This month, we’re diving into trending tech with a crash course on “Agentic AI,” celebrating the evolution of college sports, and sharing our own new year’s resolutions.

Finally, our thoughts are with our LA-based friends and clients during the terrible wildfires this month. 

What the heck is agentic AI?

If you were following CES at all this year, you may have noticed the phrase “agentic AI” showing up all over the place, but you had no idea what it meant. Don’t worry, you wouldn’t be the only one.

No need to waste your time googling the term – we did the hard work and pulled together a little crash course into one of 2025’s hottest tech terms.

Check out our recent blog post about AI agents here

The evolution of college sports

We love to nerd out about various topics here at Pickaxe, and we love to share our knowledge, so in honor of the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship this month, our resident college sports expert Sean Quinn has done a deep dive into how college sports has changed over the last few years, and what it means from a business perspective. 

Check out our recent blog post about college sports here

New Year, New Us

It’s that time of year when everyone makes their New Year’s resolutions, and we’re no exception. In no particular order, here are the resolutions that we at Team Pickaxe will aim for over the next 12 months:

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

We resolve to think even more proactively, whenever we can. It’s a lot easier to plan for the worst than to clean up a mess afterwards – whether it’s something minor such as an unexpected game delay due to snow, or major problems such as issues with a livestream (looking at you, Netflix).

Take the bad with the good

We resolve to encourage our clients to share bad news! There’s a natural human tendency to want to avoid talking about missed deadlines or unexpected roadblocks, but we need the bad news so we can help overcome the obstacle.

Figure out how to make AI work smarter 

We resolve to sit down at the conclusion of every sprint call and ask ourselves: “what did we do during this last sprint that we wish AI could have done instead?” By identifying the boring, little things that we want AI to accomplish, we can be more thoughtful about how it might actually change our lives. 

Make data a part of the discussion from the beginning  

We resolve to help our clients think about how data needs and requirements can be brought to to the core of discussions about business goals. Your data practitioners can be much more nimble and agile at supporting goals when they are included in the planning stages and not reacting to operations which are already executed.  

In the most recent episodes of Voice Notes, we look at the following: 

 

And keep an eye on our YouTube channel for new videos every week. 

⭐ Congrats to our friends and clients at NBCUniversal, Peacock and Telemundo for record-breaking viewership over the holiday period!

⭐ We’re excited to welcome Adriana Malkanova to Team Pickaxe! Learn more about Adriana and her role below.

Meet the Team - Adriana Malkanova

What is your role at Pickaxe? 

As a Lead Marketing Analyst, my mission is to act as a data whisperer for marketers—finding and translating our clients’ complex challenges and needs into actionable insights, intuitive reports, and predictive models. I work hand in hand with the design and development teams to ensure every deliverable is precise, concise, and actionable.

What did you do before Pickaxe?

Before joining Pickaxe, I was a Senior Digital Marketing Expert, managing paid media campaigns across platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook. I specialized in data-driven content strategies, performance optimization, and reporting, while overseeing both paid and organic social media projects for clients in the DACH region.

What do you do in your spare time?

In my free time, I enjoy all things creative—from drawing and crafting jewelry to singing (usually when no one’s around). To stay active, I play squash and table tennis. Depending on my mood, I also switch things up with yoga and boxing, or I lose myself in a good book, as I’m a bit of a book worm.

Do you have big plans for 2025?

We’re diving into trending tech with a crash course on “Agentic AI,” celebrating the evolution of college sports, and sharing our own new year's resolution