We’ve reached 51 episodes and wrapped Season 7 of Data Malarkey! In this greatest hits episode, host Sam Knowles shares the most powerful moments from a season packed with insights—from AI ethics to data puppets, from psychology and kindness to practical business transformation.

Revisit brilliant guests like Sylvie Delacroix, Julie Holmes, Cecilia Dones, Robin Banerjee, Adam Davidson, and Scott Taylor, all of whom shared their real-world, often surprising, insights on how to use data smarter.

What You’ll Learn:

• How to rethink AI through the lens of humility and uncertainty
  
  

• The ethics of online trust and virtual relationships
  
  

• Why businesses need to upgrade soft skills, not just systems
  
  

• The power of kindness in society and psychology
  
  

• How satire and puppets explain data better than PowerPoint ever could
  
  

Special Mentions:

• Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard
  
  

• Guest Application Form
  
  

• Subscribe on YouTube: Data Malarkey
  
  

🧠 "Best of AI & Empathy"
or
📊 "Greatest Hits: Data Gets Human"

In this energising episode of the Data Malarkey Podcast, Master Data Storyteller Sam Knowles speaks with Julie Holmes, entrepreneur, inventor, and AI advisor. Julie shares her insights into how businesses can make AI work with their people – not instead of them. She dives into creative automation, ethical AI, and the dangers of dabbling without direction.

From her practical UPGRADE Framework to her “intern not genius” approach to creating effective prompts for LLMs, Julie delivers a candid, actionable masterclass on the human side of AI.

What You'll Learn:

• Why AI should be seen as an intern – not a threat.

• How to scale creativity and automation.

• What most businesses get wrong about AI readiness.

• The ethical responsibilities we must now embrace.

• How to build smarter prompts that actually deliver results.
  
  

Resources Mentioned:

• Julie Holmes’ website: https://www.julieholmes.com
  
  

• Julie’s AI readiness assessment for businesses: https://julieholmes.com/ai-readiness-assessment-2025/

• The AI prompt library and archive https://julieholmes.com/prompt/

• Data Storytelling Scorecard: https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com
  
  

• The Insight Agents’ website – Sam Knowles’ business, including the archive of Data Malarkey podcast episodes: https://insightagents.co.uk

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If you found this episode valuable, please rate and review on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube, and don’t forget to follow and subscribe for a new episode every fortnight!

In this episode of the Data Malarkey Podcast, host Sam Knowles welcomes Scott Taylor, The Data Whisperer, to break down why data storytelling is the missing business skill in the world of AI, analytics, and business intelligence.

Scott shares why he believes in Truth Before Meaning, the idea that businesses need clean, structured data before they can extract meaningful insights. He also explains why tech jargon is holding the data industry back, why business leaders don’t care how data works, and how he’s making the world of data more relatable through Data Puppets.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

• The biggest mistakes data leaders make when presenting to executives

• Why data management is the foundation for AI success

• How to tell data stories that business leaders actually understand

• The origins of Data Puppets and why humour matters in data

Resources Mentioned:

• Scott Taylor’s book: Telling Your Data Story (Amazon)

• Scott’s YouTube Channel: The Data Whisperer

• Data Puppets: www.datapuppets.com

• Scott’s 2024 Big Data London keynote – “Data is the new bullsh*t” www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LRVF-1nGPQ

• “The Little Red Data Hen” www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBFwiGN3XK0

• The DataVengers: www.datacated.com/datavengers

• Data Storytelling Scorecard: data-storytelling.scoreapp.com

Join the Conversation:

• Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard: data-storytelling.scoreapp.com

• Follow the podcast for more insights on data, storytelling, and business communication.

Connect with Us:

• Scott Taylor: LinkedIn | MetaMeta Consulting

• Sam Knowles: https://insightagents.co.uk

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If you enjoyed this episode, rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. It helps us reach more people who care about data and storytelling!