The Data Stack Show - The PRQL: Redpanda: Revolutionizing Streaming Systems and Challenging the Kafka Status Quo with Alex Gallego

Episode Date: September 18, 2023

In this bonus episode, Eric and Kostas preview their upcoming conversation with Alex Gallego of Redpanda.

Welcome to the Data Stack Show prequel, where we replay a snippet from the show we just recorded. Costas, are you ready to give people a sneak peek? I am, yes, of course. Let's do it. Let's do it. Okay, Costas, I didn't make it back in time to hear the entire recording, but looking at the internal chat, itostas, I didn't make it back in time to hear the entire recording, but looking at the internal chat, it seems like at a minimum, they had some huge news about a fundraise, which is super exciting. But tell me what you learned.

Yeah, first of all, Eric, like we have to say that even like the best couples need some distance sometimes, you know. Well, then we can still get a relationship there so i think yeah i mean distance makes the heart grow fonder did you miss me ah i mean are you jealous if i say that i enjoyed talking with alex like without you i don't know i did miss you yeah like obviously you always like, a very unique dimension to the conversation, the conversations that we have. That's why we're, like, the two of us there. But it was fun to talk with Alex, for sure. He's a very deeply technical person, obsessed with performance,

which I think, like, is also a reason why it made him such a good fit to go after this problem because it is a very critical system that you need to have very strong guarantees when it comes to both performance and resilience. While Kafka is also such an important system. And so it was fascinating to chat with him, experience his passion about what he's building. And it pays off, right? They announced their next round of funding. They

raised like a hundred million. Okay, not in the best market out there for fundraising at these stages, which means that they are doing something right. And it seems also that there were good reasons why we didn't have more competition in this space in the past 10 years. But now it seems like there is the time for that. So I would recommend to our audience to tune in and listen to Alex talking about these technologies, how they were built, why they were built the way they were built, why we need a new paradigm today, what RedParda can offer compared to a system like Kafka, and some very cool new technologies like Wasm, like Wemba Assembly that they are using and how they are incorporating this new infrastructure like Paradigm to really

create a unique new experience and a unique new product that is much better, let's say, addressing the needs of today compared to other systems. So I would suggest to everyone to tune in. It's going to be, he's a bright person, very smart, obviously, with very deep knowledge that he's sharing on these episodes. And yeah, it will be fun for everyone to listen to it. Awesome.

Well, I am so glad you learned about Kafka and Red Panda. I am so disappointed I missed it, but I'll be back on the next one. Yeah, you will. All right. Well, subscribe if you haven't, tell a friend, and we have great episodes coming up. So stay tuned.