PASS Summit West (Seattle)
All Sessions and Community Events
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Pre-Conference
Building an AI-Enabled Fabric Practice
Ginger Grant
Want to move beyond theory and actually embed AI and automation into your Microsoft Fabric workflows? This session shows how to turn AI’s promised productivity gains into disciplined, repeatable practices you can implement immediately in Microsoft Fabric. We will walk through how to set up an AI-ready environment on your own laptop, along with the tools, libraries, and patterns needed so you can follow along and reuse everything yourself. The session covers how to build prompt libraries, reusable patterns, and guardrails so your results are consistent instead of hit-or-miss. We will also use Fabric APIs and CLIs to turn those prompts into agentic processes so you can implement strategies beyond cutting and pasting from chat windows. To ensure governance and good CI/CD practices are included, the session shows how to automate quality checks with GitHub Actions and enforce standards using AI-assisted code generation and review. These processes can ensure hallucinations don’t see production and ensure improve that you can catch issues before your users do. Using real examples, we will walk through how to move from written specifications to fully implemented models, moving from inception to deployment pipelines. Attendees will leave with a structured framework, practical automation techniques, and repeatable methods to improve quality, consistency, and delivery speed across your Fabric environment.
Pre-Conference
Building an AI-Enabled Fabric Practice
Ginger Grant
Desert Isle Group
Session Goals: • Learn the tools, techniques and setup requirements to needed to create an AI environment for Fabric. • Understand the process to build repeatable AI processes to implement Fabric requirements. • Recognize how to implement testing and CI/CD elements to improve the quality of your Fabric output.
Session Prerequisites: • Some experience with Fabric is required.
Track: Analytics
Level: Level 200
Theme: AI + Data
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Monday -
9:00 AM-4:30 PM -
Room: 307 Methow
Want to move beyond theory and actually embed AI and automation into your Microsoft Fabric workflows? This session shows how to turn AI’s promised productivity gains into disciplined, repeatable practices you can implement immediately in Microsoft Fabric. We will walk through how to set up an AI-ready environment on your own laptop, along with the tools, libraries, and patterns needed so you can follow along and reuse everything yourself. The session covers how to build prompt libraries, reusable patterns, and guardrails so your results are consistent instead of hit-or-miss. We will also use Fabric APIs and CLIs to turn those prompts into agentic processes so you can implement strategies beyond cutting and pasting from chat windows. To ensure governance and good CI/CD practices are included, the session shows how to automate quality checks with GitHub Actions and enforce standards using AI-assisted code generation and review. These processes can ensure hallucinations don’t see production and ensure improve that you can catch issues before your users do. Using real examples, we will walk through how to move from written specifications to fully implemented models, moving from inception to deployment pipelines. Attendees will leave with a structured framework, practical automation techniques, and repeatable methods to improve quality, consistency, and delivery speed across your Fabric environment. -
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Pre-Conference
Dev-Prod Demon Hunters: Finding the Real Cause of Production Slowness
Brent Ozar
Production is slow. Development is fast. The same query runs in both. Somewhere between the two, a performance demon is hiding—and this session is about hunting it down. Inspired by Brent Ozar's love of the K-Pop Demon Hunters theme song, this class is delivered almost entirely as live demos, not slides. Brent Ozar will run real queries against two environments labeled “dev” and “prod,” then work through them exactly the way an experienced DBA would in the real world: comparing server settings, analyzing execution plans, and uncovering the subtle differences that led SQL Server to make different decisions. Each “hunt” reveals another demon—statistics, configuration, data distribution, or plan choice—and shows how easily a test environment can lie. Along the way, Brent will demonstrate practical techniques you can use immediately: running sp_Blitz to surface meaningful environment differences, comparing execution plans to understand *why* SQL Server behaved differently, and making targeted changes to development so it better reflects production reality. By the end, you’ll understand how to stop guessing, stop blaming the engine, and follow the clues that lead to the truth—because when dev and prod finally move in sync, that’s when performance goes golden.
Pre-Conference
Dev-Prod Demon Hunters: Finding the Real Cause of Production Slowness
Brent Ozar
Brent Ozar Unlimited
Session Goals: • Discover what caused query plans to vary from production. • Learn how to quickly assess environment differences that would cause query plan changes. • Understand how to change dev to more closely match prod.
Session Prerequisites: • You should already be comfortable writing queries, reading execution plans, and using the First Responder Kit to gather data about your server's wait stats and health.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 300
Theme: Cloud + Multi-DB
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Monday
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9:00 AM-4:30 PM
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Room: 302 Beckler
Production is slow. Development is fast. The same query runs in both. Somewhere between the two, a performance demon is hiding—and this session is about hunting it down. Inspired by Brent Ozar's love of the K-Pop Demon Hunters theme song, this class is delivered almost entirely as live demos, not slides. Brent Ozar will run real queries against two environments labeled “dev” and “prod,” then work through them exactly the way an experienced DBA would in the real world: comparing server settings, analyzing execution plans, and uncovering the subtle differences that led SQL Server to make different decisions. Each “hunt” reveals another demon—statistics, configuration, data distribution, or plan choice—and shows how easily a test environment can lie. Along the way, Brent will demonstrate practical techniques you can use immediately: running sp_Blitz to surface meaningful environment differences, comparing execution plans to understand *why* SQL Server behaved differently, and making targeted changes to development so it better reflects production reality. By the end, you’ll understand how to stop guessing, stop blaming the engine, and follow the clues that lead to the truth—because when dev and prod finally move in sync, that’s when performance goes golden. -
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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: Professional Development
Level: Level 200
Theme: Cloud + Multi-DB
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Monday
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9:00 AM-4:30 PM
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Room: 301 Ashnola
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
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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Monday
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9:00 AM-4:30 PM
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Room: 401 Chelan
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. -
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Pre-Conference
Performance Troubleshooting Using Waits and Latches
Paul Randal
SQL Server performance is off – what do you do? One of the first things you should check when investigating performance issues are wait and latch statistics, as these often point you in the right direction for further analysis. Unfortunately many people misinterpret what SQL Server is telling them and jump to conclusions about how to solve the problem ('knee-jerk performance tuning'). In this full-day workshop, you'll learn how to investigate and interpret wait and latch statistics – easy, practical techniques you can take home and start using immediately. You'll also learn what a myriad of wait and latch types actually mean and how you can investigate lightly-documented types to gain insight into what causes them. Don't waste time when it comes to performance troubleshooting; wait statistics are the fastest route to understanding your problems and this workshop will help you get there faster.
Pre-Conference
Performance Troubleshooting Using Waits and Latches
Paul Randal
SQLskills
Session Goals: • Clear understanding of what waits and latches are and how they can guide performance tuning. • Ability to run waits-related DMV scripts and know how to proceed with the results. • Understanding of common wait and latch types, what they mean, and how to react to them.
