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Alexander Arvidsson

I make data matter, as only data that matters can inspire change.

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Hey there and welcome! I am Alexander.
The intersection of people and information shapes everything.

I work as a consultant helping organizations make their data matter, and I enjoy sharing my thoughts and knowledge at conferences, in blog posts, and in my podcast Knee-Deep in Tech. Microsoft has recognized these contributions with the MVP award in the Data Platform category since 2018.

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Recent

What Actually Happens When You Hook Your Audience (And How to Use It)

What Actually Happens When You Hook Your Audience (And How to Use It)

·1773 words·9 mins
The ‘Angel’s Cocktail’ story about releasing hormones through storytelling is popular, but the real mechanisms are richer and more useful. Learn what’s actually happening when you hook your audience—and how understanding attention, memory, and cognitive tension makes you a better speaker.
Resurrecting the Untruthful Art

Resurrecting the Untruthful Art

·916 words·5 mins
‘The Untruthful Art’ is back for 2025, completely revamped for our AI-driven misinformation era. With 59% of shared links never clicked and AI presenting statistical hallucinations as facts, data literacy has never been more critical. I’m updating with modern examples: AI benchmarks, social media dynamics, election polling, and climate data manipulation.
Stop Opening Presentations with Your Credentials

Stop Opening Presentations with Your Credentials

·659 words·4 mins
The ‘30-second rule’ for presentations is based on a misunderstood study, but the principle of starting strong still matters. Learn why leading with credentials fails, how to open with value instead, and why I memorize every word of my first five minutes.
Resurrecting the Blog

Resurrecting the Blog

·229 words·2 mins
It is time to resurrect the blog, almost exactly 10 years after its inception.
Focus on what is relevant

Focus on what is relevant

·297 words·2 mins
Southwest Airlines’ December scheduling collapse exposed the dangers of deprioritizing both people and technical debt, as 90s-era systems designed for 300 daily operations failed under 20,000+ operations following a leadership shift from operational focus to profit-driven management.
Fightning with .NET - 'unable to resolve' nuGet package errors

Fightning with .NET - 'unable to resolve' nuGet package errors

·168 words·1 min
Encountered cryptic NuGet package errors while setting up a .NET test environment. The fix: remind NuGet where to find packages by re-adding the source with dotnet nuget add source. A simple solution to a confusing problem.
Retiring a session

Retiring a session

·529 words·3 mins
Retiring my most successful session after 20 presentations. Not because it failed, but because it exploded beyond what one session can hold. Splitting the original ‘The Untruthful Art’ into multiple new talks, with the final bow at DataMinds Connect in October.