PASS Summit East (Chicago)
Pre-Conference Speakers
Andreas Wolter
Data Architect Security, CEO, Sarpedon Quality Lab LLC
Andreas Wolter
Sarpedon Quality Lab LLC, Data Architect Security, CEO
Andreas Wolter is a data security expert and founder of Sarpedon Quality Lab. As a former Senior Program Manager for Azure SQL and SQL Server at Microsoft, he led the revamp of SQL Server’s permission system and designed the external authorization framework for Microsoft Purview, now also used by SQL databases in Microsoft Fabric. He served on Microsoft’s security review board, analyzing threat models for SQL Server and Azure SQL features, contributing to improvements aligned with the Principle of Least Privilege, and helping shape the last major overhaul of SQL vulnerability assessment in Microsoft Defender for SQL. One of only seven Microsoft Certified Solutions Masters (MCSM) for the Data Platform worldwide and a former Microsoft MVP, Andreas brings over 25 years of experience and has developed a SQL Server security assessment framework used to identify real-world risk patterns across enterprise environments. He regularly speaks at international conferences and helps organizations identify real risk, strengthen security, and improve performance and availability, and reduce costs across SQL Server environments – on-premises and in Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud.
Chris Hyde
Owner and Principal Consultant, Hydrate Consulting LLC
Chris Hyde
Hydrate Consulting LLC, Owner and Principal Consultant
Chris Hyde (he/him) is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He works as an independent analytics consultant focusing on small and medium businesses, and is the leader of the Albuquerque local Azure Data Technologies group. He loves loud music and cricket, but not usually at the same time.
Erik Darling
Consultant, Darling Data
Erik Darling
Darling Data, Consultant
Erik has been working with SQL Server just about forever – Really challenging DBA/Developer/Architect roles – Started consulting for Brent Ozar Unlimited in 2015 Started Darling Data in 2019 – Worked with over 600 very happy clients – Lots of free community activity like blogging, training, open-source projects – Speaking about SQL Server at conferences all over the world.
Grant Fritchey
Product Advocate, Redgate
Grant Fritchey
Redgate, Product Advocate
Grant Fritchey is a Data Platform MVP and AWS Community Builder with over 30 years' experience in IT, including time spent in support and development. He works with multiple data platforms including SQL Server and PostgreSQL, as well as multiple cloud platforms. He has also developed in VB, VB.NET, C#, and Java.
Kristyna Ferris
Solutions Architect, P3 Adaptive
Kristyna Ferris
P3 Adaptive, Solutions Architect
Kristyna Ferris is a solution architect at P3 Adaptive. Her experience includes implementing and managing enterprise-level Power BI instance, training teams on reporting best practices, and building templates for scalable analytics. Passionate about participating and growing the data community, she enjoys co-writing on Data on Wheels (dataonwheels.com). She also a co-organizer for Lexington Data Technology Group.
Pat Wright
Product Advocate, Redgate
Pat Wright
Redgate, Product Advocate
Pat Wright is an Advocate with Redgate Software. He has been a database professional for 25 years, specializing in PostgreSQL for the past 10 years, after a long career with SQL Server. He has worked across large-scale SaaS platforms, early-stage startups, and a wide range of consulting engagements over the past decade. Pat currently serves as the Sponsor Coordinator for PGUS and as President of Utah Geek Events, and is a frequent speaker in both the PostgreSQL and SQL Server communities. His sessions draw on deep real-world experience with performance, automation, and operational best practices. Outside of tech, he enjoys photography, classic cars, and cycling.
Pre-Conference Sessions
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Pre-Conference
SQL Server Security vs. Security Theater: Build a Defensible Data Estate
Andreas Wolter
Stop the "Security Theater" and build a truly defensible data platform. This full-day workshop on security for SQL databases (on-prem/Azure/Fabric) is driven by real-world assessments and breach scenarios in the field. Common security recommendations often focus on features like TDE and flagging sysadmin membership, which creates a false sense of security or unnecessary alarmism while leaving actual attack paths ignored. This PreCon focuses on what moves the needle. You will learn how to make the work of an attacker harder, limit the blast radius, and detect attacks earlier – using practical approaches grounded in Zero Trust and operability. Drawing on 25+ years in the field – including leading security feature development for SQL Server and Azure SQL at Microsoft, contributing to the SQL Server 2022 permission model, and advancing vulnerability assessment and Microsoft Purview-based governance capabilities – you’ll get an inside-out view of the built-in security features, how to use them effectively and where there are gaps to consider. Topics include: NTLM deprecation and Kerberos readiness / SQL Server 2025 updates / Applying Least Privilege / Encryption techniques, tamper evidence with Database Ledger / Building a minimal viable security audit, Extended Events vs Auditing / Network- and system security configuration / Fabric OneLake security implications / Microsoft Purview (intro) ..and of course, demos of security bypasses and how to prevent them.
