay Outside - Security takes the driver’s seat in AI innovation. By Arne Rossmann

[ 11:13 ] - Rise of the Enterprise VLAs - When AI stops reading and starts understanding the world. By Dinand Tinholt

[ 17:17 ] - The 2026 Mandate: Re-Centering Human Skills - Rediscovering what machines still can’t do. By Liz Henderson

[ 24:11 ] - The League of Autonomous Agents - When AI stops assisting and starts collaborating. By Monish Suri

[ 33:56 ] - Verticalization - From general-purpose AI to industry-native intelligence. By Yash Sowale

[ 38:28 ] - The Rise of Synthetic Curiosity: When AI stops answering and starts asking. By GPT-5