Sovereign DBaaS Decoded

About Sovereign DBaaS Decoded

Sovereign DBaaS Decoded is a podcast for IT leaders and implementers who want to understand data sovereignty and explore strategies to reliably scale their open-source database ops while maintaining control of how their data is managed and stored. In each episode, Severalnines CEO Vinay Joosery interviews industry leaders to uncover how organizations can implement open-source databases, cloud vendor-neutral environments, and tooling to address heavy workloads and mitigate business risks, including data compliance requirements.

Publisher

Severalnines

Category

business · technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

5 Dec 2022

Latest episode

24 Apr 2026

Latest episodes

8 of 19 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   24 Apr 2026

   Sovereign AI: Separating Brass Tacks From Talk

   Sovereign AI is everywhere in the rhetoric — but what does it actually take to build it? Vinay Joosery is joined by Jim Dowling, Co-Founder and CEO of Hopsworks, to cut through the hype and get into the operational reality: GPUs, open source infrastructure, data gravity, hyperscaler dependence, sovereign washing, and why databases are becoming the memory layer for amnesiac LLMs. From CUDA moats and European cloud alternatives to agentic programming and the future of AI-powered software develo...

2. 

   19 Jan 2026TRANSCRIPT

   State of the cloud 2026: AI's hype train continues, agents go primetime, and sovereignty shifts left

   Severalnines CEO Vinay Joosery and guest Sanjeev Mohan, principal analyst at SanjMo, kickoff Sovereign DBaaS Decoded’s 2026 season with their annual discussion on the state of the cloud — this time through the lens of AI infrastructure economics, agents going primetime, and sovereignty becoming mainstream. In this episode, they have a lively discussion on what 2026’s AI hype train truly means for data and cloud strategy: why the next wave isn’t just “bigger models,” but reliable AI driven by ...

3. 

   21 May 2025TRANSCRIPT

   The cloud merry-go-round - from cloud first to repatriation

   Cloud strategist David Linthicum analyzes the shift from cloud-first strategies to cloud repatriation, revealing the financial and practical reasons enterprises are rebalancing their cloud portfolios in this interview.

4. 

   25 Mar 2025TRANSCRIPT

   The pendulum swings - the current state and future of cloud repatriation

   John White, COO of US Signal, examines cloud repatriation, revealing its drivers and future in today's polyglot world, in an interview about workload placement.

5. 

   11 Mar 2025TRANSCRIPT

   The cloud of Babel - unifying cloud and on-prem with Kubernetes

   Justin Garrison, Head of Products at Sidero Labs, examines how Kubernetes can unify cloud and on-premise infrastructure, addressing the evolving landscape of cloud adoption and repatriation in this interview episode.

6. 

   19 Feb 2025TRANSCRIPT

   2025 state of cloud - warp speed ahead for AI, workload consolidation, and repatriation

   Severalnines CEO Vinay Joosery interviews Sanjeev Mohan, Principal Analyst at SanjMo, about the state of cloud computing, AI investments, and data management trends, offering insights into the future of cloud adoption.

7. 

   14 Jun 2024

   Promethean Wager - AI, Vector Databases, and Data Sovereignty

   Zilliz Developer Advocate Stephen Batifol and Vinay Joosery discuss vector databases, their relationship with AI, and the implications of large language models, including data sovereignty, in this interview.

8. 

   16 May 2024TRANSCRIPT

   Cloud reinterpreted - from destination to philosophy and OpenStack

   President and Co-founder of OpenMetal Todd Robinson joins Vinay to examine the evolving cloud landscape, from a destination to a philosophy, and how OpenStack improves accessibility in this interview.

9. 

   21 Mar 2024TRANSCRIPT

   Mad world - creating a new stateful world with Kubernetes

   Eddie Wassef, VP and Chief Architect at Vonage, explores the evolution of Kubernetes and its viability for enterprise database operations with Vinay, discussing workload, environmental, and operational considerations in this interview.

10. 

    23 Feb 2024TRANSCRIPT

    2024 state of cloud - emerging into a brave new world

    CEO Vinay Joosery and Principal Analyst Sanjeev Mojhan review the impactful events of 2023, including inflation and generative AI, and consider the shift to cloud-smart thinking in 2024 in this interview.

