Knowledge Distillation Podcast

Knowledge Distillation is a podcast exploring the rise of the AI Analyst, agentic commerce and the future of digital measurement. Hosted by Katrin Ribant.

Latest episode:

PODCAST

14# Simo Ahava (Co-founder: Simmer, Partner: 8-bit-sheep, Co-host: Standard Deviation Podcast) on Teaching Technical Marketers When AI Removes the Incentive to Learn, Why Critical Thinking Is the Skill AI Can’t Replace, and What Agentic Commerce Means for Data Layer Architecture

In this episode of Knowledge Distillation, Katrin Ribant speaks with Simo Ahava – quite simply the person the entire digital analytics and technical marketing community turns to when they need to understand how things actually work. Simo has been writing about web analytics, tag management, and the Google marketing stack since 2010, and his blog...

Key takeaways:

AI lowers learning effort but weakens deep understanding
Analysts must understand fundamentals to evaluate AI outputs
Agentic commerce requires structured data by design

Guest:

Simo Ahava

Host:

Katrin Ribant

Episode duration:

mins

Listen on:

Agentic commerce, AI learning vs understanding gap, Analytics education in AI era, Data layer architecture, Server-side tracking

March 25, 2026

More episodes to explore:

PODCAST

13# Scott Brinker (Creator of the MarTech Landscape and Chief MarTech, HubSpot, Ion Interactive) on the SaaS Apocalypse, Why Software Isn’t Dead but Its Moats Are Changing, Why Context Engineering Is the Real Analyst Job Now, and Why Technology Changes Exponentially While Organizations Change Logarithmically

In this episode of Knowledge Distillation, Katrin Ribant speaks with Scott Brinker – the creator of the Marketing Technology Landscape Supergraphic, the map of the martech industry that started with 150 logos in 2011 and now tracks over 14,000. Scott spent eight years as VP of Platform Ecosystem at HubSpot, where he built out their...

Key takeaways:

Software is not dying, but its moats are changing
Context engineering becomes the core job of modern analysts
Systems of context define how data delivers value

Guest:

Scott Brinker

Host:

Katrin Ribant

Episode duration:

mins

Listen on:

AI agents in marketing, Context engineering, MarTech ecosystem evolution, SaaS industry evolution, Systems of context framework

March 16, 2026

PODCAST

12# Eliot Durbin (General Partner, Boldstart Ventures – Clay, Snyk, Crew AI, Wiz, Kustomer, Keycard…) on the SaaS Apocalypse Hype, Betting on People Over Products, What Actually Compounds at Inception and the Skills That Survive Every Cycle

In this episode of Knowledge Distillation, Katrin Ribant speaks with Eliot Durbin, General Partner at Boldstart Ventures – one of enterprise software’s most active inception-stage funds, with a portfolio that includes Clay, Snyk, Wiz, Crew AI, Kustomer, and Keycard, among others. Boldstart was founded in April 2010 with a $1M first fund and pioneered what...

Key takeaways:

AI is reshaping SaaS, not killing it
Speed is the only real advantage at inception
Early-stage bets focus on people and ideas, not products

Guest:

Eliot Durbin

Host:

Katrin Ribant

Episode duration:

mins

Listen on:

AI analyst role evolution, AI-native software companies, Inception-stage investing, SaaS industry evolution, Venture capital in AI

March 9, 2026

PODCAST

11# June Dershewitz (Co-founder: InvestInData, Web Analytics Wednesdays, Former President: Digital Analytics Association) on 25 Years of Watching Analysts Reinvent Themselves, Why Data Leaders Are Betting Their Own Money on the AI Stack, and What Community Building Taught Her About the Skills That Actually Survive Every Disruption

In this episode of Knowledge Distillation, Katrin Ribant talks with June Dershewitz – a pioneering analytics leader who has been at the center of the data community for over two decades. June started her career in web analytics in 1999, co-founded Web Analytics Wednesdays (the industry gathering that launched a thousand local analytics communities), served...

Key takeaways:

Core analytical skills persist across every technology shift
Data leaders invest in AI tools that deliver real business value
Community accelerates learning and adaptation in analytics

Guest:

June Dershewitz

Host:

Katrin Ribant

Episode duration:

mins

Listen on:

AI-native analytics, Analytics career evolution, Data community building, Data modeling, Data quality in AI

March 2, 2026

PODCAST

10# Tim Wilson (Sr. Analytics Director: Search Discovery, Head of Solutions: Facts & Feelings, Co-host: Analytics Power Hour, Co-author: Analytics the Right Way) on Thinking Before Measuring in the Agentic Commerce Era

In this episode of Knowledge Distillation, Katrin Ribant talks with Tim Wilson – one of the most respected voices in digital analytics, widely known as the Quintessential Analyst (a title he’ll deny but absolutely deserves) and equally famous for climbing on a soapbox and delivering the kind of rants that somehow leave you smarter when...

