ATX MDS Meetup
Topic 1: Creating a Data-Driven ELT
Topic 2: How Texas A&M Built a Federated Data Marketplace
Are you working on a product that is actually data or has data as a core component?
Do you depend on near real-time pipelines and machine learning to enrich data and make it valuable?
Do you use platforms like Snowflake, Dataiku, Sigma, Fivetran, Domo, dbt, Astronomer, and data.world?
Register Now!
If your leadership team still makes gut calls and guesses… you’re already behind.
The Lightspeed crew are pulling back the curtain on how they hardwired data into their executive culture. This isn’t theory. This is real, raw, and battle-tested.
You’ll hear how they stopped asking “what happened?” and started asking “why it happened?”—and more importantly, “what should we do next?” using tools like Sigma and Snowflake.
This session breaks down:
How they restructured their data stack from the ground up
The gritty moments where it almost didn’t work
How they got buy-in from the C-suite (without hand-holding or sugar-coating)
And how they made data a reflex, not a report
You’ll walk away with a roadmap. One you can actually use. Whether you’re in SaaS, ops, finance, or growth—if you’re serious about moving your org from reactive to relentlessly intelligent, this is your playbook.
This isn’t another fluff piece on data “mindsets.” This is executive-level transformation and impact from front line participants.
New Speaker Just Announced: Jim Colson, Texas A&M Health
With over 25 years of experience in digital transformation, including roles as CTO at Cubic Corporation and IBM Fellow leading AI-driven platforms, Jim Colson brings unparalleled expertise to the stage.
Jim’s Presentation
“The Rise of the Data Marketplace — How Texas A&M Built a Federated Platform That Just Works”
This isn’t some napkin sketch. This is a behind-the-scenes walkthrough of the actual data marketplace running inside Texas A&M — spanning healthcare, research, academia, and industry partners.
Pure gold.
Join the upcoming session of the ATX MDS Meetup and learn from top industry minds how to lead with insight, not hindsight.
Scott Dunham is a Senior Financial Analyst at Lightspeed Systems, where he partners with data and engineering teams to build scalable financial models, optimize SaaS metrics, and drive strategic growth. With a background in finance and economics from Oklahoma State and experience across sales, ops, and FP&A, he brings both business acumen and technical fluency to the table—turning complex datasets into actionable, high-impact decisions.
Brian Truong leads the data platform team at Lightspeed Systems, building scalable infrastructure with Snowflake, dbt, and AWS. He holds 2 AWS certifications and brings experience from aviation analytics to edtech. Brian’s obsessed with automation, clean data, and enabling teams to move faster. Known for his SQL hot takes, deep focus, and a bottomless coffee mug. Also—he’s an okay dad, and that’s saying something.
Jim Colson is Vice President of Digital Health at Texas A&M Health, where he is spearheading the development of a groundbreaking Data Marketplace to transform how healthcare and research institutions collaborate with data. Under his leadership, the Marketplace enables secure, scalable, AI-ready data sharing across universities, providers, and industry partners—while preserving privacy and compliance standards like PHI and PII. A former IBM Fellow with deep expertise in SaaS, AI, and enterprise platforms, Jim has led multi-billion dollar product transformations and now brings that same vision to academia. At Texas A&M, he’s building the infrastructure to accelerate discovery, enhance operational efficiency, and unlock the full potential of federated data collaboration.
Modern Data Stack Technologies:
