Super Data Science: ML & AI Podcast with Jon Krohn

In Episode #1031, Ish Shah and Tyler Cox (Distinguished Engineers in the Office of the CTO for Dell Technologies' client group) join Jon Krohn to work out why agentic AI bills are exploding and what can be done about it. Over one weekend Ish burned roughly two billion tokens on a side project, and that is the ordinary shape of agentic work now: agents spawn sub-agents, the pie of work grows, and cheaper tokens only invite more ambitious projects. Tyler runs a small Dell lab that pushes hundreds of millions of tokens a day through local hardware instead.

In this episode, they define what makes a system agentic, explain how to read a Pareto curve when choosing models, work through the jagged frontier and why most tasks do not need a frontier model, and lay out what moving agentic workloads onto your own hardware does to the economics.

Additional materials: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.superdatascience.com/1031⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Interested in sponsoring a SuperDataScience Podcast episode? Email natalie@superdatascience.com for sponsorship information.

In this episode you will learn:

(00:03:42) What makes a system agentic

(00:12:45) Picking the right model for the task

(00:16:46) How to read a Pareto curve

(00:27:02) Why agents burn so many more tokens

During their #sponsored discussion, Senior Vice President Product Management AI and Metadata at Salesforce, Gaurav Pathak talks to Jon Krohn about why AI agents need well-labeled, high-quality data to deliver reliable answers in the enterprise. Listen to the episode to hear Gaurav Pathak talk about the difference between a “data brawl” and “garbage in, gospel out”, who the “sin eaters” of enterprise AI are and the three skills that matter most for AI engineers today!

Additional materials: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.superdatascience.com/1030⁠

Interested in sponsoring a SuperDataScience Podcast episode? Email natalie@superdatascience.com for sponsorship information.⁠⁠⁠

In this episode you will learn:



(03:05) Why metadata are the labels AI agents need



(06:31) From “data brawl” to “garbage in, gospel out”



(10:57) Who the “sin eaters” of enterprise AI are



(13:45) What data quality rules are and how CLAIRE generates them



(17:21) Three skills AI engineers need in the agentic era

In Episode #1029, Dr. Katie Malone (Host of Linear Digressions) joins Jon Krohn to explain how AI brought her podcast back from the dead. After nearly 300 episodes, Katie shut down Linear Digressions due to burnout, but better tools helped her relaunch it six years later. Along the way she has taught machine learning at Udacity and the University of Chicago and led the development of agentic AI platforms inside a company of tens of thousands of people. In this episode, she argues that people management and agent management are the same skill in different clothing, works through what AI slop and process slop are doing to organisations, describes the agent that now produces her show, and takes a pop quiz on three of her favourite data paradoxes.

Additional materials: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.superdatascience.com/1027⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Interested in sponsoring a SuperDataScience Podcast episode? Email natalie@superdatascience.com for sponsorship information.

In this episode you will learn:



(00:04:01) Why Linear Digressions stopped, and what changed enough to bring it back



(00:15:01) Why people management and agent management are the same skill



(00:24:32) The "Claude Code in a trench coat" agent that produces her show



(00:41:39) Bainbridge’s ironies of automation, and why expertise gets rusty

In Episode #1028, Anton McGonnell (VP of Product at SambaNova) joins Jon Krohn to explain why the chips running most AI inference today were never designed for the job. Agentic AI has changed the computational profile of inference, with much larger inputs and far heavier caches feeding the token generation that follows, and that shift has exposed where GPU architecture struggles. SambaNova has raised over $2 billion to build an alternative, the reconfigurable dataflow unit, which lays a whole model out spatially across the chip rather than executing it kernel by kernel. In this episode, Anton discusses why the speed that matters is payback, and how speed and concurrency are what turn a fixed hardware cost into a six-month payback. He also walks through the trade-off every inference provider faces between speed per user and throughput per chip, what the RDU architecture changes about scaling and data center deployment, the economics of the new SN50, and why four out of five AI infrastructure leaders say they would pay a premium for faster tokens.

Additional materials: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.superdatascience.com/1028⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Interested in sponsoring a SuperDataScience Podcast episode? Email natalie@superdatascience.com for sponsorship information.

In this episode you will learn:

(00:02:41) Why agentic AI is reshaping inference workloads

(00:08:39) How SambaNova's RDU differs from a GPU

(00:17:54) The economics of the SN50

In Episode #1027, Dr. Dilani Kahawala (Co-Founder and CEO of Anna) joins Jon Krohn to explain what it takes to build an always-on AI assistant that busy parents will trust with their inboxes. Anna watches the email, school apps, WhatsApp messages and calendars flowing into a family's life and surfaces what matters, over text and voice, with barely any app to speak of. Dilani came to it by way of a Harvard physics PhD, McKinsey, and a decade of product leadership at Etsy, Meta and Atlassian, and says she has had to throw away most of what that decade taught her about how products get built. In this episode, she lays out the three hardest problems in building Anna, why the eval loop is the heart of the product, how a long-running agent differs from a turn-based one, and the brutal unit economics of consumer AI.

Additional materials: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.superdatascience.com/1027⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Interested in sponsoring a SuperDataScience Podcast episode? Email natalie@superdatascience.com for sponsorship information.

In this episode you will learn:

(00:10:01) The three hardest problems in building a consumer agent

(00:13:23) Why a long-running agent is a different problem from a turn-based one

(00:22:33) Why the eval and improvement loop is the heart of the product

(00:26:42) The unit economics of always-on AI on a flat subscription