What if the problem is not your tool?

In this episode of the Data Malarkey podcast, Master Data Storyteller, Sam Knowles, speaks with Dino Delić of Meltwater, the global leader in media intelligence. Sam and Dino cover data, comms, capability-building, AI, and why too many teams are still using powerful tools to produce underwhelming outcomes. Dino is sharp, direct, gloriously opinionated, and obsessed with helping people stop hiding behind "best practices" and start solving the right problem.

They explore why data often fails to drive action inside organisations, how comms teams can become more strategically useful, why AI is creating both huge opportunity and total chaos, and why capability matters far more than buying the latest shiny thing.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why Dino hates the phrase "best practices"

• Why most teams are not held back by their tools

• How to start with the real moment of frustration, not generic advice

• Why the CEO's priorities should shape your data communications strategy

• How to turn reporting into decision-making

• Why AI can massively help, but only if you know what good looks like already

• Why most people are still "the cat chasing the laser pointer"

• How Dino thinks about capability, experimentation, and constant improvement

Topics we cover:

• Dino's background from Bosnia to Australia to the US

• Sales, persuasion, and making ideas land

• Why "tool + skills + resources" matters

• The difference between collecting data and using data

• Why AVEs and lazy measurement still hang around

• AI hype, maturity, and common mistakes

• Meltwater's Run Club, newsletter, and open learning approach

• Why communicators need debate, not just agreement

About the guest:
Dino Delić is Strategic Customer Advisor at Meltwater. He works at the intersection of communications, data, measurement, enablement, and customer success, helping teams turn information into action and become more effective, persuasive, and data-driven in the work they do.

Links and resources mentioned:

• Meltwater's Data Driven Communications Run Club and newsletter - https://community.meltwater.com/p/ddc

• Follow Dino Delić on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinodelic/

Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard: https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com

Ahti Heinla has built category-defining tech in two completely different worlds. First, he helped architect Skype, making internet communication simple enough to spread like wildfire. Then he co-founded Starship Technologies, tackling the "last mile problem" with autonomous delivery robots that work in real streets, real weather, and with real world chaos.

Along the way, Ahti shares what Estonia got right with digital infrastructure, why "small beats slow", and why he's worried the world is drifting away from facts.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why Estonia became a tech flywheel, and what secure digital infrastructure unlocks

• The early objections to Skype and why they were reasonable at the time

• How network effects helped Skype spread, fast

• What "last mile delivery" really is, and why it's the inefficient bit

• What makes autonomous delivery deep tech, not "just another app"

• Why Starship Technologies' robots are designed to be friendly but not human

• The biggest data challenge Ahti sees today: people ignoring data

• Why post-truth worries him, even with better tools than ever
  
  

Topics we cover:

• Estonia's digital ID, online voting, and startup culture

• Skype's origin story and early market timing

• Speed vs the establishment, network effects, culture challenges at scale

• Starship's view of logistics and automating the last mile

• Real world robotics constraints: weather, regulation, competition

• Data culture, machine learning, and decision-making

• Civic tech and environmental initiatives

• Post-truth, misinformation, and fact-based leadership
  
  

About the guest:
Ahti Heinla is the CEO and co-founder of Starship Technologies, the global leader in autonomous last mile delivery. He was also a founding engineer and Chief Technical Architect at Skype, having spent decades building software and systems that scale.

Links and resources mentioned:

• Starship Technologies website – https://www.starship.xyz

• The Let's Do It World! campaign – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let%27s_Do_It!_World

• Citizen OS – https://citizenos.com

Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard: https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com

"Now, today is a first for data malarkey… This is the very first time that we've had two guests on the same episode. Not only two guests, but also a dynamic feminist wife and husband duo…"

In this episode of the Data Malarkey podcast, host and Master Data Storyteller, Sam Knowles, speaks with Karen and Charlie Dobres from Lewes Community Football Club about how Lewes became "the first and still the only club in the world" to equalise men's and women's playing budgets, and what it takes to shift culture, attention, sponsorship and long-term equity in football.

Take the Data Storytelling Scorecard: https://data-storytelling.scoreapp.com

External resources

• Karen's LinkedIn profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-dobres-07a54b176/ and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/karendobres/?hl=en: "I'm best found on Instagram or LinkedIn."

• Charlie's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charliedobres/

• Karen's book - B/Pitch Invasion - https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/karen-dobres/pitch-invasion/9781788405881/

• : "I'm definitely best found on LinkedIn."

• Charlie's "If you look on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, look up "Not Small Mean."podcast https://open.spotify.com/show/4UsJkXfQQz2Og0IXBQAgYn?si=da6dd926f74e48c9

• Own a share in Lewes FC - https://lewesfc.com/become-an-owner/

• Equality FC in practice - https://lewesfc.com/football-for-good/equality-fc/