Key takeaways:

Business questions must come before measurement and data collection
Agentic commerce requires rethinking what and why we measure
Hypothesis-driven analysis cuts through AI hype and noise

Guest:

Tim Wilson

Host:

Katrin Ribant

Episode duration:

mins

Listen on:

Agentic commerce, Analytics decision frameworks, Business-first analytics, Hypothesis-driven analytics, Measurement strategy

February 20, 2026

PODCAST

9# Josh Silverbauer (From the Future, The Third Party Show) on Why Agentic Measurement Is a Construction Not a Migration, The Black Box of Instant Checkout Attribution and What Universal Analytics Migration Taught Us About What’s Coming

Josh Silverbauer is Head of Analytics and CRO and Partner at From the Future, where he architects data layers and analytics implementations for brands navigating the messiest parts of measurement. He’s also the host of The Third Party Show – a comedy-musical talk show for digital marketing – and the creator of a rock opera...

Key takeaways:

Agentic measurement is a construction, not a migration
AI-driven purchases break traditional attribution models
Transactions can happen without sessions, tracking, or user journeys

Guest:

Josh Silverbauer

Host:

Katrin Ribant

Episode duration:

mins

Listen on:

Agentic commerce, Agentic measurement, AI attribution challenges, E-commerce data layer architecture, Server-side tracking

February 13, 2026

PODCAST

8# Sani Manić (NoHacks Podcast, Search Engine Journal, WordPress Core Contributor) on Why 35 Years of Web Infrastructure Isn’t Ready for AI Agents, Making Boring Sexy Again, and How GA4 Analysts Are Accidentally Prepared for What’s Coming

“We have so much trash in terms of websites that AI is now supposed to ingest and give us something meaningful. It’s not going to work.” Sani Manić has spent 15+ years optimizing websites for speed, accessibility, and technical health. A contributor to Search Engine Journal and WordPress Core, he’s now turned that expertise toward...

Key takeaways:

The current web infrastructure is not ready for AI agents
Semantic HTML becomes critical for machine-readable websites
AI agents shift the web from UX to utility and outcomes

Guest:

Slobodan Manic

Host:

Katrin Ribant

Episode duration:

mins

Listen on:

Agentic commerce, Agentic web infrastructure, AI agent website optimization, Machine-readable web, Semantic layer

February 6, 2026

PODCAST

7# Yaniv Makover (Nokia, Anyword) and Avigad Oron (Microsoft, Vitalert, Ask-Y) on Building AI Before ChatGPT, Why Context Management Is Everything, The Enterprise Security Nightmare Nobody Talks About and Why Full-Stack Skills Beat Specialization in the AI Era

“My mom called me about this cool thing called an LLM. I was like, I’ve been working on this for 10 years.” Yaniv Makover, CEO of Anyword, joins Avigad Oron, Head of Technology for Ask-Y, Two AI engineers with combined 40 years of experience dissect their ChatGPT moment and what it means for the future...

Key takeaways:

Context management is the core challenge in enterprise AI
Enterprise AI systems introduce complex security risks
Full-stack, integrative skills outperform specialization in AI

Guest:

Yaniv Makover, Avigad Oron

Host:

Katrin Ribant

Episode duration:

mins

Listen on:

Context management, Enterprise AI architecture, Enterprise AI security, Knowledge base for LLMs, RAG architecture

January 19, 2026

PODCAST

6# Jim Gianoglio (Cauzal Analytics, MMM Hub, Measure Up) on The Dual Life of the AI Analyst, Building vs. Using AI Tools, and How to Future-Proof Your Career by Automating the Bottom of Your To-Do List

Jim Gianoglio has worn every hat in marketing-from photographer to creative director to SEO specialist to data scientist. Now he runs Cauzal Analytics, a boutique consultancy focused on marketing mix modeling and incrementality testing, and co-hosts MMM Hub, a community and newsletter for measurement practitioners. He also co-hosts the Measure Up podcast and built the...

Key takeaways:

AI analysts must both build and use AI tools
Automating low-value tasks future-proofs analyst careers
AI workflows shift analysts from operators to orchestrators

Guest:

Jim Gianoglio

Host:

Katrin Ribant

Episode duration:

mins

Listen on:

AI coding assistants, AI workflow automation, Analyst workflow automation, Context engineering, Vibe coding

January 7, 2026

PODCAST

5# Patrick Thompson (Atlassian, Iteratively, Amplitude, Clarify) on Why Clean Data Matters More in the AI Era, The Difference Between Using AI as a Tool vs a Crutch, and Building the Muscle of Data-Informed Decision Making

What happens when AI meets bad data? Patrick Thompson has been building and using data tools for over 15 years. He started in growth at Atlassian, then co-founded Iteratively-a data quality platform acquired by Amplitude in 2021-where he became Director of Product. Patrick knows what it takes to build data layers, event pipelines, semantic layers,...

