Raw Data with Rob Collie7 Mar 2023

Put Some Adventure On Your Taco, w/ Dan Battagin

Today's guest is Dan Battagin, a former program manager for Microsoft and the genius behind Adventure Taco! Dan has an impressive track record as the former lead developer of Microsoft's Power Query as well as experience with multiple other software programs. We're excited to have him on the show, especially since he only agreed to appear in order to learn about Rob's video background. But once the conversation gets going, you will realize that Dan has a wealth of expertise in data cleansing and transformation that we can all learn from.

As the conversation progresses, we also get a glimpse into Microsoft's hiring practices of the past. Remember those brain teasers and psychological questions that used to be all the rage? We discuss how these inane questions often resulted in great candidates being passed up, simply because they didn't fit into the expected answer patterns. Fortunately, times have changed and we get to hear the story of how Rob helped keep Dan on at Microsoft after his initial internship.

In addition, Dan brings with him stories of his internship at Microsoft and the stories of programs ending before their time. And, as frequently happens, the conversation takes a turn to DAX and unsurprisingly, Dan is another former Microsoft manager who is not a well-versed DAX user. As Rob points out, DAX is the most accessible language to come out of Microsoft which leads us to question why so few former employees embrace the magic.

All this and a few Lego and Age of Empire references you won't want to miss. And don't forget, if you enjoyed this episode be sure to leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform.

Also on this episode:

Brain Teasers for your next interview prep

Age of Empires

Ways to Fix Excel Not Recognizing Date Format

Adventure Taco

Fantasy Football

DAX Functions

Power Pivot and Power BI: The Excel User's Guide to DAX

Soda Machine Brain Teaser

12 Men on an Island Brain Teaser

LEGO Modular Buildings

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(237)

The End of All You Can Eat AI

For about two years, we've all been reaching for the biggest hammer on the wall because someone else was paying for the nails. If you were on a subscription, you grabbed the biggest, baddest model on ...

30 Jun 24min

Waiting Worked...Until AI

For years, Rob had a pretty good system. When a new technology showed up, he didn't immediately declare it the next big thing. He wanted to understand why it mattered first. Sometimes that meant jumpi...

23 Jun 15min

Why Bigger AI Isn't Always Better

Microsoft just unveiled a monster of a machine built for local AI. More memory. More horsepower. More everything. Which led Rob and Justin to a question that has almost nothing to do with the hardware...

16 Jun 29min

What Happens After the AI Works?

For the past few years, the conversation around AI has focused on the technology. Which model is best. Which tools to use. How fast everything is changing. But once you start building with it, a diffe...

9 Jun 35min

Absences, KPI Updates, Book Title and Pre-Order Bundle Reveal

If you've listened to the podcast over the past several months, you've probably heard Rob mention "the book" a few times. Well, it's finally done. In this solo episode, Rob reveals the title, shares t...

2 Jun 6min

It's Time to Start Looking Into Microsoft IQ

Rob was supposed to be finishing his book. Last chapter. Two days past deadline. Freedom was right there. Instead, he hit pause and recorded this. Because something from a few weeks ago wouldn't leave...

5 Mai 19min

Cowork Builds Apps Now, and 'Acquired Skills Will Appear Here' w/ Garett Medlin

Garett Medlin just got the official title for the job he was already doing: AI Practice Lead at P3. He's also the person responsible for Rob trying Cowork in the first place, despite Rob's very reason...

28 Apr 56min

AI "versus" the Medical Establishment, Rob's Sith Name, and the Death of Social Media?

Rob didn't go looking for a fight with the medical system. He just showed up with receipts. Claude had already mapped the symptoms, suggested the tests, and summarized the situation better than any po...

21 Apr 30min