Session Prerequisites: • Familiarity with terms and concepts like transactions, locks, indexes, DMVs. Definitely not a 100-level, complete beginner workshop.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 300
Theme: AI + Data
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Monday
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9:00 AM-4:30 PM
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Room: 305 Chehalis
SQL Server performance is off – what do you do? One of the first things you should check when investigating performance issues are wait and latch statistics, as these often point you in the right direction for further analysis. Unfortunately many people misinterpret what SQL Server is telling them and jump to conclusions about how to solve the problem ('knee-jerk performance tuning'). In this full-day workshop, you'll learn how to investigate and interpret wait and latch statistics – easy, practical techniques you can take home and start using immediately. You'll also learn what a myriad of wait and latch types actually mean and how you can investigate lightly-documented types to gain insight into what causes them. Don't waste time when it comes to performance troubleshooting; wait statistics are the fastest route to understanding your problems and this workshop will help you get there faster. -
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Pre-Conference
Learning the Cloud: From Managing Resources to Designing Solutions
Joey D'Antoni
With over 200 services in Azure, trying to learn the platform can feel overwhelming. You've probably built a virtual machine or deployed an Azure SQL Database, but have you thought about your network design, tagging strategies, or how AI services fit into your architecture? In this all-day session, we'll go well beyond basic DBA and sysadmin tasks and into the mindset of an architect. Topics covered will include: Azure Networking Azure and Entra ID Security How to automate processes in Azure A deep dive on storage performance and costs Azure AI services including Microsoft Foundry, AI Search, and Cognitive Services We'll start with Azure's foundational infrastructure and how to manage availability. From there, we'll cover how security, authentication, and authorization work with Entra ID and how to implement them in your applications. You'll learn how to choose the right data and AI services for your workloads, how to secure them, and when to reach for tools like Azure OpenAI Service or AI Search to add intelligence to your solutions. We'll also dig into supporting services like Azure Key Vault, Azure Functions, Logic Apps, and Automation that help tie everything together. This session will be packed with demos and plenty of open Q&A.
Pre-Conference
Learning the Cloud: From Managing Resources to Designing Solutions
Joey D'Antoni
DCAC
Session Goals: • Evaluate and design Azure networking, security, and storage architectures beyond basic admin tasks. • Implement authentication and security strategies using Entra across your applications and data • Identify when and how to integrate AI services like OpenAI and AI Search into your solution architecture.
Session Prerequisites: • None.
Track: Architecture
Level: Level 200
Theme: Cloud + Multi-DB
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Monday
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9:00 AM-4:30 PM
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Room: 405 Kachess
With over 200 services in Azure, trying to learn the platform can feel overwhelming. You've probably built a virtual machine or deployed an Azure SQL Database, but have you thought about your network design, tagging strategies, or how AI services fit into your architecture? In this all-day session, we'll go well beyond basic DBA and sysadmin tasks and into the mindset of an architect. Topics covered will include: Azure Networking Azure and Entra ID Security How to automate processes in Azure A deep dive on storage performance and costs Azure AI services including Microsoft Foundry, AI Search, and Cognitive Services We'll start with Azure's foundational infrastructure and how to manage availability. From there, we'll cover how security, authentication, and authorization work with Entra ID and how to implement them in your applications. You'll learn how to choose the right data and AI services for your workloads, how to secure them, and when to reach for tools like Azure OpenAI Service or AI Search to add intelligence to your solutions. We'll also dig into supporting services like Azure Key Vault, Azure Functions, Logic Apps, and Automation that help tie everything together. This session will be packed with demos and plenty of open Q&A. -
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Events
Community Kickoff & Power Hour
Ben Weissman
Kristyna Ferris
The Community Kickoff opens PASS Summit West with an easy, welcoming start to connect, share, and learn. Join us for a welcome drink and time to reconnect, meet new faces, and ease into the rhythm of the event. After a short networking warm‑up, we’ll gather for a fun, community‑driven hour designed to spark energy, inclusive learning, and a sense of belonging from day one. We’ll wrap with another round of open networking so conversations can continue, and new connections can take root.
Events
Community Kickoff & Power Hour
Ben Weissman
Solisyon
Kristyna Ferris
P3 Adaptive
Session Goals: Networking
Track: Analytics
Level: Level 100
Theme: AI + Data
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Monday
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5:00 PM-7:00 PM
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Room: Columbia Ballroom, 3rd Floor
The Community Kickoff opens PASS Summit West with an easy, welcoming start to connect, share, and learn. Join us for a welcome drink and time to reconnect, meet new faces, and ease into the rhythm of the event. After a short networking warm‑up, we’ll gather for a fun, community‑driven hour designed to spark energy, inclusive learning, and a sense of belonging from day one. We’ll wrap with another round of open networking so conversations can continue, and new connections can take root. -
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Events
First Timers Networking Event
New for 2026. If this is your first PASS Summit West, start your week here. Before the main Community Kickoff Reception gets going, join a small group of fellow first-timers for 30 minutes of structured, low-pressure conversation. No networking alone in a big-room required. Collect your first-timer ribbon from registration and show up. You'll walk into the rest of the reception already knowing a few faces.
Events
First Timers Networking Event
Track: Professional Development
Level: Level 100
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Monday
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5:00 PM-5:30 PM
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Room: Columbia A, 3rd Floor
New for 2026. If this is your first PASS Summit West, start your week here. Before the main Community Kickoff Reception gets going, join a small group of fellow first-timers for 30 minutes of structured, low-pressure conversation. No networking alone in a big-room required. Collect your first-timer ribbon from registration and show up. You'll walk into the rest of the reception already knowing a few faces. -
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General Session
AI Workflows with Redgate Workshop
Arneh Eskandari
AI coding assistants are already touching your database, whether you've planned for it or not: generating migrations, answering questions about performance, sometimes both without telling you. DORA's 2025 research found 43% of AI-generated changes need debugging once they reach production, and teams shipping more AI-assisted code see 1.7 times more issues per pull request. The database doesn't get to opt out of that shift. It just decides whether it happens with guardrails or without them. This breakfast session shows what ""with guardrails"" looks like end-to-end, using Redgate's own MCP servers to bring Claude, GitHub Copilot, and Cursor directly into the database layer. First, we'll have an AI assistant propose a schema change and watch Flyway Enterprise's MCP server turn that non-deterministic suggestion into a version-controlled, policy-checked, deterministic migration. Then we'll flip it around: ask that same assistant how the estate is doing, and watch Redgate Monitor's MCP server and Monitor AI answer with real, live data instead of a guess, no dashboard required.
General Session
AI Workflows with Redgate Workshop
Arneh Eskandari
Redgate Software
Session Goals: You'll leave with a concrete answer to "what does an AI assistant touching my database actually look like," rather than a hypothetical one, and a clear line between what's shipped today and what's still on the roadmap.
