87: Michael Katz: The Evolution of packaged CDPs, democratizing ML and the myths of composable and zero data copy

What’s folks, today I’m pumped to be joined by Michael Katz, CEO and co-founder at mParticle, the leading independent customer data platform.Summary: In the contentious debate over Packaged and Composable CDPs, Michael delivers a clear-eyed perspective that cuts through the hype. Rejecting the idea that Pacakged CDPs are becoming obsolete, he emphasizes the continued importance of data quality, integrity, and privacy, and he warns against becoming entangled in marketing illusions. He also highlights the need for adaptability, dismissing some of the more pervasive myths in the martech landscape, such as the magic of zero copy data. With strategic acquisitions, mParticle is focusing on intelligence and automation, aiming to be more than just “simple pipes” in data management. Michael’s insights provide a grounded roadmap, focusing on genuine value creation and thoughtful navigation of the complex industry that is Customer Data Platforms.About Michael Michael got his start as an analyst at Accenture and later focused on customer acquisition and marketing strategy for a mobile content company He entered the entrepreneurial world founding interclick in 2005, a data-valuation platform for advertisers He ran the company as President and took the company public in 2009 and sold to Yahoo in 2011 for $270M  He’s been on the Board of Directors for several companies including Adaptly and BrightLine He’s a volunteer at Southampton Animal Shelter He’s also a Mentor at Techstars After a year as VP of Optimization and Analytics at Yahoo after his company’s acquisition, Michael took on his second venture, co-founding mParticle in 2013 mParticle is a global, remote-first company that provides a real-time AI customer data platform.  They help get the highest quality customer data to any system that marketers or product managers use – ultimately improving customer experiences.  They work with big players and small, fueling the customer success of brands like Paypal, Seatgeek, Venmo, Headspace, Lyft, McDonalds, and Airbnb. Unpacking the 8 Components of Customer Data PlatformsWhen asked about Arpit Choudhury’s enumeration of the eight essential components of Customer Data Platforms (CDPs), Michael’s response was swift and assertive. With an appreciative shoutout to Arpit for articulating the complex aspects of CDPs, he aligned himself with the eight facets laid out in the question.These eight components, according to Michael, indeed compose an end-to-end solution for the first generation of CDPs.  They include: CDI, customer data infra, collect 1st party event data from customers from website and apps ETL, data ingestion, extract data from other tools and load it into DWH Data Storage/warehousing, store a copy of data collected Identity resolution, a solution for tying together a customer’s various interactions with you across multiple platforms and devices Audience segmentation, drag and drop UI Reverse ETL, extract/activate from DWH to other tools Data quality, validity, accuracy, consistency, freshness, completeness…  Data governance and privacy compliance, user consent, HIPAA compliance Emphasizing the integrated nature of these components, Michael asserts that the value of the whole system is greater than the sum of the individual parts. He proudly reflects on mParticle’s reputation as a complete CDP and emphasizes that many existing CDPs lack strong stories around data quality and governance.The conversation with Michael reveals his confidence in the synergy that arises when these parts function together. He cautions against skipping any of these steps, underscoring that a weak foundation will undermine the entire