So, an A-Eye, a Data Whisperer, and a podcast host walk into a bar. The A-Eye orders for everyone. The Data Whisperer asks why nobody checked the drink menu first. The host just sits there wondering how he ended up singing Old MacDonald on camera.
On the Data Faces Podcast, I usually interview someone with a whole face. For this bonus segment, I made an exception.
Scott Taylor, the Data Whisperer, is known for his work in data management consulting and storytelling. He’s also the creator of Data Puppets, a satirical puppet series that uses humor to expose the enterprise data problems that executives resist hearing about directly. In Episode 35 of the Data Faces Podcast, Scott and I had a serious conversation about why data leaders keep losing the room and how storytelling wins it back. Then we let one of his puppet characters take the mic.
The character’s name is A-Eye. Not “an AI.” As the puppet put it, “I choose my own indefinite article. Personal branding is important.”
A-Eye had just returned from the Gartner Data & Analytics Summit. The report from the show floor was not subtle.
“AI was everywhere. Regular AI, gen AI, agentic AI, autonomous AI, in the loop AI, out of the loop AI, trapped in the loop AI. Some vendors were basing their whole future on it, and two years ago they couldn’t even spell AI.”
The agents impressed him most. “Agents writing code, agents reviewing code, deploying code, and then apologizing for the code. It’s a total system.”
I asked about data quality. A-Eye was unmoved. “They’ve been whining about data quality ever since there was data. If it was that important, would it have been solved by now?”
And governance? “AI is the Ozempic for data governance, baby. Your data never looked so good.”
The segment wrapped with A-Eye reworking Old MacDonald into a data anthem. I was asked to sing along. I did. I shouldn’t have.
Scott’s Data Puppets work because a puppet can say things that would come off as harsh from a human consultant. The CDO (Chief Dog Officer), IT Bee (who speaks only in buzzwords), and the Cat Sultant from Meow-kinsey have all become tools that data teams use in their own presentations to show leadership how the data team sounds to the business side. The satire lands because it’s uncomfortably accurate.
Watch the full conversation with Scott Taylor on the Data Faces Podcast.