11. 

    4 Dec 2023

    Holistic sovereignty - the sovereignty landscape, open-source, and data stack

    Nextcloud CEO Frank Karlitschek and Vinay Joosery explore digital sovereignty, discussing cloud computing's impact on data control, open-source evolution, and the complexities of multi-cloud strategies in this interview.

12. 

    15 Nov 2023

    The holy trinity - data sovereignty, Sovereign Cloud, and Sovereign DBaaS

    Exoscale Co-founder and COO Antoine Coetsier discusses the rising importance of data sovereignty, the need to avoid vendor lock-in, and contractual rights for data reversibility in this interview.

13. 

    18 Oct 2023

    Charting the uncharted - the role of DevOps & Platform Engineering in Sovereign DBaaS

    Guest-at-a-Glance: 💡 Name: Josef Pullicino 💡 What he does: Core DevOps Manager at MeDirect (https://www.medirect.com.mt/) 💡 Noteworthy: Prior to joining MeDirect, Josef worked at a leading telecom company in Malta, focusing on applications and databases. Over a decade-long career, he has gravitated toward technical and management roles. 💡 Where to find Josef: LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/josef-pullicino-86429439/) What we explore in this episode: Business experts emphasize the importance of cross-departmental collaboration and advise leaders to encourage their teams to leave their silos and work together as that's the only way to meet customers at every step of their journey. But what happens when one team ''threatens'' to take over the other team's job? We'll try to answer this question in this episode of Sovereign DBaaS Decoded. Our guest is Josef Pullicino, the core DevOps at MeDirect. Through the conversation, Josef shares his take on whether DevOps will take over the DBA role, the effects of such an event, the importance of automation in database management, and how DevOps can support Sovereign DBaaS initiatives. Find out more about Sovereign DBaaS at https://severalnines.com/sovereign-dbaas (https://severalnines.com/sovereign-dbaas)

14. 

    6 Sept 2023

    Reducing environment risk — how local CSPs can supplement and replace hyperscalers

    In this episode of Sovereign DBaaS Decoded, host Vinay Joosery dives deep into the intricacies of the Swedish cloud space with a distinguished panel: Fredric Wallsten from Safespring, Johan Christenson of Cleura, and Henrik Grankvist from Elastx. The trio brings a wealth of knowledge, discussing the pressing need for enterprises to reduce their environmental risks. The conversation shifts to the advantages of local cloud service providers. Fredric, Johan, and Henrik highlight how these providers can effectively supplement or even replace the dominant hyperscalers in the market. They emphasize the unique value propositions local providers bring, from tailored solutions to enhanced data security. Concluding the discussion, the panelists share insights on the evolving landscape of cloud services in Sweden. They underscore the importance of collaboration, innovation, and sustainability in driving the future of cloud computing in the region. Guest-at-a-Glance 💡 Name: Fredric Wallsten / Johan Christenson / Henrik Grankvist 💡 What they do: Managing Director / Founder and VP Innovation / COO 💡 Company: Safespring (https://www.safespring.com/en/) / Cleura (https://cleura.com/) / Elastx (https://elastx.se/en/) 💡 Noteworthy: Fredric Wallsten: Founder of Safespring, focused on compliance, open standards, and security since 2014. / Henrik Grankvist: Swedish cloud provider passionate about cloud technologies with over 15 years in the space. / Johan Christenson: Founder of Cleura, dedicated to modern infrastructure, automation, and navigating complex laws for a decade. 💡 Where to find them: Fredric: LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredric-wallsten/) / Johan: LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/johanchristenson/) / Henrik: LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/henrikgrankvist/) Find out more about Sovereign DBaaS at https://severalnines.com/sovereign-dbaas (https://severalnines.com/sovereign-dbaas)

15. 

