In the opening episode of 2026, Juan and Tim discuss what happened in the data world during 2025 and what they are looking forward to in 2026. We discuss semantics, ontologies, context, tool/vendor consolidation, data teams, platform convergence, governance, and of course... AI!

In the episode we mention the talk we gave at BigDataLDN "Why Data Teams Must Lead the Next AI Revolution" which you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULfcjlXxyXg

In the opening episode of 2026, Juan and Tim discuss what happened in the data world during 2025 and what they are looking forward to in 2026. We discuss semantics, ontologies, context, tool/vendor consolidation, data teams, platform convergence, governance, and of course... AI!
In the episode we mention the talk we gave at BigDataLDN "Why Data Teams Must Lead the Next AI Revolution" which you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULfcjlXxyXg

Catalog and Cocktails is the honest, No-BS, non-sales-y podcast about data and analytics. This is your unfiltered chat about everything interesting in data and analytics. Join Juan Sequeda and Tim Gasper to explore emerging topics and hear from thought leaders, practitioners and executives across the data and analytics space.

Catalog and Cocktails is the honest, No-BS, non-sales-y podcast about data and analytics. This is your unfiltered chat about everything interesting in data and analytics. Join Juan Sequeda and Tim Gasper to explore emerging topics and hear from thought leaders, practitioners and executives across the data and analytics space.

Catalog & Cocktails: The Honest, No-BS Data Podcast

ServiceNow Podcast Program is a collection of podcast shows hosted by various ServiceNow experts and professionals covering different focus areas and a broad variety of topics. Come listen to our experts talk about what's going on at ServiceNow. Join the conversation!

Visit the Now Community forums

ServiceNow Podcast Program is a collection of podcast shows hosted by various ServiceNow experts and professionals covering different focus areas and a broad variety of topics. Come listen to our experts talk about what's going on at ServiceNow. Join the conversation!
<a href="https://community.servicenow.com/community">Visit the Now Community forums</a>

ServiceNow Podcasts

Season 11 Premiere: What happened in 2025 and where are we going in 2026

Shachar MEIR has spent 20 years fixing data teams and understanding why they fail. In this live episode, Shachar joins Juan and Tim to discuss the reason why they fail and what they should be doing in order to succeed. 

Shachar argues that data leaders default to what they can control (cough cough technology_ and underinvest in people, process, and culture. A new CDO comes in, migrates legacy databases to a cloud data platform, and two years later you have the same problems on a better platform.

We get into what's actually missing: building trust in data (which takes time and breaks fast), creating incentives so people actually use what data teams build, and spending real time in the business which is not asking what dashboards they need, but what problems they have. 

Topics discussed: 
Technology is not why data teams fail
Why data leaders default to technology
People, process and CULTURE
Data trust
Incentives
Understanding the business
Dashboard bloat
Self-service analytics
Dashboards aren't dead
What CDOs do well and what they miss

Shachar MEIR has spent 20 years fixing data teams and understanding why they fail. In this live episode, Shachar joins Juan and Tim to discuss the reason why they fail and what they should be doing in order to succeed.&nbsp;
Shachar argues that data leaders default to what they can control (cough cough technology_ and underinvest in people, process, and culture. A new CDO comes in, migrates legacy databases to a cloud data platform, and two years later you have the same problems on a better platform.
We get into what's actually missing: building trust in data (which takes time and breaks fast), creating incentives so people actually use what data teams build, and spending real time in the business which is not asking what dashboards they need, but what problems they have.&nbsp;
Topics discussed:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Technology is not why data teams fail</li>
<li aria-level="1">Why data leaders default to technology</li>
<li aria-level="1">People, process and CULTURE</li>
<li aria-level="1">Data trust</li>
<li aria-level="1">Incentives</li>
<li aria-level="1">Understanding the business</li>
<li aria-level="1">Dashboard bloat</li>
<li aria-level="1">Self-service analytics</li>
<li aria-level="1">Dashboards aren't dead</li>
<li aria-level="1">What CDOs do well and what they miss</li>
</ul>

Why Data Teams Fail and Succeed with Shachar Meir

This is the takeaway episode with Shachar Meir, who has spent 20 years fixing data teams and understanding why they fail. In this live episode, Shachar joins Juan and Tim to discuss the reason why they fail and what they should be doing in order to succeed. 

This is the takeaway episode with Shachar Meir, who has spent 20 years fixing data teams and understanding why they fail. In this live episode, Shachar joins Juan and Tim to discuss the reason why they fail and what they should be doing in order to succeed.&nbsp;

TAKEAWAY - Why Data Teams Fail and Succeed with Shachar Meir  

Patrick McGarry, Federal CDO at ServiceNow and author of The Adaptive Organization, has spent years watching organizations accumulate data and tools but fail to convert them into decisions. Overhead grows. Outcomes don't. Hence “Intelligence Without Action Is Just Overhead.” Patrick joins Juan and Tim to walk through why federal data programs stall (the idea-to-deployment lag is long enough that the tech moves on), why incentives matter more than mandates, and why the right question should not be "how do we get AI ready" and instead should be "how do we make our organization accountable for AI." 

Topics discussed: 
Intelligence vs. action
Ownership and outcomes
Federal government's speed problem
The CATALOG framework: Culture & Talent, Analytics & AI, Technology & Architecture, Alignment, Leadership & Governance, Operations & Delivery, Growth & Measurement.
Governance as clarity, not bureaucracy
Open standards, vendor lock-in, semantics, interoperability 
Regulatory standards as a double-edged sword

Patrick McGarry, Federal CDO at ServiceNow and author of The Adaptive Organization, has spent years watching organizations accumulate data and tools but fail to convert them into decisions. Overhead grows. Outcomes don't. Hence &ldquo;Intelligence Without Action Is Just Overhead.&rdquo; Patrick joins Juan and Tim to walk through why federal data programs stall (the idea-to-deployment lag is long enough that the tech moves on), why incentives matter more than mandates, and why the right question should not be "how do we get AI ready" and instead should be "how do we make our organization accountable for AI."&nbsp;
Topics discussed:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Intelligence vs. action</li>
<li aria-level="1">Ownership and outcomes</li>
<li aria-level="1">Federal government's speed problem</li>
<li aria-level="1">The CATALOG framework: Culture &amp; Talent, Analytics &amp; AI, Technology &amp; Architecture, Alignment, Leadership &amp; Governance, Operations &amp; Delivery, Growth &amp; Measurement.</li>
<li aria-level="1">Governance as clarity, not bureaucracy</li>
<li aria-level="1">Open standards, vendor lock-in, semantics, interoperability&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1">Regulatory standards as a double-edged sword</li>
</ul>

Season 11 Premiere: What happened in 2025 and where are we going in 2026

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