Earley AI Podcast – Ep. 86: Open Source, Observability, and AI-Driven Engineering with Tom Wilkie

Earley AI Podcast – Ep. 86: Open Source, Observability, and AI-Driven Engineering with Tom Wilkie

Author: Seth Earley April 17, 2026 Duration: 48:33
How Grafana Labs Built a Competitive Edge Through Openness, Agentic AI, and Engineering Culture Guest: Tom Wilkie, VP of Product at Grafana Labs Host: Seth Earley, CEO at Earley Information Science Published on: April 17, 2026 In this episode, Seth Earley speaks with Tom Wilkie, VP of Product at Grafana Labs, a leading observability platform serving 25 million users across 50 global regions. They explore how Grafana's open source "big tent" philosophy creates unexpected competitive advantag...

Seth Earley sits down with a diverse mix of experts, from visionary thinkers to hands-on practitioners, for conversations that cut through the hype surrounding artificial intelligence. The Earley AI Podcast focuses on the tangible intersection of emerging technology and real-world business needs. Each discussion moves beyond abstract possibilities to examine the practical steps for implementing AI and machine learning within organizations. You’ll hear specific insights into data science, enterprise applications, and the evolving technological landscape. These episodes are grounded in the reality that AI is becoming deeply woven into both our professional tasks and personal routines. The dialogue consistently asks how we bridge the gap between ambitious potential and deployed, functional systems. For anyone curious about how these tools are actually built, integrated, and managed, this podcast offers a necessary and nuanced perspective. Seth guides these explorations with a focus on actionable knowledge, making complex topics accessible without oversimplifying the significant challenges and opportunities ahead. It’s a resource for understanding not just what AI can do in theory, but how it is changing our world in practice.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 87

Earley AI Podcast
Podcast Episodes
Jim Iyoob at the intersection of AI and CX - Episode #16 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:02
In this episode, Seth and Chris talk with Jim Iyoob about using data and AI to deliver customer experience that matters. Highlights: 2:25: Our celebrity guest…Named top 20 influential people to follow on twitter and who…
Tom Davenport on Competing on AI - Episode #15 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:02
In this episode, Seth and Chris talk with Tom Davenport, author of The AI Advantage How to put the artificial intelligence revolution to work. 4:40 On getting started in this space 7:47 What is most important today for o…
Michael Schrage on Recommendation Engines - Episode #14 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:04
In this episode, Seth and Chris talk with Michael Schrage, Fellow at MIT Sloan School's Center for Digital Business and author of the book, "Recommendation Engines." Highlights: 3:44: checkered past 12:50: covering the o…
Jeff Coyle on AI and Content Strategy - Episode #12 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:09:10
In this episode, Seth and Chris talk with Jeff Coyle about how AI is impacting content strategy. Highlights: 2:55 - Craft beer - on winning the award for a Mexican lager 10:00 - Jeff's path to a passion for SEO 14:30 - O…
Mark Anderson on Pattern Discovery Engines - Episode #11 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:16
In this episode, Seth and Chris talk with Mark Anderson about the new field of pattern discovery and its impact on AI. Highlights: 11:45 Path to pattern discovery 17:15 Eliminating the hypothesis and focus on the data wi…
Tim Huckaby on the Future of AI and Computer Vision - Episode #10 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:47
In this episode, Seth and Chris talk with Tim Huckaby about the his experience as a software developer in the 90s and his take on the future of AI and computer vision. Highlights: 4:30 Developing software at Microsoft in…
Sean Martin on Practical & Scalable Knowledge Graphs - Episode #9 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:56
In this episode, Seth and Chris talk with Sean Martin about the development and practical applications of knowledge graphs. Highlights: 5:30 – First online sports scoring website launched 9:00 – First forays into semanti…
Paul Zhao on Democratizing AI - Episode #8 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:41
In this episode, Seth and Chris talk with Paul Zhao about making AI more accessible for everyone. Highlights: 5:00 on being a tech entrepreneur 30:00 after the buy out challenges - what now? 39:00 advice to the non-techn…
Paul Lasserre on AI & Customer Experience - Episode #7 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:28
In this episode, Seth and Chris talk with Paul Lasserre about his experience developing applied AI applications. Highlights: 4:15 Link between AI and chasing pirates in the Navy 7:00 On getting into customer experience a…