DSS 🌁 SF Meetup | From Lab to Impact: Operationalizing AI at Scale
We’ve teamed up with Women in Data to bring the San Francisco data community together for a night of real-world insights and engaging discussion. This DSS Meetup will feature a deep dive from Bhuvan Bhatia (Navan) on embedding trust and scalability into financial analytics using the modern data stack. Then, we’ll host a panel with data leaders from DoorDash, AWS, Microsoft, and Apple on operationalizing AI at scale—exploring the systems, culture, and leadership needed to move AI from lab experiments to enterprise solutions.
Agenda:
🔸 6:00pm - 7:00pm - Networking
🔸 7:00pm - 7:20pm - Trust by Design: Scaling Financial Analytics Using Modern Data Stack presented by Bhuvan Bhatia, Senior Data Engineer at Navan.
Abstract: In finance and other regulated domains, data must be accurate, secure, and audit-ready to support critical decision-making. At my current organization, our data team built a global financial analytics platform leveraging dbt alongside modern data stack tools to ensure both scalability and trust. This talk explores how we combined dbt, Airflow, Atlan, Monte Carlo, and ThoughtSpot to deliver governed, self-service analytics for finance, product, and operations teams. We will discuss challenges such as managing sensitive data across geographies, enforcing compliance through masking and access controls, embedding quality checks in transformations, and maintaining lineage, SLAs, and auditability at scale. Attendees will see how modular dbt models, proactive observability, and orchestration workflows can align with discovery and governance tools to create a secure, reliable analytics ecosystem. The session offers a tactical blueprint for any organization seeking to embed “trust by design” into its financial and operational analytics.
🔸 7:30pm - 8:15pm - Panel: From Lab to Impact: Operationalizing AI at Scale
This panel will explore how AI practitioners and technical leaders are moving beyond experimentation to scale AI systems that solve real problems in the enterprise. With deep experience across industries like finance, e-commerce, big tech, and health, the panelists will discuss:
Bridging experimentation and production: What’s working—and what isn’t
The evolving role of AI product leadership in cross-functional environments
How to operationalize Responsible AI in practical, measurable ways
Building AI platforms that serve diverse stakeholders—from engineers to execs
The human side: Mentorship, culture, and how to grow resilient data teams
🔸 8:15pm - 9:00pm - Networking
Make sure to register for the upcoming DSS 🌁 SF on November 6th! FREE but space is VERY limitted.
About Data Science Salon
Data Science Salon is head quartered in Miami and is the leading provider of unique content and a diverse, vendor-neutral community for data scientists, machine learning engineers, and other subject matter experts. Since 2016, we have been driving knowledge sharing, best practices, and innovation in data science, machine learning and AI. With our extensive digital platform of content, webinars, training, and podcast, we cater to the evolving needs of our fast-growing and diverse community. Join us to access valuable resources, engage in insightful discussions, and be part of shaping the future of data science, machine learning and AI.
About Women in Data
Women in Data is a vibrant and diverse community of data leaders, practitioners, learners, and data citizens. With over 70,000 members in 151 countries, we are a global network empowering women to excel in data careers. Join a community that cares, all for free.