Session Prerequisites: Doors at 6.45 AM
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 100
Theme: AI + Data
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Tuesday
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7:00 AM-7:50 AM
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Room: Redgate Breakfast, Columbia Ballroom, 3rd Floor
AI coding assistants are already touching your database, whether you've planned for it or not: generating migrations, answering questions about performance, sometimes both without telling you. DORA's 2025 research found 43% of AI-generated changes need debugging once they reach production, and teams shipping more AI-assisted code see 1.7 times more issues per pull request. The database doesn't get to opt out of that shift. It just decides whether it happens with guardrails or without them. This breakfast session shows what ""with guardrails"" looks like end-to-end, using Redgate's own MCP servers to bring Claude, GitHub Copilot, and Cursor directly into the database layer. First, we'll have an AI assistant propose a schema change and watch Flyway Enterprise's MCP server turn that non-deterministic suggestion into a version-controlled, policy-checked, deterministic migration. Then we'll flip it around: ask that same assistant how the estate is doing, and watch Redgate Monitor's MCP server and Monitor AI answer with real, live data instead of a guess, no dashboard required. -
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Keynote
Microsoft Keynote – AI Starts with Data: Building the Foundation for What's Next
Shireesh Thota
Every AI application and agent is only as powerful as the data behind it. How you manage data, where your workloads run, and what your applications can do are evolving at a remarkable pace, creating new opportunities to connect mission-critical data with AI. Join Shireesh Thota, CVP of Azure Databases and Fabric Applications, to explore the latest advances across SQL, PostgreSQL, and the broader database portfolio in Azure and Microsoft Fabric, built to preserve the performance, reliability, security, and governance your business depends on. Through live demonstrations, see database engines getting faster and smarter, AI capabilities working right where your data lives, and simpler ways to turn data into working applications. Whether you're modernizing systems that have run your business for years or starting something new, learn how to build on the skills and systems you already know and turn your existing data investments into a foundation for AI-powered applications and agents. Leave with practical ideas, plenty of inspiration, and a clear path to start building what's next.
Keynote
Microsoft Keynote – AI Starts with Data: Building the Foundation for What's Next
Shireesh Thota
Microsoft
Track: Architecture
Level: Level 100
Theme: AI + Data
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Tuesday
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8:15 AM-9:30 AM
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Room: Columbia Ballroom, 3rd Floor
Every AI application and agent is only as powerful as the data behind it. How you manage data, where your workloads run, and what your applications can do are evolving at a remarkable pace, creating new opportunities to connect mission-critical data with AI. Join Shireesh Thota, CVP of Azure Databases and Fabric Applications, to explore the latest advances across SQL, PostgreSQL, and the broader database portfolio in Azure and Microsoft Fabric, built to preserve the performance, reliability, security, and governance your business depends on. Through live demonstrations, see database engines getting faster and smarter, AI capabilities working right where your data lives, and simpler ways to turn data into working applications. Whether you're modernizing systems that have run your business for years or starting something new, learn how to build on the skills and systems you already know and turn your existing data investments into a foundation for AI-powered applications and agents. Leave with practical ideas, plenty of inspiration, and a clear path to start building what's next. -
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General Session
Meet & Mingle | New Stars of Data
Join us for a relaxed and inspiring meet & greet with some of the amazing former and new New Stars of Data! Whether you’re curious about what it’s like to take your first steps as a speaker, want to reconnect with alumni, or just enjoy great conversations with people who share your passion for the data community – this is the place to be. Hear stories, exchange experiences, and get inspired by those who’ve taken the stage (and those who soon will). Come say hi, make connections, and celebrate how far our New Stars have come!
General Session
Meet & Mingle | New Stars of Data
Track: Professional Development
Level: Level 100
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Tuesday
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9:35 AM-10:00 AM
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Room: Community Zone – Level 4 Foyer
Join us for a relaxed and inspiring meet & greet with some of the amazing former and new New Stars of Data! Whether you’re curious about what it’s like to take your first steps as a speaker, want to reconnect with alumni, or just enjoy great conversations with people who share your passion for the data community – this is the place to be. Hear stories, exchange experiences, and get inspired by those who’ve taken the stage (and those who soon will). Come say hi, make connections, and celebrate how far our New Stars have come! -
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General Session
From Disarray to Hooray: SQL Server Functions That Simplify T-SQL
Peter Kruis
Stephanie Reis
Ever run into one of those SQL Server moments where you think: "There has to be an easier way to do this"? The kind where you've got a chain of string functions, a CASE expression that reads like a crime scene, a comment that basically says "don't touch this", and code that has been copied since 2005. In a lot of cases, we don't need those messy custom-made functions anymore, as SQL Server already has something built in that would make our life easier. In this session, we will take you through the lesser-known dungeons of SQL Server functions. Not the ones everyone memorizes but the ones you only discover after you've written the hard way and then later realize there was a cleaner option all along. We'll show how these functions can simplify data cleanup, make reporting logic easier to read, and replace bits of customer code you've been dragging around for years. To keep it fun, we'll do this in acts. Each act is a short story; a problem we keep seeing, the typical over engineered solution, and then the "wait, that exists?" moment. Expect quick demos, a few SQL memes that will feel painfully familiar, and practical takeaways you can use the next time you've stuck in a query spaghetti. If you write T-SQL and you like solutions that are simple, predictable, and easy to maintain, you'll leave with a list of function and patterns you'll actually use.
General Session
From Disarray to Hooray: SQL Server Functions That Simplify T-SQL
Peter Kruis
Kruis Database Consultancy
Stephanie Reis
AAA Washington
Session Goals: • Discover lesser-known SQL Server functions you may not have encountered before. • Identify built-in SQL Server functions that replace common overengineered T-SQL patterns. • Apply practical function patterns to clean up data and reporting logic immediately.
Session Prerequisites: • A working knowledge of basic SQL (SELECT, JOINs, WHERE, GROUP BY). • Familiary with T-SQL syntax in SQL Server.
