From Silos to Insights: Centralizing Data to Drive AI
Webinar Speaker: Cal Al-Dhubaib, TDWI Faculty Member
Date: Thursday, July 24, 2025
Time: 9:00 a.m. PT / 12:00 p.m. ET
Organizations across industries are eager to deploy AI to drive innovation, efficiency, and strategic advantage. Yet many are hitting a roadblock: fragmented data environments and solutions. When data is siloed across departments, platforms, and formats, it becomes difficult to ensure the consistency, accessibility, and trustworthiness needed to support AI initiatives. According to TDWI research, the vast majority of organizations recognize the need to unify their data environments to enable successful AI outcomes, yet their data foundations still need some work to be AI-ready.
While there’s no one-size-fits-all solution, adopting a centralized data approach is one way to break down silos and build the data foundation for AI. Join TDWI faculty member and head of AI and data science at Further, Cal Al-Dhubaib, along with experts from Databricks, Fivetran, Sigma and SunnyData as they discuss how organizations are building a modern data stack to support enterprise AI.
You’ll learn:
- Why data centralization is a strong strategy for addressing silos and preparing for AI
- Where organizations struggle most when unifying data—and how to overcome it
- How leading organizations are using unified data platforms to drive measurable business value
- How SunnyData creates impact by exclusively focusing on Databricks and enhancing its modern data stack with Fivetran and Sigma
Guest Speakers
Saurabh Shukla
Senior Specialist Solution Architect
Databricks
Saurabh Shukla is a Senior Specialist Solution Architect at Databricks. Databricks is a global data, analytics, and artificial intelligence company. Saurabh has over 15 years of experience and has successfully tackled real-world business challenges using analytics, big data solutions, and cutting-edge technologies in Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
At Databricks, Saurabh uses his expertise to architect robust data lakes, implement best practices for data management, and lead data teams toward pioneering solutions. He is passionate about developing advanced data applications that drive business value and innovation. Saurabh has gained broad industry knowledge spanning healthcare, retail, and finance, working with various organizations to harness the power of data. Saurabh holds a Master's degree in Data Science from IU Bloomington.
Mark Van De Wiel
Field CTO
Fivetran
Mark Van de Wiel is the field CTO at Fivetran, where he joined in February 2022. He is instrumental in shaping the company's data integration strategies, leveraging his extensive expertise in AI, data quality, and cloud infrastructure. With a background that includes serving as CTO at HVR Software and various leadership roles at Oracle and Actian, Mark brings a deep understanding of data management to his role.
He holds both an engineer's degree in electrical and electronics engineering and a master's in business administration and management from Eindhoven University of Technology. His leadership helps enterprises worldwide optimize their data operations and build production-grade AI solutions.
Greg Bonnette
Field CTO
Sigma
Greg Bonnette is field CTO at Sigma Computing, where he helps organizations put their data to work with AI and smarter decision making. Before joining Sigma, Greg led Slalom’s New England data and analytics practice, growing the business by over 300% in his tenure. With a software engineering background and nearly 20 years of consulting leadership in data, analytics, and AI, he’s equally comfortable diving into technical details or talking through business or product strategy with the C-suite to bridge the gap between engineers and executives and make the most complex initiatives succeed.
Kai Thapa
Founder and CEO
SunnyData
Kai Thapa is founder and the CEO of SunnyData, a pure-play Databricks consultancy. With over 20 years of hands-on experience in data analytics, data management and go-to-market, Kai has helped Fortune 500 companies modernize their data foundations and develop data solutions that drive measurable business impact. Prior to founding SunnyData, he led both technical and commercial teams at Informatica, Alation, Optum, and Smart Data Solutions, giving him a unique perspective on how organizations can move from siloed, legacy systems to scalable, AI-ready platforms.
Today, Kai works closely with clients to design and modernize their data estate to help deliver data and AI solutions on Databricks, Fivetran, and Sigma—helping them break down data silos and build the unified, trusted foundation needed for enterprise AI.
Date: July 24, 2025
Time: 9:00 am PT
Cal Al-Dhubaib