#219 Avthar Sewrathan: How to Build Smarter AI Applications with PostgreSQL

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In this episode of the Eye on AI podcast, Avthar Sewrathan, Lead Technical Product Marketing Manager at Timescale joins Craig Smith to explore how Postgres is transforming AI development with cutting-edge tools and open-source innovation.

With its robust, extensible framework, Postgres has become the go-to database for AI applications, from semantic search to retrieval-augmented generation (RAG). Avthar takes us through Timescale's journey from its IoT origins to disrupting the way developers handle vector search, embedding management, and high-performance AI workloads—all within Postgres.

We dive into Timescale's tools like PGVector, PGVector Scale, and PGAI Vectorizer, uncovering how they aid developers to build AI-powered systems without the complexity of managing multiple databases. Avthar explains how Postgres seamlessly handles structured and unstructured data, making it the perfect foundation for next-gen AI applications.

Learn how Postgres supports AI-driven use cases across industries like IoT, finance, and crypto, and why its open-source ecosystem is key to fostering collaboration and innovation. 

Tune in to discover how Postgres is redefining AI databases, why Timescale’s tools are a game-changer for developers, and what the future holds for AI innovation in the database space.

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(00:00) Introduction to Avthar and Timescale

(02:35) The origins of Timescale and TimescaleDB

(05:06) What makes Postgres unique and reliable

(07:17) Open-source philosophy at Timescale

(12:04) Timescale's early focus on IoT and time series data

(16:17) Applications in finance, crypto, and IoT

(19:03) Postgres in AI: From RAG to semantic search

(22:00) Overcoming scalability challenges with PGVector Scale

(24:33) PGAI Vectorizer: Managing embeddings seamlessly

(28:09) The PGAI suite: Tools for AI developers

(30:33) Vectorization explained: Foundations of AI search

(32:24) LLM integration within Postgres

(35:26) Natural language interfaces and database workflows

(38:11) Structured and unstructured data in Postgres

(41:17) Postgres for everything: Simplifying complexity

(44:52) Timescale’s accessibility for startups and enterprises

(47:46) The power of open source in AI