Track: Development
Level: Level 200
Theme: Cloud + Multi-DB
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Tuesday
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10:00 AM-11:15 AM
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Room: 402 Chiliwack
Ever run into one of those SQL Server moments where you think: "There has to be an easier way to do this"? The kind where you've got a chain of string functions, a CASE expression that reads like a crime scene, a comment that basically says "don't touch this", and code that has been copied since 2005. In a lot of cases, we don't need those messy custom-made functions anymore, as SQL Server already has something built in that would make our life easier. In this session, we will take you through the lesser-known dungeons of SQL Server functions. Not the ones everyone memorizes but the ones you only discover after you've written the hard way and then later realize there was a cleaner option all along. We'll show how these functions can simplify data cleanup, make reporting logic easier to read, and replace bits of customer code you've been dragging around for years. To keep it fun, we'll do this in acts. Each act is a short story; a problem we keep seeing, the typical over engineered solution, and then the "wait, that exists?" moment. Expect quick demos, a few SQL memes that will feel painfully familiar, and practical takeaways you can use the next time you've stuck in a query spaghetti. If you write T-SQL and you like solutions that are simple, predictable, and easy to maintain, you'll leave with a list of function and patterns you'll actually use. -
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General Session
SQL Server Isn’t Holding Back Your AI, But Your Process Might Be
Alexander Perry
AI is changing how data platforms are designed and developed, but adopting AI does not mean abandoning the SQL Server investments that already run your business. For many organizations, on-premises SQL Server and Azure SQL will remain core parts of the data estate for years to come. The opportunity is to modernize how those environments are developed: using AI to accelerate tasks and engineering decisions while retaining the metadata, standards and governance needed to keep production environments predictable. In this session, we will explore an architecture for governed AI-assisted data warehouse development. Rather than giving an AI agent unrestricted access to production, we will look at how AI can operate within a metadata-driven development process where models, business rules, engineering standards, lineage and deployment controls provide context and guardrails. We will examine where probabilistic AI adds value, and how emerging technologies such as Model Context Protocol, or MCP, could allow AI agents to interact with data engineering environments without bypassing governance. The result is a practical approach to bringing modern AI capabilities into an existing SQL Server data estate without requiring a wholesale platform migration or sacrificing control.
General Session
SQL Server Isn’t Holding Back Your AI, But Your Process Might Be
Alexander Perry
WhereScape
Session Goals: • Attendees will learn how to introduce AI into SQL Server data warehouse development while retaining metadata, governance and deterministic engineering controls. • They will leave with a practical architectural pattern for deciding what AI should assist with, what should remain automated and controlled and how technologies such as MCP could connect the two.
Session Prerequisites: • A basic understanding of SQL Server and common data warehouse concepts is recommended. • Familiarity with metadata-driven development, data modeling or AI agents is helpful but not required.
Track: Architecture
Level: Level 200
Theme: AI + Data
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Tuesday
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10:00 AM-11:15 AM
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Room: 302 Beckler
AI is changing how data platforms are designed and developed, but adopting AI does not mean abandoning the SQL Server investments that already run your business. For many organizations, on-premises SQL Server and Azure SQL will remain core parts of the data estate for years to come. The opportunity is to modernize how those environments are developed: using AI to accelerate tasks and engineering decisions while retaining the metadata, standards and governance needed to keep production environments predictable. In this session, we will explore an architecture for governed AI-assisted data warehouse development. Rather than giving an AI agent unrestricted access to production, we will look at how AI can operate within a metadata-driven development process where models, business rules, engineering standards, lineage and deployment controls provide context and guardrails. We will examine where probabilistic AI adds value, and how emerging technologies such as Model Context Protocol, or MCP, could allow AI agents to interact with data engineering environments without bypassing governance. The result is a practical approach to bringing modern AI capabilities into an existing SQL Server data estate without requiring a wholesale platform migration or sacrificing control. -
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General Session
Mastering Fabric Security: Safeguarding Your Analytics
Bradley Schacht
Security is at the heart of Microsoft Fabric and there is no shortage of options. Virtual networks, private links, outbound access protection, conditional access and more. Let's not forget the new kid on the block, OneLake security. We will walk through a live demo on how to use VNETs, private endpoints, and workspace private link to reduce exposure; apply workspace permissions and item-level sharing for least privileged data access; and implement RLS/CLS in lakehouse and warehouse for segregation of duties. We’ll also cover OneLake security to ensure your data remains protected across the entire Fabric ecosystem. By the end of this session, you will be well versed in the options, when to use each, and how to layer the options for maximum protection.
General Session
Mastering Fabric Security: Safeguarding Your Analytics
Bradley Schacht
Microsoft
Session Goals: • Know all the options for securing a Fabric workspace and the items within it. • Know how each option works in isolation. • How they can work together to a multi-layered security approach.
Session Prerequisites: • A general understanding of Microsoft Fabric. • Know the basics of how data is stored in OneLake. • Basic knowledge of Azure networking is advised but not required.
Track: Analytics
Level: Level 200
Theme: Security
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Tuesday
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10:00 AM-11:15 AM
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Room: 307 Methow
Security is at the heart of Microsoft Fabric and there is no shortage of options. Virtual networks, private links, outbound access protection, conditional access and more. Let's not forget the new kid on the block, OneLake security. We will walk through a live demo on how to use VNETs, private endpoints, and workspace private link to reduce exposure; apply workspace permissions and item-level sharing for least privileged data access; and implement RLS/CLS in lakehouse and warehouse for segregation of duties. We’ll also cover OneLake security to ensure your data remains protected across the entire Fabric ecosystem. By the end of this session, you will be well versed in the options, when to use each, and how to layer the options for maximum protection. -
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General Session
Change Tracking in SQL Server 2025: Exploring Change Event Streaming vs CDC
Deborah Melkin
Need to ship row level data changes for processing downstream? Change Data Capture (CDC) used to be the go-to option. But now there's a new choice with SQL Server 2025: Change Event Streaming (CES). Come and learn about their architectures as well as the pros and cons of each. Leave knowing which is going to work best for your scenario.
General Session
Change Tracking in SQL Server 2025: Exploring Change Event Streaming vs CDC
Deborah Melkin
GLG
Session Goals: 1. Learn what Change Event Streaming is as it's a new feature of SQL Server 2025 2. Understand how Change Data Change & Change Event Streaming work 3. Understand the pros and cons of each and when to use them.
Session Prerequisites: No prior knowledge of CDC or CES is required
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 200
Theme: Cloud + Multi-DB
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Tuesday
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10:00 AM-11:15 AM
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Room: 401 Chelan
Need to ship row level data changes for processing downstream? Change Data Capture (CDC) used to be the go-to option. But now there's a new choice with SQL Server 2025: Change Event Streaming (CES). Come and learn about their architectures as well as the pros and cons of each. Leave knowing which is going to work best for your scenario. -
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Deep Dive
Stop AI Hallucinations: Grounding Agents with Fabric Semantic Models
Sajitha Sritharan
Your AI agent confidently reports Q3 revenue as $47 million—but the real number is $74 million. The math checks out. The meaning doesn’t. This is the grounding problem, and it’s the fastest way to lose executive trust in enterprise AI. Most teams try to fix this with better prompts or more powerful models. That approach fails because the root issue isn’t intelligence—it’s context. AI systems lack a shared, governed understanding of business data. In this session, you’ll learn how to solve grounding using Microsoft Fabric’s layered approach. We’ll walk through three critical components: semantic models that define trusted business metrics, ontologies that align business language with data, and agent-level guardrails that constrain AI behavior. You’ll see a live, end-to-end demo of a Data Agent that initially hallucinates and produces misleading insights. Then, step by step, we’ll ground it—transforming it into a reliable, auditable system that business stakeholders can trust. This session is designed for data engineers, analytics leaders, and architects responsible for deploying AI in production environments. If you’re building—or being asked to build—AI agents on top of enterprise data, this session will give you the practical patterns to do it safely and correctly.