Pre-Conference
SQL Server Security vs. Security Theater: Build a Defensible Data Estate
Andreas Wolter
Sarpedon Quality Lab LLC
Session Goals: • How to apply Zero Trust and least privilege to SQL databases. • Know which security features to employ and what to look out for.
Session Prerequisites: T-SQL basics, fundamental understanding of SQL Server components (SQL Server, Databases SQL Server Agent, on-prem vs Azure SQL)
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 200
Theme: Security
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Thursday -
9:00 AM-5:00 PM -
Room: Jackson Park C
Stop the "Security Theater" and build a truly defensible data platform. This full-day workshop on security for SQL databases (on-prem/Azure/Fabric) is driven by real-world assessments and breach scenarios in the field. Common security recommendations often focus on features like TDE and flagging sysadmin membership, which creates a false sense of security or unnecessary alarmism while leaving actual attack paths ignored. This PreCon focuses on what moves the needle. You will learn how to make the work of an attacker harder, limit the blast radius, and detect attacks earlier – using practical approaches grounded in Zero Trust and operability. Drawing on 25+ years in the field – including leading security feature development for SQL Server and Azure SQL at Microsoft, contributing to the SQL Server 2022 permission model, and advancing vulnerability assessment and Microsoft Purview-based governance capabilities – you’ll get an inside-out view of the built-in security features, how to use them effectively and where there are gaps to consider. Topics include: NTLM deprecation and Kerberos readiness / SQL Server 2025 updates / Applying Least Privilege / Encryption techniques, tamper evidence with Database Ledger / Building a minimal viable security audit, Extended Events vs Auditing / Network- and system security configuration / Fabric OneLake security implications / Microsoft Purview (intro) ..and of course, demos of security bypasses and how to prevent them. -
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Pre-Conference
Adding PostgreSQL to your SQL Server Skill Set
Grant Fritchey
Pat Wright
More organizations are adding PostgreSQL to their technology stack than ever before. The challenge is that they are not immediately replacing their existing technology, which means more and more people need to understand both SQL Server and PostgreSQL. This session is explicitly designed to support people who already know SQL Server in their journey to add PostgreSQL to their skill set. The session covers the areas of overlap between the two platforms, as well as all the differences that can make learning PostgreSQL a challenge. Not only does this all-day session teach PostgreSQL, but it also explores tooling, documentation, the cloud, and other resources to help on the journey of adding PostgreSQL to an existing SQL Server skill set.
Pre-Conference
Adding PostgreSQL to your SQL Server Skill Set
Grant Fritchey
Redgate
Pat Wright
Redgate
Session Goals: • Learn about the differences in language between SQL Server and PostgreSQL. • Understand what's different and unique in how PostgreSQL operates.
Session Prerequisites: General understanding of SQL Server in order to understand the mapping.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 200
Theme: Cloud + Multi-DB
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Thursday
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9:00 AM-5:00 PM
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Room: Hyde Park B
More organizations are adding PostgreSQL to their technology stack than ever before. The challenge is that they are not immediately replacing their existing technology, which means more and more people need to understand both SQL Server and PostgreSQL. This session is explicitly designed to support people who already know SQL Server in their journey to add PostgreSQL to their skill set. The session covers the areas of overlap between the two platforms, as well as all the differences that can make learning PostgreSQL a challenge. Not only does this all-day session teach PostgreSQL, but it also explores tooling, documentation, the cloud, and other resources to help on the journey of adding PostgreSQL to an existing SQL Server skill set. -
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Pre-Conference
Modern Data Warehousing with Microsoft Fabric
Kristyna Ferris
Chris Hyde
Learn how to design and manage data warehouses in Microsoft Fabric by exploring proven patterns, practical techniques, and common pitfalls to avoid. Topics include dimensional modeling, data warehousing fundamentals, ingestion strategies, medallion architecture, change detection, lifecycle management with CI/CD, monitoring, administration, and migrations.
