I recently stepped into the role of host for Ippon’s Data Pour series, but before I officially took over, our CTO, Andy Lamora, sat me down at Wooden Robot Brewery in Charlotte and interviewed me on camera. It was a great atmosphere — good beer, good weather — and then a handful of cameras appeared, all pointed directly at me. I’m still getting used to public speaking, so the entire setup felt a little awkward. Beer helps, but only so much.
The conversation itself was wide-ranging in the best way. Andy and I talked through my background and how I somehow ended up moving from baking to banking to cloud consulting. It’s not a linear story, but that’s the point — careers rarely follow a straight line, and most of the interesting stuff happens in the detours. We dug into some of the pivots that shaped my path, the things that pulled me deeper into cloud and DevOps work, and what I’ve learned hopping between industries and roles along the way.
We eventually moved into the topics I spend most of my time thinking about: cloud platforms, data, and where AI fits into all of it. I shared some opinions on agentic systems, the future of operational automation, and why building a strong platform data foundation matters long before you start layering in intelligent tooling. It wasn’t a rehearsed script — just two people talking through where the industry is heading, what excites us, and what still makes us pause.
Filming at Wooden Robot added an unexpected layer to the experience. Between the smell of beer brewing, the coffee bar behind us, and the general energy of the place, the whole conversation felt more natural than anything you’d get in a studio. That’s the vibe I want to bring into Season 4: real conversations, in real environments, with people who actually build and think about this stuff every day.
If you want to watch me awkwardly navigate my first time on camera — before I technically became the host — the episode is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyoRAQsS9c0