S3 E4 | Why Enterprise AI Needs a Knowledge Layer | Cloudera VP AI

In this episode of Signals, Gwen Chen sits down with Maheshdatta Mishra, VP of AI Products at Cloudera, to talk about what it really takes to build AI products at enterprise scale. Mahesh has spent nearly two decades building large-scale data and AI platforms across Amazon, AWS, Instacart, GE Healthcare, and now Cloudera. In this conversation, he explains why data and AI have always been connected, what enterprises often underestimate the work required to move from pilots to production, and why the next frontier of AI may not just be better models, but better knowledge systems. They discuss the shift from data platforms built for humans to infrastructure built for AI agents, the importance of governance and auditable decision-making, and why knowledge engineering may become one of the most important concepts in enterprise AI. Mahesh also shares his perspective on AI economics, open data formats, on-prem AI for regulated industries, and what product leaders need to change as user experiences become more fluid. The conversation also covers Mahesh’s lessons from Amazon, including customer obsession, writing strong docs, and why five years from now, companies may be talking less about technology debt and more about knowledge debt. Guest: Maheshdatta Mishra, VP of AI Products, Cloudera Host: Gwen Chen, Signals Podcast #enterpriseai #dataengineering #DataPlatforms #generativeai #agenticai #KnowledgeEngineering #contextengineering #aigovernance #aiproducts #productmanagement #datainfrastructure #lakehouse #opendata #machinelearning #aiinfrastructure #cloudera #customerobsession #techleadership #signalspodcast