Lior Barak

Lior Barak has spent a decade walking into companies where the data team is busy, the budget keeps growing, and the CEO still can't explain the return.

His first book, Data is Like a Plate of Hummus, argued that most data problems aren't technical; they're cultural. Good data strategy, like good cooking, starts with understanding what you're actually trying to feed people.

His second book, What Data Really Costs, goes further: every data product that doesn't get killed keeps consuming capacity and budget. The portfolio accumulates. The ROI conversation gets harder. His framework, Impact Operations, helps founders see costs clearly and act on them.

He runs workshops, writes two newsletters, hosts the Data Breakthroughs podcast, and works with executive teams through his consultancy, Impact Operations.

He still believes everything he knows about data he first understood in a kitchen.