    7 Aug 2023

    The journey home — a healthcare app’s journey emigrating from a US hyperscaler to a local cloud

    For a SaaS company founded in the past decade, a US-based hyperscaler offering services for hosting infrastructure would have been the natural place to start. However, the legal landscape has changed a lot and deciding where to host your infrastructure is now more than just a technical exercise. In this episode of Sovereign DBaaS Decoded, we are joined by Jens Alm, the founder & CEO of Prorenata, a SaaS company that helps schools document medical records. Jens and our host Vinay Joosery discuss the laws and regulations healthcare service providers must adhere to. They also discuss the pros and cons of hosting your infrastructure on AWS. Since Jens has moved his infrastructure to a smaller local platform, we asked him to share why he made this move, the challenges he faced, and the lessons he’s learned. He also emphasizes that working with smaller service providers allows for meaningful long-term partnerships beyond customer-vendor relationships. Guest-at-a-Glance 💡 Name: Jens Alm 💡 What he does: Jens is the founder & CEO of Prorenata, a SaaS company that helps schools document medical records. 💡 Website: Prorenata (https://prorenata.se/) 💡 Noteworthy: Jens is a doctor and, as he says, ‘half a software engineer’ in the SaaS healthcare space. 💡 Where to find Jens: LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jensalm/?originalSubdomain=se) Find out more about Sovereign DBaaS at https://severalnines.com/sovereign-dbaas (https://severalnines.com/sovereign-dbaas)

16. 

    5 Jul 2023

    Notes from a CIO: Security & compliance in today’s dynamic regulatory environment

    Digitization has resulted in a lot of good things. It has facilitated better processes, brought greater transparency, and accelerated the exchange of information. Further, social networks not only enable us to connect with other people and advertise but also to find a job. However, people put their lives on social media platforms, and companies use all that data, which begs the question, “Who is responsible?” Is it the individual who is sharing the data, the company that uses it, or perhaps the government because of a lack of regulation? According to Dragoljub Nesic, the CIO of Freja eID, a significant amount of responsibility lies on the individual, but companies and the government also bear part of it. "Unless data privacy is the company's business like it is in the case of Freja, there will always exist a tension between profitability and everything else, including temptations to use and to abuse end-user data," he says and adds that the concept of a national government is ill-matched considering the global nature of the internet from the cultural perspective of the Western world. In this episode of Sovereign DBaaS Decoded, Dragoljub explains how much control an individual has over their data, what happens to it, and how Freja can protect data privacy. Dragoljub and our host Vinay Joosery discuss individual data sovereignty, how our data is used, who is responsible for the data, and how the regulatory landscape has evolved to address data sovereignty concerns. Guest-at-a-Glance 💡 Name: Dragoljub Nesic 💡 What he does: Dragoljub is the CIO of Freja eID. 💡 Company: Freja eID 💡 Noteworthy: Dragoljub is a business leader with 30 years of experience in product management and software development. He has not only worked with technical solutions at an architectural level but also with bits and bytes, and he is one of the founders of Freja eID. As the CIO of Freja, Dragoljub is responsible for development operations and compliance of the Freja platform. As a result, he spends a lot of time on questions relating to data privacy. 💡 Where to find Dragoljub: Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dragoljub-nesic-3a837b/) l Website (https://frejaeid.com/en/home/) Find out more about Sovereign DBaaS at https://severalnines.com/sovereign-dbaas (https://severalnines.com/sovereign-dbaas)

17. 

    31 Jan 2023

    Booking.com Pt 2 - How Booking.com built their own Sovereign DBaaS at scale

    Automation is a necessity and a prerequisite for growth, but building your own automation is a time-consuming and costly process. Therefore, before going down this path, it would be useful to establish your resource limits, whether in money, tools, or expertise. Kristian Köhntopp, the principal systems engineer at Booking.com (http://booking.com/), joined us again on this episode of Sovereign DBaaS Decoded. Kristian explains why every enterprise should automate its database operations and how long it takes to put into effect. However, he also explains that automation is a journey, not a destination. It's a never-ending game, and each enterprise must stay up to date with regulatory, compliance, or tooling changes, and business needs, to ensure their databases always meet business objectives. Guest-at-a-Glance 💡 Name: Kristian Köhntopp 💡 What he does: Kristian is the principal system engineer at Booking.com. 💡 Website: Booking.com (http://booking.com/) 💡 Noteworthy: Kristian is an architect with years of experience in databases, Linux/Unix, data center planning and design, and security management systems in enterprise and startup environments. In his current role, Kristan focuses on database automation, provisioning a few thousand databases and a few hundred application hierarchies, and cloud migration. 💡 Where to find Kristian: LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/isotopp/?originalSubdomain=nl) Find out more about Sovereign DBaaS at https://severalnines.com/sovereign-dbaas (https://severalnines.com/sovereign-dbaas)

18. 

