We were promised that AI would make information easier to find. Nobody mentioned we’d also need a PhD in figuring out what to trust. 

In this episode of The STEMINISTS Podcast, Phoebe Goh sits down with Julia Fedorova, who leads Analyst Relations at NetApp, to tackle one of the biggest challenges in the AI era: making smart decisions when everyone, everything, and every chatbot seems to have an opinion.  

As generative AI floods our feeds with answers, recommendations, and hot takes, access to information is no longer the problem. The real challenge is knowing which sources are credible, which insights are backed by evidence, and which recommendations deserve a healthy dose of skepticism.  

Julia pulls back the curtain on the often-misunderstood world of industry analysts and explains why many of the biggest technology purchasing decisions still rely on research grounded in rigorous methodologies, market validation, and years of expertise. Together, she and Phoebe explore the idea of “pools of trust,” the risks of AI-powered echo chambers, and why trusting the first answer you get is rarely a winning strategy.  

The conversation also dives into how enterprise buyers can avoid blind spots, why getting a second opinion matters just as much in technology as it does in healthcare, and how the smartest leaders are balancing AI-driven insights with human judgment. Along the way, Julia shares a surprisingly simple piece of advice for navigating a rapidly changing market: pause. Before you click, buy, migrate, modernize, or panic. Just pause.  

In this episode: 

• Why more information doesn’t automatically lead to better decisions.  
• How industry analysts build credibility and trust through research and methodology.  
• The growing challenge of AI-generated echo chambers and personalized information bubbles.  
• Why enterprise buyers should seek multiple perspectives before making major technology decisions.  
• How to evaluate whether a source is genuinely trustworthy.  
• Why storage and data infrastructure have suddenly become central to AI conversations.  
• The surprisingly underrated power of slowing down before making a decision.  

Plus, Julia weighs in on an age-old debate: do audiobooks count as real books? (Spoiler: yes, and she’s willing to defend that position.)  

Because in a world overflowing with AI-generated answers, the real competitive advantage might just be knowing which questions are worth asking in the first place. 

As always, if you enjoyed this conversation please gives us a follow to stay in the loop for all things STEMINISTS. We would also love to hear what topics would you like for us to discuss. Feel free to share what you want to hear next.  

Learn More: 

https://www.netapp.com/artificial-intelligence/generative-ai-solutions/  

Connect with us!

https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-fedorova-she-her-012a9624/  

https://www.linkedin.com/in/phoebegoh/