Pre-Conference
Modern Data Warehousing with Microsoft Fabric
Kristyna Ferris
P3 Adaptive
Chris Hyde
Hydrate Consulting LLC
Session Goals: Attendees will leave the session with a clear understanding of how to design and manage effective warehouses in Fabric, avoid common mistakes, and apply proven techniques that accelerate success in their own environments.
Session Prerequisites: Intended Audience – "Accidental" data warehousing professionals, or those looking for a refresher on the theory and techniques of data warehousing in Fabric. The focus is on data warehouse development and data engineering.
Track: Architecture
Level: Level 100
Theme: AI + Data
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Thursday
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9:00 AM-5:00 PM
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Room: Jackson Park D
Learn how to design and manage data warehouses in Microsoft Fabric by exploring proven patterns, practical techniques, and common pitfalls to avoid. Topics include dimensional modeling, data warehousing fundamentals, ingestion strategies, medallion architecture, change detection, lifecycle management with CI/CD, monitoring, administration, and migrations. -
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Pre-Conference
T-SQL That Doesn't Suck: Solving Performance and Concurrency Problems
Erik Darling
You know how to write T-SQL that works. It compiles, it returns rows, nobody's filed an incident yet. But "works" is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence, and production has a way of finding out what you got away with in dev. In this full-day, demo-packed session, Erik Darling walks you through the T-SQL that silently bleeds your servers dry and shows you how to fix it without rewriting the whole app. You'll tackle the performance killers that don't show up until scale does: implicit conversions, non-sargable predicates, parameter sniffing traps, and joins that look fine in an execution plan until they absolutely aren't. You'll learn when temp tables beat table variables, when CTEs help versus when they just make you feel organized, and how to write window functions that don't spill to tempdb. But performance is only half the fight. We'll dig into concurrency problems that turn a Tuesday into a war room: blocking chains, isolation level surprises, and data modifications that hold locks like they're paying rent. You'll learn DML patterns that play well with others. Along the way, we'll put AI-generated T-SQL on the table. Not to dunk on it, but because it's showing up in pull requests and you need to know where it falls apart and where it saves you time. If you've ever inherited a stored procedure that made you question your career choices, this is your day. Come write T-SQL you'd be proud to put your name on.
Pre-Conference
T-SQL That Doesn't Suck: Solving Performance and Concurrency Problems
Erik Darling
Darling Data
Session Goals: • Recognize and fix performance anti-patterns across joins, predicates, temp objects, CTEs, and window functions. • Understand and resolve concurrency issues including blocking, isolation levels, and lock-friendly DML. • Evaluate AI-generated T-SQL and learn to use AI tools without losing your edge.
Session Prerequisites: You should be comfortable writing T-SQL: SELECT, JOIN, WHERE, GROUP BY, and basic stored procedures. If you can read an execution plan without panicking, you're ready. This session picks up where the fundamentals leave off.
Track: Development
Level: Level 300
Theme: AI + Data
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Thursday
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9:00 AM-5:00 PM
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Room: Jackson Park B
You know how to write T-SQL that works. It compiles, it returns rows, nobody's filed an incident yet. But "works" is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence, and production has a way of finding out what you got away with in dev. In this full-day, demo-packed session, Erik Darling walks you through the T-SQL that silently bleeds your servers dry and shows you how to fix it without rewriting the whole app. You'll tackle the performance killers that don't show up until scale does: implicit conversions, non-sargable predicates, parameter sniffing traps, and joins that look fine in an execution plan until they absolutely aren't. You'll learn when temp tables beat table variables, when CTEs help versus when they just make you feel organized, and how to write window functions that don't spill to tempdb. But performance is only half the fight. We'll dig into concurrency problems that turn a Tuesday into a war room: blocking chains, isolation level surprises, and data modifications that hold locks like they're paying rent. You'll learn DML patterns that play well with others. Along the way, we'll put AI-generated T-SQL on the table. Not to dunk on it, but because it's showing up in pull requests and you need to know where it falls apart and where it saves you time. If you've ever inherited a stored procedure that made you question your career choices, this is your day. Come write T-SQL you'd be proud to put your name on. -