#140 Taming BigQuery costs with Alvin.ai (with Martin Sahlen)

Full show notes and transcript  - https://bit.ly/bq-cost-tamingWatch on YouTube - https://youtu.be/2QxXQH6waLk-----Episode Summary:In this episode of The Measure Pod, Dara and Matthew welcome Martin Sahlen, CEO and co-founder of Alvin.ai. Martin shares his journey from studying computer science in Norway to serial entrepreneurship, eventually settling in Tallinn, Estonia, where he founded Alvin. He explains how the company pivoted from data lineage and observability into a focused BigQuery cost optimisation platform that automatically routes queries between billing models to deliver savings, charging a percentage of what it saves. The conversation covers Alvin's transparent, no-lock-in approach, the duality of cost and performance optimisation, and the competitive dynamics of operating alongside Google's own tooling.-----About The Measure Pod:The Measure Pod is your go-to fortnightly podcast hosted by seasoned analytics pros. Join Dara Fitzgerald (Co-Founder at Measurelab) & Matthew Hooson (Head of Engineering at Measurelab) as they dive into the world of data, analytics and measurement, with a side of fun.-----If you liked this episode, don't forget to subscribe to The Measure Pod on your favourite podcast platform and leave us a review. Let's make sense of the analytics industry together!