S03E08 - The market view of data education - with Richie Cotton

S03E08 - The market view of data education - with Richie Cotton

Author: Half Stack Data Science March 11, 2024 Duration: 46:30

A reminder that David's book, Solve Any Data Analysis Problem, is out later this year and you can already buy it and read it in its draft form as part of Manning's Early Access Program. If you want to practise your data skills on real world problems and learn a reusable framework to use on any project in the future, this book is for you.

Find out more here: https://www.manning.com/books/solve-any-data-analysis-problem

Now onto today's episode. We're continuing our series of conversations about data education and in this episode we spoke to Richie Cotton.

Richie is a data evangelist at DataCamp. He started his career as a data scientist, working in industries from chemical health and safety to debt collection to proteomics. After joining DataCamp in 2016, he switched to teaching data and AI skills. He has created ten courses on data science that have been taken by over 700k learners, and worked with instructors to create over 50 courses that have been taken by millions of learners. Richie has also written two books and R programming, Learning R and Testing R Code.

In his current role, Richie hosts the DataFramed podcast and runs the DataCamp webinar program, as well as creating tutorials and cheat sheets for data and AI skills.

We spoke to Richie about how DataCamp's offering and focus has changed over time to meet market demands, with some inevitable comments about Python vs R, what the impact of generative AI has been on data education, and what the future holds.

You can find Richie and his work on various parts of the internet:


Hosted by David Asboth and Shaun McGirr, Half Stack Data Science pulls back the curtain on what it really means to build and deploy data science within large organizations. This isn't a theoretical discussion of algorithms, but a grounded conversation about the messy, human, and often political challenges that define the field in an enterprise setting. Each episode delves into the practical hurdles-from managing stakeholder expectations and navigating legacy systems to communicating value and dealing with imperfect data. You'll hear candid reflections on projects that succeeded and those that didn't, offering a rare, unvarnished look at the day-to-day work beyond the hype. The Half Stack Data Science podcast is for practitioners who want to move beyond textbook examples and for leaders seeking to understand how to foster effective data teams. It’s a dialogue focused on the tools, processes, and soft skills necessary to deliver impact, making it an essential listen for anyone navigating the complex intersection of data, technology, and business reality. Tune in for honest talk about building things that actually work.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 32

Half Stack Data Science
Podcast Episodes
S05E02 - Magical Glue Person [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:50
In this episode, we discuss:- Will people really just write all their own software instead of buying it?- Is the change management around GenAI projects any different from other technologies?- What is the right approach…
S05E01 - Will GenAI kill software? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:48
In the first episode of the new season, we discuss:whether it's a good thing that we can produce more with GenAI,how GenAI will force us to consider the purpose of education,how we are supposed to develop wisdom if GenAI…
S04E05 - 2025 in review [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:48
In this episode, we wrapped up 2025 by reflecting on what we talked about on the podcast, where AI is and where it's heading, and looked ahead to 2026. We also discussed some of our favourite sci-fi books we read last ye…
S04E04 - Better survey design with AI - with Kirsten Hill [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:36
In this episode, we spoke to Kirsten Hill.Dr Kirsten Hill is a researcher, writer, and the founder of bisque — a survey platform that actually cares if you get good data. She has a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvan…
S04E02 - Programming with AI - with Simon Willison [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:01
In this episode we talked to Simon Willison. Simon is the creator of Datasette, an open source tool for exploring and publishing data. He currently works full-time building open source tools for data journalism, built ar…
S04E01 - Meaningful uses of AI - with Scott Hanselman [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:55
Season 4, all about AI, has launched! In the first episode of the new season we talked to Scott Hanselman.Scott is a programmer, teacher, and speaker. He works out of his home office in Portland, Oregon for Microsoft as…
Season 3 finale - The Well-Grounded Data Analyst - with David Asboth [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:40
In this episode, Shaun interviews David about his new book, The Well-Grounded Data Analyst.We talk about the data skill gap between the classroom and the real world that made David want to write this book, the importance…
S03E10 - Data science needs you! - with Andrea Jones-Rooy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:53
If you're an aspiring analyst and want to test your existing data skills on real-world problems while learning both new skills and a framework you can apply to any problem, David's book Solve Any Data Analysis Problem is…
S03E09 - Statistical rethinking - with Richard McElreath [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:22
A reminder that David's book, Solve Any Data Analysis Problem, is out later this year and you can already buy it and read it in its draft form as part of Manning's Early Access Program. If you want to practise your data…