Deep Dive
Stop AI Hallucinations: Grounding Agents with Fabric Semantic Models
Sajitha Sritharan
Yazaki
Session Goals: • Understand why AI hallucinations occur in enterprise data scenarios. • Learn how to ground AI agents using semantic models, ontologies, and guardrails in Microsoft Fabric. • Gain practical patterns to build trustworthy, auditable AI data agents.
Session Prerequisites: • Basic understanding of data platforms, analytics concepts (e.g., metrics, models). • Familiarity with AI/LLM concepts is helpful but not required.
Track: Analytics
Level: Level 300
Theme: AI + Data
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Tuesday
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10:00 AM-12:45 PM
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Room: 306 Duwamish
Your AI agent confidently reports Q3 revenue as $47 million—but the real number is $74 million. The math checks out. The meaning doesn’t. This is the grounding problem, and it’s the fastest way to lose executive trust in enterprise AI. Most teams try to fix this with better prompts or more powerful models. That approach fails because the root issue isn’t intelligence—it’s context. AI systems lack a shared, governed understanding of business data. In this session, you’ll learn how to solve grounding using Microsoft Fabric’s layered approach. We’ll walk through three critical components: semantic models that define trusted business metrics, ontologies that align business language with data, and agent-level guardrails that constrain AI behavior. You’ll see a live, end-to-end demo of a Data Agent that initially hallucinates and produces misleading insights. Then, step by step, we’ll ground it—transforming it into a reliable, auditable system that business stakeholders can trust. This session is designed for data engineers, analytics leaders, and architects responsible for deploying AI in production environments. If you’re building—or being asked to build—AI agents on top of enterprise data, this session will give you the practical patterns to do it safely and correctly. -
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General Session
The 2 A.M. Job Failure: Rethinking How DBAs Get Alerted
Rob Newman
A failed job is only a problem if nobody finds out until morning. This session looks at common gaps in DBA on-call and alerting practices — missed notifications, alert fatigue, unclear escalation paths — and practical ways to close them, independent of any single tool. Attendees will walk away with a checklist for auditing their own alerting and escalation setup.
General Session
The 2 A.M. Job Failure: Rethinking How DBAs Get Alerted
Rob Newman
JAMS Software
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 100
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Tuesday
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10:00 AM-10:30 AM
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Room: 304 Calawah
A failed job is only a problem if nobody finds out until morning. This session looks at common gaps in DBA on-call and alerting practices — missed notifications, alert fatigue, unclear escalation paths — and practical ways to close them, independent of any single tool. Attendees will walk away with a checklist for auditing their own alerting and escalation setup. -
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General Session
How Should We Think About Performance
Xiaoyu Li
We've all followed performance tuning guides — a helpful list of settings for a specific product. But what happens when the engine changes, or the advice doesn't quite fit our situation? This session steps back to explore a more lasting question: what really shapes an engine's performance? In this session, we'll look at the three foundations every engine shares — compute, network, and storage. We'll see what each one actually contributes: how compute turns cycles into work, how the network quietly sets the ceiling on how fast data can move, and how the layout and locality of storage decide whether compute ever runs at full speed. Most importantly, we'll explore how these three interact. Performance problems often aren't about one piece being slow; they show up when the three fall out of balance, or stop cooperating. We'll look at what that looks like in practice, how to recognize it, and why the symptom you observe is often far from its real cause. We will also cover how Fabric Data Warehouse engine is improving query and workload performance out of the box. You'll walk away with a simple, portable way of thinking about performance — a set of principles for observing, analyzing, and tuning any system, grounded in how these components actually behave. It's an approach you can apply to any engine you work with, whether it's SQL, Spark, a Warehouse, a Lakehouse, or something new — and use to judge which best practices truly fit your workload.
General Session
How Should We Think About Performance
Xiaoyu Li
Microsoft
Session Goals: • Understand how compute, network, and storage individually and collectively shape your data workload performance • Learn to identify resource imbalances, trace performance symptoms to their root causes, and determine which tuning practices fit your workload. • Discover how Fabric Data Warehouse improves query and workload performance out of the box.
Session Prerequisites: • Attendees should have working familiarity with SQL and basic data warehousing concepts (tables, schemas, query execution) and distributed systems. • Prior exposure to Microsoft Fabric is helpful but not required.
Track: Architecture
Level: Level 300
Theme: AI + Data
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Tuesday
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10:00 AM-11:15 AM
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Room: 305 Chehalis
We've all followed performance tuning guides — a helpful list of settings for a specific product. But what happens when the engine changes, or the advice doesn't quite fit our situation? This session steps back to explore a more lasting question: what really shapes an engine's performance? In this session, we'll look at the three foundations every engine shares — compute, network, and storage. We'll see what each one actually contributes: how compute turns cycles into work, how the network quietly sets the ceiling on how fast data can move, and how the layout and locality of storage decide whether compute ever runs at full speed. Most importantly, we'll explore how these three interact. Performance problems often aren't about one piece being slow; they show up when the three fall out of balance, or stop cooperating. We'll look at what that looks like in practice, how to recognize it, and why the symptom you observe is often far from its real cause. We will also cover how Fabric Data Warehouse engine is improving query and workload performance out of the box. You'll walk away with a simple, portable way of thinking about performance — a set of principles for observing, analyzing, and tuning any system, grounded in how these components actually behave. It's an approach you can apply to any engine you work with, whether it's SQL, Spark, a Warehouse, a Lakehouse, or something new — and use to judge which best practices truly fit your workload. -
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General Session
Architecting Sovereign Hybrid Postgres via Kubernetes-Native Design
David Wagoner
Modernization is no longer just about performance-it’s about sovereignty. As organizations adopt hybrid computing for AI, they face a "cloud trap": choosing between operational ease and proprietary vendor lock-in. This session introduces "Sovereign by Design," a Kubernetes-native approach ensuring your Postgres data layer remains portable across on-premises, private, and public clouds. We move beyond the traditional "DBA-as-a-person" model to a "DBA-as-an-Operator" paradigm using the CloudNativePG (CNPG) standard. Learn to architect "Five Nines" (99.999%) availability through control plane isolation and active-active Postgres Distributed (PGD) clusters. We dive into the mechanics of self-healing and automated Day 2 operations-high availability, scaling, and backups-without manual intervention. Finally, we discuss how a unified Hybrid Manager delivers a turnkey path to modernization, managing everything from single instances to global clusters via one interface. Build a database foundation owned by you, not your cloud provider. Learning Objectives: 1. Eliminate Lock-in: Master a sovereign architecture for database portability across any environment. 2. Automate Day 2: Implement the "DBA-as-an-Operator" model with CloudNativePG for automated resilience. 3. Architect Extreme Availability: Design active-active hybrid clusters for 99.999% uptime via control plane isolation.
