Did you know every time you order food, book a ride, or even check who viewed your profile, real-time analytics is powering your experience behind the scenes?

In this episode of Great Things with Great Tech, we dive deep into the power of real-time analytics with Kishore Gopalakrishna, CEO and Co-founder of StarTree. StarTree leverages Apache Pinot, a high-performance real-time analytics database, revolutionizing how leading companies like Uber, LinkedIn, Walmart, and Etsy provide instant insights and personalized experiences at massive scale.

🔹 In This Episode, We Cover:
✔️ How real-time analytics transform industries, enabling instantaneous insights and rapid decision-making.
✔️ The evolution from traditional databases to highly efficient columnar, real-time analytics systems.
✔️ Real-world applications of Apache Pinot, from consumer apps to enterprise observability and operational excellence.
✔️ How real-time data is accelerating innovations in AI, specifically through Real-Time Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG).
✔️ The future of analytics: seamless data ingestion, enhanced concurrency, and the growing demand for sub-second response times

00:00 Intro: Real-Time Analytics Behind Daily Life
01:43 From Gaming Enthusiast to Programmer
02:48 Pac-Man, Tetris, and DOS-era Games
04:13 Yahoo: Discovering Distributed Systems
05:23 LinkedIn: Building Espresso and Apache Helix
06:00 Apache Pinot: Democratizing LinkedIn Analytics
07:05 Apache and Open Source Philosophy at LinkedIn
08:42 Why Open Source Attracts the Best Talent
10:45 The Surprising Benefits of Open Source
12:26 Building Pinot: Cutting from 1000 Nodes to 75
13:26 Scaling Challenges: From Millions to Billions of Users
15:01 Apache Software Foundation (ASF): Community Over Code
16:37 Uber’s Adoption of Apache Pinot
19:18 Real-Time Analytics Use Cases: Consumers vs. Enterprises
20:42 Uber Eats: How Real-Time Data Drives Decisions
22:16 Traditional Databases vs. Real-Time Analytics
23:49 Founding StarTree: Bringing Real-Time to Everyone
24:54 The StarTree Name: Inspired by Pinot’s Powerful Index
28:00 StarTree’s Rapid Growth and Major Customers
29:43 Tech Setup: Real-Time Data Ingestion Without ETL
32:20 Connectors and Simplifying Real-Time Data Integration
33:55 AI Integration: Events, Embeddings & Real-Time RAG
35:33 AI Agents & Real-Time Analytics: Future Concurrency Demands
37:08 Observability Evolution: Logs, Metrics, and Natural Language Queries
38:19 Natural Language Observability and Its Impact
39:49 Closing: StarTree’s Global Real-Time Impact

PODCAST LINKS

Great Things with Great Tech Podcast: https://gtwgt.com
GTwGT Playlist on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GTwGTPodcast
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Y1Fgl4DgGpFd5Z4dHulVX
Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/great-things-with-great-tech-podcast/id1519439787

EPISODE LINKS

Engagify: https://startree.ai
Anders Boulanger on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kgopalak
Engagify on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/startree

GTwGT LINKS

Support the Channel: https://ko-fi.com/gtwgt

Be on #GTwGT: Contact via Twitter/X @GTwGTPodcast or visit https://www.gtwgt.com
Subscribe to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GTwGTPodcast?sub_confirmation=1
Great Things with Great Tech Podcast Website: https://gtwgt.com

SOCIAL LINKS

Follow GTwGT on Social Media:
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/GTwGTPodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/GTwGTPodcast
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@GTwGTPodcast

🎵 Music by BenSound: https://www.bensound.com

☑️ Support the Channel: https://ko-fi.com/gtwgt