In this episode of Product by Design, Kyle chats with Sandy Ryza, lead engineer on the Dagster project, author, and thought leader in data engineering. Sandy shares his journey through the world of data—from building big data tools at Cloudera to working as a data scientist, product manager, and engineer—and how those experiences led him to help create Dagster, an open-source data orchestration platform.

We discuss:

• The evolution of data engineering and the growing complexity of modern data pipelines.
• The role of AI and unstructured data in shaping the future of data platforms.
• How organizations should think about data platforms to avoid costly rework.
• Best practices for managing data complexity using software engineering principles.
• The future of open-source tools in data infrastructure and the push toward interoperability.

Sandy Ryza
Sandy is a lead engineer, author, and thought leader in the domain of data engineering. Sandy co-wrote “Advanced Analytics with PySpark” and “Advanced Analytics with Spark”. He led ML and data science teams at Cloudera, Remix, Clover Health, and KeepTruckin.

Sandy is currently the lead engineer on the Dagster project, an open-source data orchestration platform used in MLOps, data science, IOT and analytics. Sandy is a regular speaker at data engineering and ML conferences.

Links from the Show:

Twitter: @s_RYZ

Dagster: dagster.io

Book: Advanced Analytics with Spark – O'Reilly

Podcast Recommendation: Empire (British Empire & Ottoman Empire history)

Books Sandy is Reading: The Shortest History of India, The Sun Also Rises, Werner Herzog’s Autobiography

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In this episode of Product by Design, host Kyle sits down with JB Benjamin, the CEO and founder of multiple tech companies under the Akuma Engineering umbrella. JB shares his innovative journey in building products designed for a more equitable, decentralized, and privacy-focused digital future.

From post-quantum encrypted messaging tools to Vox Alive's ad-free social media platform, JB dives deep into the philosophies and technologies driving his work. We discuss everything from post-quantum encryption to blockchain to Universal Basic Income. You won't want to miss this one.

JB Benjamin
JB "Jor-El" Benjamin is a tech maverick reshaping the digital landscape. JB has introduced the world to Vox Messenger, a trailblazing post-quantum encrypted messenger, and Vox Crypto, an unprecedented group transaction crypto wallet, both renowned for their ironclad protection of personal data.

Links from the Show:

Websites: Akuma, Vox Alive

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In this episode, Kyle sits down with Jake Moshenko, co-founder and CEO of AuthZed, to discuss his journey from working at major tech companies to becoming a two-time founder. After his first company Quay (a Docker registry service) was acquired, he founded AuthZed to solve application permission challenges. Jake shares the contrasts between his two founding experiences, transitioning from a bootstrapped two-person company to a venture-backed enterprise-focused business. He emphasizes the importance of choosing the right problem space and being prepared for the long journey of entrepreneurship. We also discuss the significance of open-source in modern software development and his perspectives on AI technology.

Jake Moshenko
Jake Moshenko has been an innovator in the cloud-native ecosystem for over 15 years. After engineering roles at Amazon and Google, Jake founded Quay, the first private Docker registry, which was acquired by CoreOS. Jake then became an engineering leader at CoreOS, which was acquired by Red Hat (and then IBM). He is now the co-founder and CEO of AuthZed, the company commercializing SpiceDB, the industry-leading cloud-native permissions database.

Links from the Show:
LinkedIn: Jake Moshenko

Website: AuthZed
Books: The Martian
Games: Azul

More by Kyle:

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Kyle's writing on Medium

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Like our podcast, consider Buying Us a Coffee or supporting us on Patreon