General Session
Architecting Sovereign Hybrid Postgres via Kubernetes-Native Design
David Wagoner
EnterpriseDB
Session Goals: • Master sovereign architecture to eliminate vendor lock-in and ensure portability. • Implement the "DBA-as-an-Operator" model for automated resilience and Day 2 ops. • Design hybrid clusters via control plane isolation to achieve 99.999% availability.
Session Prerequisites: • Required: Understanding of Postgres administration and Kubernetes (pods, operators). • Recommended: Experience with enterprise or hybrid cloud to appreciate architectural trade-offs regarding sovereignty and resilience.
Track: Architecture
Level: Level 300
Theme: Cloud + Multi-DB
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Tuesday
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10:00 AM-11:15 AM
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Room: 301 Ashnola
Modernization is no longer just about performance-it’s about sovereignty. As organizations adopt hybrid computing for AI, they face a "cloud trap": choosing between operational ease and proprietary vendor lock-in. This session introduces "Sovereign by Design," a Kubernetes-native approach ensuring your Postgres data layer remains portable across on-premises, private, and public clouds. We move beyond the traditional "DBA-as-a-person" model to a "DBA-as-an-Operator" paradigm using the CloudNativePG (CNPG) standard. Learn to architect "Five Nines" (99.999%) availability through control plane isolation and active-active Postgres Distributed (PGD) clusters. We dive into the mechanics of self-healing and automated Day 2 operations-high availability, scaling, and backups-without manual intervention. Finally, we discuss how a unified Hybrid Manager delivers a turnkey path to modernization, managing everything from single instances to global clusters via one interface. Build a database foundation owned by you, not your cloud provider. Learning Objectives: 1. Eliminate Lock-in: Master a sovereign architecture for database portability across any environment. 2. Automate Day 2: Implement the "DBA-as-an-Operator" model with CloudNativePG for automated resilience. 3. Architect Extreme Availability: Design active-active hybrid clusters for 99.999% uptime via control plane isolation. -
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General Session
Preparing for the PostgreSQL Certification
Grant Fritchey
Pat Wright
The Open Alliance for PostgreSQL Education has just released the first community owned, vendor neutral, certification for PostgreSQL. In October, the very first testing sessions were held at pgConf.EU in Valencia Spain. Your intrepid presenters both took this test. Come to this session to see how we went about preparing for the certification. We’ll include whatever lesson plans or guides we used, as well as sample tests and more. We’ll also review our thoughts and feedback on the certification test, as well as our outcomes. If you’re just getting started in PostgreSQL, using a certification guide as a lesson plan is a great way to learn Postgres and this session will build on that guide. You can put this information to work right away in developing your knowledge of PostgreSQL.
General Session
Preparing for the PostgreSQL Certification
Grant Fritchey
Redgate
Pat Wright
Redgate
Session Goals: • Learn about the Open Alliance for PostgreSQL Education and their new certification and it’s requirements. • Discover mechanisms and methodologies employed to help prepare for the certification test. • Explore the results of the tests and feedback for the tests themselves as well as your own preparations.
Session Prerequisites: None.
Track: Professional Development
Level: Level 200
Theme: Cloud + Multi-DB
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Tuesday
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10:00 AM-11:15 AM
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Room: 405 Kachess
The Open Alliance for PostgreSQL Education has just released the first community owned, vendor neutral, certification for PostgreSQL. In October, the very first testing sessions were held at pgConf.EU in Valencia Spain. Your intrepid presenters both took this test. Come to this session to see how we went about preparing for the certification. We’ll include whatever lesson plans or guides we used, as well as sample tests and more. We’ll also review our thoughts and feedback on the certification test, as well as our outcomes. If you’re just getting started in PostgreSQL, using a certification guide as a lesson plan is a great way to learn Postgres and this session will build on that guide. You can put this information to work right away in developing your knowledge of PostgreSQL. -
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General Session
PostgreSQL on Azure: Choosing the Right Database for Your Workload
Ishan Sinha
PostgreSQL has become a foundation for an increasingly diverse set of applications, from traditional enterprise workloads to modern cloud-native and AI applications. In this session, we’ll explore how to think about running PostgreSQL on Azure and the key considerations when choosing a database platform, including performance, scalability, availability, operational simplicity, and application requirements. Through practical workload scenarios, attendees will learn how to evaluate their PostgreSQL needs and make informed architectural choices as their applications evolve.
General Session
PostgreSQL on Azure: Choosing the Right Database for Your Workload
Ishan Sinha
Microsoft
Track: Architecture
Level: Level 200
Theme: Cloud + Multi-DB
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Tuesday
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10:45 AM-11:15 AM
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Room: 304 Calawah
PostgreSQL has become a foundation for an increasingly diverse set of applications, from traditional enterprise workloads to modern cloud-native and AI applications. In this session, we’ll explore how to think about running PostgreSQL on Azure and the key considerations when choosing a database platform, including performance, scalability, availability, operational simplicity, and application requirements. Through practical workload scenarios, attendees will learn how to evaluate their PostgreSQL needs and make informed architectural choices as their applications evolve. -
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General Session
Your MSSQL Environment Is Vulnerable and I Can Prove It
Fabiano Amorim
SQL Server environments are often assumed to be secure by default. This session challenges that assumption. Starting from a low-privileged SQL login, I will demonstrate how design decisions, legacy features, and overlooked behaviors inside the MSSQL engine can be combined to achieve full instance compromise. The presentation walks through real-world attack paths observed across on-premises and cloud-hosted SQL Server deployments, showing how privilege boundaries can be bypassed, sensitive data exposed, and administrative control obtained without exploiting traditional memory corruption bugs. Beyond the offensive techniques, the focus is on why these issues exist and how they persist in production systems. Attendees will learn how to assess their own environments, recognize high-risk configurations, and apply practical defensive controls to reduce attack surface and prevent privilege escalation before an attacker proves it for them.
General Session
Your MSSQL Environment Is Vulnerable and I Can Prove It
Fabiano Amorim
PowerTuning
Session Goals: • Understand how MSSQL privilege escalation works across on-prem and cloud environments. • Identify default features and configurations that introduce security risk. • Apply practical techniques to detect, reduce attack surface, and prevent escalation.
