Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In this episode of the Ardan Labs Podcast, Bill Kennedy talks with Catherine Johnson, VP of Global Solutions Engineering at Hydrolix, about her career journey through data management, scalability, and innovation. With a background spanning leadership roles at Hydrolix, Grafana Labs, and Oracle, Catherine shares insights into balancing engineering, entrepreneurship, and mentorship. She discusses the evolution of real-time data systems, the economics of storage, and the importance of data-driven decision-making. Catherine also opens up about taking a break from tech to teach dance, and how her passion for innovation and continuous learning fuels her leadership today.
00:00 Introduction
03:03 Data Management and Scalability
05:58 Explosion of Data and Storage Needs
09:01 Real-Time Data in Business
14:49 Economics of Data Storage
20:41 Education and Early Career
31:09 Career Transitions and Growth
46:10 Teaching Dance and Finding Balance
53:16 Returning to Tech at Oracle
01:08:10 Joining Elastic and Facing Burnout
01:15:45 Leadership and Innovation at Hydrolix
01:27:07 AI in Tech and Its Limitations
Connect with Catherine:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/catjopdx
Mentioned in this Episode:
Hydrolix: hydrolix.io
Want more from Ardan Labs? You can learn Go, Kubernetes, Docker & more through our video training, live events, or through our blog!
Online Courses : ardanlabs.com/education
Live Events : ardanlabs.com/live-training-events
Blog : ardanlabs.com/blog
Github : github.com/ardanlabs
In this episode of the Ardan Labs Podcast, Bill Kennedy talks with Catherine Johnson, VP of Global Solutions Engineering at Hydrolix, about her career journey through data management, scalability, and innovation. With a background spanning leadership roles at Hydrolix, Grafana Labs, and Oracle, Catherine shares insights into balancing engineering, entrepreneurship, and mentorship. She discusses the evolution of real-time data systems, the economics of storage, and the importance of data-driven decision-making. Catherine also opens up about taking a break from tech to teach dance, and how her passion for innovation and continuous learning fuels her leadership today.
00:00 Introduction
03:03 Data Management and Scalability
05:58 Explosion of Data and Storage Needs
09:01 Real-Time Data in Business
14:49 Economics of Data Storage
20:41 Education and Early Career
31:09 Career Transitions and Growth
46:10 Teaching Dance and Finding Balance
53:16 Returning to Tech at Oracle
01:08:10 Joining Elastic and Facing Burnout
01:15:45 Leadership and Innovation at Hydrolix
01:27:07 AI in Tech and Its Limitations
Connect with Catherine:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/catjopdx
Mentioned in this Episode:
Hydrolix: hydrolix.io
Want more from Ardan Labs? You can learn Go, Kubernetes, Docker & more through our video training, live events, or through our blog!
Online Courses : ardanlabs.com/education
Live Events : ardanlabs.com/live-training-events
Blog : ardanlabs.com/blog
Github : github.com/ardanlabs
