High Signal: Data Science | Career | AI26 Touko

Episode 40: The Economic Reality of AI: Friction, Talent, and the Future of the Firm

Steve Tadelis, Professor of Economics at UC Berkeley and former senior economist at eBay and Amazon, joins High Signal to bridge the gap between economic theory and the high-stakes reality of data science and AI. Drawing on his experience at the forefront of the world’s largest marketplaces, Steve discusses the "invisible friction" that prevents organizations from acting on data: a combination of misaligned incentives, organizational inertia, and the "Upton Sinclair problem," where leaders are effectively paid not to understand new paradigms.

The conversation moves from the "frustratingly obvious" opportunities left on the floor during eBay’s early years to the relentlessly scientific culture of Amazon. Steve explains why surface-level metrics like conversion rates often mask underlying rot in user retention and how rigorous experimentation, such as his famous $20 million search-ad experiment, can expose the difference between genuine growth and mere navigational intent. We also explore the structural shifts of the AI era, where Steve offers an important counter-narrative: rather than leveling the playing field, AI may act as an "unequalizer" that exponentially rewards those with the deepest critical thinking skills.

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Episode 41: The Verification Crisis: Why Trust Is the New Bottleneck in AI

Noah Smith, economist and author of Noahpinion, joins High Signal to look at what AI is already changing… and what it isn’t. The conversation moves beyond the usual productivity hype to ask harder que...

18 Kesä 53min

Episode 39: The 100-Year Lead: What Baseball Teaches Us About the Future of AI

Chris Fonnesbeck, veteran analyst for the Yankees and Mets and creator of the open-source Bayesian modeling library PyMC, joins to unpack why baseball has been a leading indicator for data science and...

12 Touko 56min

Episode 38: Why AI Won’t Fix Your Data Culture, It Will Only Amplify It (And What To Do About It)

Noah Bruegmann, President of Data CRT, joins High Signal to discuss how to move your data function from a cost center to a strategic "value center". He explains how AI amplifies your existing data cul...

16 Huhti 45min

Episode 37: Engineered Intelligence and The Data Science Problem in AI

Jordan Morrow, SVP of Data & AI Transformation at AgileOne and the "Godfather of Data Literacy," joins High Signal to discuss the shift from being "data-driven" to becoming "AI-enabled." Jordan warns ...

2 Huhti 46min

Episode 36: AI and the Judgment Problem in Data Science

Dawn Woodard (Distinguished Engineer, LinkedIn), Andrés Bucchi (LATAM Airlines), and Jeremy Hermann (CEO & Co-Founder, Delphina) join High Signal for a deep dive into the shifting architecture of data...

19 Maalis 1h 3min

Episode 35: Beyond Online Experimentation: Generative Software That Optimizes Itself

Martin Tingley, Head of Windows Experimentation at Microsoft and former Head of the Experimentation Platform Analysis Team at Netflix, talks about why humans are the bottleneck in experimentation, and...

5 Maalis 55min

Episode 34: Duolingo and the Future of Personalized Education with AI

Bozena Pajak, VP of Learning at Duolingo, joins High Signal to discuss the evolution of AI at Duolingo: from personalized difficulty models to the current generative frontier where AI characters provi...

10 Helmi 45min