Key takeaways:

AI amplifies bad data instead of fixing it
Clean data is the foundation of reliable AI analytics
Using AI as a crutch weakens analytical thinking

Guest:

Patrick Thompson

Host:

Katrin Ribant

Episode duration:

mins

Listen on:

AI analyst skills, Analytics instrumentation, Data quality in AI, Event tracking architecture, Semantic layer

December 23, 2025

PODCAST

4# Michael Helbling (Search Discovery, Stacked Analytics, The Analytics Power Hour) on 20 Years in the Trenches, Why Trust Is the Real Bottleneck, and The Difference Between Data Retrieval and Actual Analysis

A very special episode of Knowledge Distillation with Michael Helbling, co-founder and co-host of the Analytics Power Hour podcast and founder of Stacked Analytics. Michael has spent two decades building analytics programs as both consultant and practitioner, and he’s not one to sugarcoat anything. Together we break down why dropping an LLM on your data...

Key takeaways:

LLMs on data warehouses do not produce real insights
Trust, not technology, is the main analytics bottleneck
Data retrieval is not the same as real analysis

Guest:

Michael Helbling

Host:

Katrin Ribant

Episode duration:

mins

Listen on:

AI analytics limitations, Knowledge graphs for analytics, Multi-agent analytics, Retrieval vs analysis in AI, Semantic layer

December 15, 2025

PODCAST

3# Shomik Ghosh (Boldstart Ventures, Top Tier Capital Partners) on The VC POV on Hype Cycles, Why AI Is an Enablement Shift, and First Principles Thinking About the Skills AI Won’t Replace

In this episode of Knowledge Distillation, Katrin Ribant speaks with Shomik Ghosh, a Silicon Valley VC who has lived through multiple tech hype cycles from both the investing and operating sides. Together they break down how hype forms, peaks, crashes, and ultimately reshapes roles – from DevOps to data science and now the rise of...

Key takeaways:

AI is an enablement shift, not just a hype cycle
Hype cycles reshape roles but not core skills
Critical thinking and data understanding remain irreplaceable

Guest:

Shomik Ghosh

Host:

Katrin Ribant

Episode duration:

mins

Listen on:

AI Analyst transformation, AI enablement shift, AI hype cycles, First principles thinking, Future of AI work

December 2, 2025

PODCAST

2# Mike Driscoll (Co-founder: Metamarkets, Rill, Data Collective VC) on Building for AI Analysts and the New Analytics Skillset

In this episode of Knowledge Distillation, Katrin Ribant talks with Mike Driscoll – co-founder and CEO of Rill Data and co-inventor of Apache Druid. Mike reflects on the early days of big data, the birth of real-time analytics, and what it meant to be an analyst in 2010. Together, they explore how today’s challenges have...

Key takeaways:

Analytics shifts from scale problems to context problems
AI analysts become code-native and workflow-oriented
Data engineering is a core skill for modern analysts

Guest:

Mike Driscoll

Host:

Katrin Ribant

Episode duration:

mins

Listen on:

AI Analyst transformation, AI-native analytics, Analytical context management, Code-native analysts, Real-time analytics infrastructure

November 27, 2025

PODCAST

1# Martin Kihn (Digitas, Gartner, Salesforce) on the AI Agent Revolution and Skills that Keep Analysts Relevant

In this kickoff episode of Knowledge Distillation, host Katrin Ribant sits down with Martin Kihn, AI strategist at Salesforce and author of Agent Force. Together they explore how the role of the data analyst is shifting from manual data wrangling to orchestrating AI-powered workflows. Martin breaks down why understanding LLMs, prompt engineering, and AI-generated code...

Key takeaways:

AI agents shift analysts from data work to orchestration
Context matters more than data in AI-driven analytics
LLMs, prompting, and AI code literacy are core skills

Guest:

Martin Kihn

Host:

Katrin Ribant

Episode duration:

mins

Listen on:

AI analyst skills, AI Analyst transformation, AI coding assistants, AI-orchestrated analytics workflows, Production AI agents

November 21, 2025

More about podcast

Welcome to Knowledge Distillation where we explore how AI Analysts are reshaping data analysis across four critical tracks: Practitioners becoming AI Analysts in real-time, Founders building AI Analyst tools, VCs funding the AI Analyst future and Market Analysts mapping the AI Analyst trend.

Each episode, we dig into what it means to be an AI Analyst today – the workflows AI Analysts are reinventing, the skills AI Analysts need now, the promises AI is keeping for analysts, and the ones it’s breaking. From prompt engineering to context management, from automating the boring stuff to unlocking insights only AI Analysts can find, we’re having the real conversations about this transformation.

Whether you’re an analyst becoming an AI Analyst, a leader building AI Analyst teams, or just curious about where the AI Analyst is headed – this is your front-row seat.

This is Knowledge Distillation. Let’s distill some knowledge. Because bots won’t win. AI Analysts will.

More about host

KATRIN RIBANT

CEO and founder of Ask-Y, creator of the PRISM AI-native analytics platform. Before Ask-Y, Katrin was co-founder and CSO of Datorama, the marketing intelligence platform acquired by Salesforce. Katrin also set up MeasureCamp New York, the NYC chapter of the global free unconference series where digital analytics practitioners gather to share ideas, bringing two decades of experience at the intersection of data, AI, and the digital analytics community.