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Erik Gfesser

📍 Greater Chicago Area

Media Query Source: Part 50 - The Street (US financial news website); Context on Elon Musk replacing top tech officials at government agencies

* The Street (US financial news website) * Context on Elon Musk replacing top tech officials at government agencies * Corporate interests can be separated from customer needs * However, work that reflects this philosophy should not be assumed The query responses I provided to The Street on February 14, 2025: The Street: Do

Media Query Source: Part 49 - InformationWeek (US digital magazine); Effective ways to tame technical debt

* InformationWeek (US digital magazine) * Effective ways to tame technical debt * Technical debt involves weighing trade-offs between short-term and long-term goals * Collaboration is especially critical when the technologies used to build a product drive what the product can provide for customers The query responses I provided to InformationWeek on February 7,

Blog Note: Part 4 - Blog tagline has been updated

In addition to migrating this blog from Typepad to Ghost, additional changes are coming. For example, I'll be sunsetting some older posts which haven't aged so well along the way. In my recently refreshed LinkedIn profile, I mentioned that I've been a longtime writer

Media Query Source: Part 48 - Techronicler (India digital magazine); Important factors to consider when making build-or-buy Gen AI decisions

* Techronicler (India digital magazine) * Important factors to consider when making build-or-buy Gen AI decisions * More than one build-or-buy viewpoint should be considered * Data security and maintainability are top of mind for me My responses ended up being included in an article at Techronicler (January 27, 2025). Extent of verbatim quote

Media Query Source: Part 47 - Reworked (US digital magazine); How Microsoft's Magentic-One benefits from being open source

* Reworked (US digital magazine) * How Microsoft's Magentic-One benefits from being open source * Its open source license is one of the most permissive * Strong communities lead to improvement and adoption The query responses I provided to Reworked on November 24, 2024: Reworked: How does Magentic-One's open-source nature

Media Query Source: Part 46 - CIO (US digital magazine); 10 key roles for AI success (2024 update)

* CIO (US digital magazine) * 10 key roles every AI team needs * Increased criticality of data engineer role * Data modeler role was missed in first piece My responses ended up being included in an article at CIO (October 17, 2024). Note that CIO overwrote the original June 7, 2022 article with

Blog Note: Part 3 - Blog migration underway

Thank you for visiting this version of my blog, which is currently under construction. I am working to migrate my blog from its longtime host, Typepad, to its new host, Ghost. The key reasons I've chosen to migrate to Ghost are as follows: * As of year-end 2020, Typepad

Community Comment: Part 37 - All code is disposable; only some code is trash

* All code is disposable; only some code is trash * The word "trash" has negative connotations * All portions of given code base have life cycle * Avoid miscommunication by being clear! The comments I provided in reaction to a community discussion thread. Software Architect at Design & Construction Product Firm:

Community Comment: Part 36 - Data modelers need to understand patterns

* Data modelers need to understand patterns * Like programming, don't reinvent the wheel * Universal patterns & metapatterns exist * Remember "The Data Model Resource Book" The comments I provided in reaction to a community discussion thread. Vice President at Data Modeling Training Firm: I am always wondering why

Community Comment: Part 35 - Despite naysayers, benchmarking can be valuable

* Don't repeat a quote before assessing it * Galanakis incorrect about unexecuted code * Execution required for relative performance * Benchmarking valuable despite naysayers The comments I provided in reaction to a community discussion thread. Chief Challenge Writer at Coding Challenges: Some advice just never gets old. “Controlling complexity is the