Session Prerequisites: • Basic understanding of MSSQL is recommended. • Familiarity with concepts such as DB roles, permissions, triggers, jobs will help attendees follow the attack paths and defensive strategies, though key concepts will be explained during the session.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 200
Theme: Security
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Tuesday
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11:30 AM-12:45 PM
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Room: 302 Beckler
SQL Server environments are often assumed to be secure by default. This session challenges that assumption. Starting from a low-privileged SQL login, I will demonstrate how design decisions, legacy features, and overlooked behaviors inside the MSSQL engine can be combined to achieve full instance compromise. The presentation walks through real-world attack paths observed across on-premises and cloud-hosted SQL Server deployments, showing how privilege boundaries can be bypassed, sensitive data exposed, and administrative control obtained without exploiting traditional memory corruption bugs. Beyond the offensive techniques, the focus is on why these issues exist and how they persist in production systems. Attendees will learn how to assess their own environments, recognize high-risk configurations, and apply practical defensive controls to reduce attack surface and prevent privilege escalation before an attacker proves it for them. -
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General Session
FinOps for Data: Reclaiming Control Through Cost Transparency
Ben DeBow
In today's technology landscape, every organization is developing a FinOps practice as all technology decisions carry financial implications. As data professionals, we face a striking reality: enterprise data footprints consume 20-40% of technology budgets, yet DBAs and data engineers often struggle to maintain ownership over code, data models, and architectures. The time has come to leverage our unique data expertise to change this dynamic. FinOps for data provides a framework that transforms technical objections into financial conversations everyone understands. Rather than simply stating "this is bad code," imagine the impact of declaring "this code will cost $48,999 over the next three years." Suddenly, stakeholders are listening. This session explores how data professionals can align with FinOps teams to drive better decisions around data lifecycle management and architectural choices. You'll learn strategies to quantify the financial impact of data design decisions and build a data-centric FinOps practice. We'll discuss developing metrics that communicate technical debt effectively and creating governance structures that balance innovation with cost. Join us to discover how FinOps for data can help you regain influence, drive better conversations about data architecture, and establish yourself as a strategic partner in technology investment decisions.
General Session
FinOps for Data: Reclaiming Control Through Cost Transparency
Ben DeBow
Fortified
Session Goals: • Translate technical data issues into clear financial impact with FinOps for Data. • Quantify costs of data designs, models, and code to influence stakeholders. • Build metrics and governance for cost transparency in data architecture.
Session Prerequisites: • Basic understanding of database administration or data engineering concepts. • Familiarity with SQL Server environments and common performance challenges. • Some exposure to cloud computing cost models (helpful but not required).
Track: Development
Level: Level 200
Theme: AI + Data
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Tuesday
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11:30 AM-12:45 PM
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Room: 303 Bogachiel
In today's technology landscape, every organization is developing a FinOps practice as all technology decisions carry financial implications. As data professionals, we face a striking reality: enterprise data footprints consume 20-40% of technology budgets, yet DBAs and data engineers often struggle to maintain ownership over code, data models, and architectures. The time has come to leverage our unique data expertise to change this dynamic. FinOps for data provides a framework that transforms technical objections into financial conversations everyone understands. Rather than simply stating "this is bad code," imagine the impact of declaring "this code will cost $48,999 over the next three years." Suddenly, stakeholders are listening. This session explores how data professionals can align with FinOps teams to drive better decisions around data lifecycle management and architectural choices. You'll learn strategies to quantify the financial impact of data design decisions and build a data-centric FinOps practice. We'll discuss developing metrics that communicate technical debt effectively and creating governance structures that balance innovation with cost. Join us to discover how FinOps for data can help you regain influence, drive better conversations about data architecture, and establish yourself as a strategic partner in technology investment decisions. -
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General Session
From Alerts to Agents: The Road to an Autonomous Database Estate
Amar Digamber Patil
Patrick LeBlanc
Move beyond hunting for problems across fragmented tools and environments. See how Microsoft is evolving database observability from reactive troubleshooting to proactive insights and agentic operations across your SQL, PostgreSQL and data estates. Explore how Database Hub/Agents, SSMS, the MSSQL and PostgreSQL extension for Visual Studio Code, and Microsoft SQL Agent Skills bring intelligence into the tools you already use to surface issues, understand context, recommend next steps, and act with greater automation and control. See what it takes to move toward proactive and autonomous database operations while reducing complexity and spending more time building.
General Session
From Alerts to Agents: The Road to an Autonomous Database Estate
Amar Digamber Patil
Microsoft
Patrick LeBlanc
Microsoft
Session Goals: • Attendees will learn how Microsoft is evolving database observability toward proactive, agent-assisted operations. • Demonstrate ways to reduce complexity and automate issue detection, recommendations, and remediation.
Session Prerequisites: None.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 200
Theme: Cloud + Multi-DB
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Tuesday
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11:30 AM-12:45 PM
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Room: 405 Kachess
Move beyond hunting for problems across fragmented tools and environments. See how Microsoft is evolving database observability from reactive troubleshooting to proactive insights and agentic operations across your SQL, PostgreSQL and data estates. Explore how Database Hub/Agents, SSMS, the MSSQL and PostgreSQL extension for Visual Studio Code, and Microsoft SQL Agent Skills bring intelligence into the tools you already use to surface issues, understand context, recommend next steps, and act with greater automation and control. See what it takes to move toward proactive and autonomous database operations while reducing complexity and spending more time building. -
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General Session
SQL Server Versioning Explained
Bob Ward
Version store, Accelerated Database Recovery (ADR), Optimized Locking (OL), and RSCI. What do these all have in common? Versioning. In this session the mysteries of SQL Server versioning will be unlocked. You will learn the internals of how it all works, what to use and when, and examples including how to debug it. And we will bring the numbers so you will see exactly how your SQL workload will be affected by using versioning. You will walk aways not just learning how things work but details to help you decide whether you should use options like ADR or OL.
General Session
SQL Server Versioning Explained
Bob Ward
Microsoft
Session Goals: • Understand how versioning works in SQL Server. • Learn how using various database options control versioning and affect performance. • Bust myths about how versioning can negatively affect your application.
Session Prerequisites: • Fundamental understanding of SQL Server.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 300
Theme: Cloud + Multi-DB
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Tuesday
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11:30 AM-12:45 PM
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Room: 402 Chiliwack
Version store, Accelerated Database Recovery (ADR), Optimized Locking (OL), and RSCI. What do these all have in common? Versioning. In this session the mysteries of SQL Server versioning will be unlocked. You will learn the internals of how it all works, what to use and when, and examples including how to debug it. And we will bring the numbers so you will see exactly how your SQL workload will be affected by using versioning. You will walk aways not just learning how things work but details to help you decide whether you should use options like ADR or OL. -
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Learning Pathway
Hands-on Lab: Part 1 – Building a Goal-Oriented AI Agent for Soccer Fans with AlloyDB
Christoph Petersen
Chris Madden
AlloyDB as a Search Engine—From Keywords to Hybrid: this is Lab #1 in the 3-part hands-on lab series. Football or soccer? Either way, this three-part hands-on lab is designed for developers, database administrators, and data engineers eager to stop patching AI into their apps and start making AI a core database and application capability. We’ll use Google Cloud’s PostgreSQL-compatible AlloyDB database as a platform, and will make sure the concepts will be applicable to other flavors of PostgreSQL and other databases such as SQL Server. We’ll build intelligent search on soccer data and agentic workflows that answer soccer questions via natural language, incorporating key AI concepts like vector search, MCP, context engineering, and hill climbing along the way. You can join us for individual sections of the lab or for all three sections. In Lab 1: “AlloyDB as a Search Engine—From Keywords to Hybrid”, we’ll discover why search boxes fail and how to fix them by combining keyword search with vector search. In Lab 2: “Building a Data Agent—From Generated SQL to a Custom ADK Agent”, we’ll shift the focus from retrieval to reasoning and build an app that accurately converts natural language to SQL and incorporates it into an ADK agent you build yourself. And in Lab 3: “AlloyDB Agentic Operations: From Symptom to Fix”, we’ll fix a slow PostgreSQL query a few different ways, including the fun way – by speaking in natural language to an AI agent.
