It can be very overwhelming to attend a four-day conference dedicated to new technology announcements, demos, and industry cloud sessions as someone who doesn’t have a technical background.
In the same way you would qualify an expert, here is a little bit about me to qualify my perspectives. My name is Ally Keuler and I’m Pandata Group’s Marketing Coordinator. I’m the one behind our LinkedIn posts, emails, website, events, and everything in between. Although what I produce relays technical solutions driven by the Snowflake Data Cloud, I rarely come up with these concepts on my own. I have an amazing team dedicated to deploying these solutions and they are the ones with the technical insight. So why did I attend Snowflake Data Cloud Summit? To learn of course.
I carefully curated an agenda of industry cloud breakout sessions, customer case studies, and conversations with Pandata Group’s technology partners. I’m going to dive into a few of my favorite sessions I attended, how I curated my agenda, and the other ways I found value throughout the week.
Sessions that Left an Impression
When I think back to the sessions that I attended, the ones that stick out all have three things in common. They included relevant panelists, discussed a pain point that had a solution, and provided a call to action that can be efficiently implemented.
The Public Sector Executive Panel on Cultivating Collaborative Partnerships for Data Driven Progress was incredibly insightful. The panelists included Chief Data Officers, a Chief Information Officer, and a Chief Technology Officer from multiple states and agencies with all varying levels of maturity in Snowflake. Each panelist provided a clear outline of where their data was or is and what it looks like now. Adam Carpenter, State of Montana CDO, shared that a big concern was how sensitive data would be governed. Yet with Snowflake sensitive data is held in trust and that each agency has control over its data. Centralization allows for data sharing to be executed seamlessly without all of the agreements and legality that was previously required to enable sharing between agencies.
Not every solution looks the same. Advancements in Snowflake Cortex, Streamlit, and OpenAI are going to play a role in solution building though. In Unleashing the Potential of Data and AI with the Snowflake AI Data Cloud for Manufacturing we were shown a quick demo that showcased the future of document AI. A hypothetical manual for a robot that operates on a shop floor was the subject. The document was uploaded and analyzed and then was able to be summarized and prompted for insights. Think about all of the time that was saved by prompting questions in __ and getting the answer within seconds instead of sifting through an index or glossary to find your solution might be in pages 40-57. This same use case can be applied through all verticals, and we can’t wait to see the business value be discovered.
You hear a lot of solutions and general applications to your industry, but what does it boil down to? How are you going to find the buy in to begin your data transformation journey? Nearly every session shared the same three steps:
1. Integrate your data into Snowflake
2. Collaborate with the Snowflake ecosystem
3. Deploy AI
We all know it’s never just that easy, but it could be. Find your catalyst within your organization and let the proof of concepts speak for themselves. Just get one decision maker really excited about the capabilities like data sharing, supply chain forecasting, risk management, or data traceability.
Agenda Building 101
It’s an overwhelming task to review all of the sessions that are available over the course of four days. It is an additional task to create an agenda that will not only add value but is also do-able. I felt I had cracked the code. I attended four breakout sessions from 11am-4pm. Three of the four sessions were 45 minutes while the fourth one was a 20-minute theater session. This provided me with enough time in the morning to attend the keynote, plenty of time to sit down for lunch, and leisure time to browse the expo hall.
Conference days are long and can be draining. It wasimportant to me that I didn’t pack my day with back-to-back commitments thatleft me with no time to myself or to take a break. Balance is truly everything.
Finding Value in the Blizzard
Now how do you find value in the chaos of announcements and new discoveries. As a Marketing Coordinator my job is to showcase the capabilities of Pandata Group and our partners.
I knew going into Data Cloud Summit that I had to filter out the technical sessions and focus on the story telling. This meant finding use cases that highlighted how organizations used collaboration, data sharing, AI/ML, and their data transformation journeys with Snowflake. I was able to observe and listen to how other organizations told their stories in hopes of curating our stories in a better light.
Industry Data Cloud sessions provided high level overviews of the solutions we aim to implement or further execute in various verticals. What are the pain points and how do we solve them? How do we showcase industry expertise? Who is our target audience? Is there a competitive advantage we haven’t utilized yet? There are so many layers that can be uncovered and reflected on depending on your perspective. During my conference experience I wore a Marketing hat. The value I found is different than those with a technical background, but it is value, nonetheless.
Snowflake Data Cloud Summit was filled with insightful sessions and unforgettable breakthroughs. I am so thankful to have been able to attend and expand my knowledge. My reflection is this – don’t sell yourself short in thinking a conference as large as this won’t add value to your role. It is the overflowing melting pot of personas, experience, and perspectives that make Snowflake Data Cloud Summit so impactful.
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