    19 Jan 2023

    Booking.com Pt 1 - Running data infrastructure at an Enterprise scale

    Running and scaling a robust database is a complex and time-consuming process. But, if managed properly, it sets the business up for long-term success. Therefore, as a manager, you must first ask yourself what you want from a database and whether you have the resources and people to create and own it. In this episode of Sovereign DBaaS Decoded, we discuss the database methodology at Booking.com. Our guest is Kristian Köhntopp, the company's principal system engineer. He and our host Vinay Joosery discuss the complexity of managing and scaling database operations in the cloud, what played into their decision-making, and the importance of having the right tools, processes, and people who understand their purpose and effect. Kristian also shares his thoughts on cloud migration and reveals the pros and cons of using cloud database services. Finally, he explains why ‘managing’ is not the best word for the database department's responsibilities and suggests ‘automation’ in its stead. Guest-at-a-Glance 💡 Name: Kristian Köhntopp 💡 What he does: Kristian is the principal system engineer at Booking.com. 💡 Website: Booking.com (http://booking.com/) 💡 Noteworthy: Kristian is an architect with years of experience in databases, Linux/Unix, data center planning and design, and security management systems in enterprise and startup environments. In his current role, Kristan focuses on database automation, provisioning a few thousand databases and a few hundred application hierarchies, and cloud migration. 💡 Where to find Kristian: LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/isotopp/?originalSubdomain=nl) Find out more about Sovereign DBaaS at https://severalnines.com/sovereign-dbaas (https://severalnines.com/sovereign-dbaas)

19. 

    5 Dec 2022

    The State of Cloud - Exploring challenges, risks & opportunities with Sanjeev Mohan

    Today, we are seeing a shift in business with economies cooling and IT spend going down; however, one area of business that continues to grow is cloud computing. More and more companies are moving workloads into the cloud, but are they doing it wrong? How do you choose between deployment models? How can you minimize vendor lock-in? Sanjeev Mohan, Principal Analyst at SanjMo, joins us in the first episode of Sovereign DBaaS Decoded. Sanjeev and our CEO and host, Vinay Joosery, discuss the evolution of the cloud deployment model, whether partnering with a lock-in vendor is a limitation or an opportunity, how companies should approach the multi-cloud operation model, and more. Guest-at-a-Glance 💡 Name: Sanjeev Mohan 💡 What he does: Sanjeev is the principal analyst at SanjMo. 💡 Website: SanjMo (https://www.sanjmo.com/) 💡 Noteworthy: Sanjeev has been in the data management space since the beginning of his career. He has worked at Oracle, and before SanjMo, he was a vice president at Gartner Research. 💡 Where to find Sanjeev: LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanjeev-mohan-498119/) Find out more about Sovereign DBaaS at https://severalnines.com/sovereign-dbaas (https://severalnines.com/sovereign-dbaas)

Inside a recent episode

State of the cloud 2026: AI's hype train continues, agents go primetime, and sovereignty shifts left

Published 19 Jan 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] I don't know if they did in Brandenburg Which is part of ESC European sovereign cloud. It is And initiated that is owned operated run managed by Europeans Not by Americans. So AWS Launched that before that as a Microsoft Ignite Microsoft sovereign cloud was a very big topic Even there I when I did a briefing with Google cloud And it was all about sovereign cloud But they're taking a very different approach. They're saying that let's say a hospital wants to have their data in a cloud in Europe They don't want necessarily to go to a partner So What Google is doing is they're partnering with local providers Because these providers have regulation like segment And they're keeping up with everything new in EU AI Act just last week something new came out. […]

Who has been a guest on Sovereign DBaaS Decoded

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• David Linthicum
• John White
• Justin Garrison
• Sanjeev Mohan
• Vinay Joosery

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Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

189,645

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Podcast Authority Score: 54 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

44

Social presence

94

YouTube

82

Engagement

27

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