Learning Pathway
Hands-on Lab: Part 1 – Building a Goal-Oriented AI Agent for Soccer Fans with AlloyDB
Christoph Petersen
Google
Chris Madden
Google Cloud
Session Goals: • Learn three valuable topics for every database professional that needs to incorporate AI into their applications and into their career: – Hybrid search – Natural language to SQL – AI-assisted database operations.
Session Prerequisites: • Participants can follow the lab workbook even without much database or AI knowledge.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 200
Theme: AI + Data
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Tuesday
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11:30 AM-12:45 PM
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Room: 301 Ashnola
AlloyDB as a Search Engine—From Keywords to Hybrid: this is Lab #1 in the 3-part hands-on lab series. Football or soccer? Either way, this three-part hands-on lab is designed for developers, database administrators, and data engineers eager to stop patching AI into their apps and start making AI a core database and application capability. We’ll use Google Cloud’s PostgreSQL-compatible AlloyDB database as a platform, and will make sure the concepts will be applicable to other flavors of PostgreSQL and other databases such as SQL Server. We’ll build intelligent search on soccer data and agentic workflows that answer soccer questions via natural language, incorporating key AI concepts like vector search, MCP, context engineering, and hill climbing along the way. You can join us for individual sections of the lab or for all three sections. In Lab 1: “AlloyDB as a Search Engine—From Keywords to Hybrid”, we’ll discover why search boxes fail and how to fix them by combining keyword search with vector search. In Lab 2: “Building a Data Agent—From Generated SQL to a Custom ADK Agent”, we’ll shift the focus from retrieval to reasoning and build an app that accurately converts natural language to SQL and incorporates it into an ADK agent you build yourself. And in Lab 3: “AlloyDB Agentic Operations: From Symptom to Fix”, we’ll fix a slow PostgreSQL query a few different ways, including the fun way – by speaking in natural language to an AI agent. -
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General Session
Learning to Present and Becoming Good At It
James Serra
Have you been thinking about presenting at a user group? Are you being asked to present at your work? Is learning to present one of the keys to advancing your career? Or do you just think it would be fun to present but you are too nervous to try it? Well take the first step to becoming a presenter by attending this session and I will guide you through the process of learning to present and becoming good at it. It's easier than you think! I am an introvert and was deathly afraid to speak in public. Now I love to present and it's actually my main function in my job at Microsoft. I'll share with you journey that lead me to speak at major conferences and the skills I learned along the way to become a good presenter and to get rid of the fear. You can do it!
General Session
Learning to Present and Becoming Good At It
James Serra
Microsoft
Session Goals: • Gain confidence to start presenting, even if you’re nervous or introverted. • Learn the key skills and steps to become an effective, engaging speaker. • Understand how presenting can accelerate your career and open new opportunities.
Session Prerequisites: • None.
Track: Professional Development
Level: Level 100
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Tuesday
-
11:30 AM-12:45 PM
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Room: 304 Calawah
Have you been thinking about presenting at a user group? Are you being asked to present at your work? Is learning to present one of the keys to advancing your career? Or do you just think it would be fun to present but you are too nervous to try it? Well take the first step to becoming a presenter by attending this session and I will guide you through the process of learning to present and becoming good at it. It's easier than you think! I am an introvert and was deathly afraid to speak in public. Now I love to present and it's actually my main function in my job at Microsoft. I'll share with you journey that lead me to speak at major conferences and the skills I learned along the way to become a good presenter and to get rid of the fear. You can do it! -
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General Session
Inside Lakebase: Postgres, Separation of Storage and Compute, and LTAP
Savannah Longoria
Applications and analytics often need access to the same current data. Traditional architectures maintain separate operational and analytical copies, connected by replication and change data capture (CDC) pipelines. These pipelines add infrastructure, consume database resources, and introduce lag. This session explores Lakebase’s separation of Postgres compute from durable, versioned storage, and how LTAP builds on that foundation to connect applications and analytics. We’ll look at how Lakebase stores and retrieves data, and how its storage components work together to support Postgres. Along the way, we’ll connect these architectural choices to capabilities such as autoscaling, scale-to-zero, point-in-time restore, and copy-on-write database branching. We’ll then explore LTAP (Lake Transactional/Analytical Processing) and how it connects transactional and analytical access. Topics include querying current Lakebase data from Lakehouse//RT without an external CDC pipeline, serving lakehouse-owned data through Postgres with synced tables, and the role of LTAP Direct Writes in initial loads and full refreshes. Architecture walkthroughs and selected demonstrations will illustrate these workflows, using a 5 TB database as a reference scenario for branching. The focus is on understanding how the pieces fit together and where each approach applies, rather than on specific performance benchmarks.
General Session
Inside Lakebase: Postgres, Separation of Storage and Compute, and LTAP
Savannah Longoria
Databricks
Session Goals: Attendees will leave understanding how Lakebase Postgres separates storage and compute to power instant branching and unified transactional and analytical access without traditional CDC pipelines.
Session Prerequisites: Basic familiarity with database systems and cloud architecture is helpful; no prior Lakebase or LTAP experience is required.
Track: Architecture
Level: Level 300
Theme: AI + Data
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Tuesday
-
11:30 AM-12:45 PM
-
Room: 305 Chehalis
Applications and analytics often need access to the same current data. Traditional architectures maintain separate operational and analytical copies, connected by replication and change data capture (CDC) pipelines. These pipelines add infrastructure, consume database resources, and introduce lag. This session explores Lakebase’s separation of Postgres compute from durable, versioned storage, and how LTAP builds on that foundation to connect applications and analytics. We’ll look at how Lakebase stores and retrieves data, and how its storage components work together to support Postgres. Along the way, we’ll connect these architectural choices to capabilities such as autoscaling, scale-to-zero, point-in-time restore, and copy-on-write database branching. We’ll then explore LTAP (Lake Transactional/Analytical Processing) and how it connects transactional and analytical access. Topics include querying current Lakebase data from Lakehouse//RT without an external CDC pipeline, serving lakehouse-owned data through Postgres with synced tables, and the role of LTAP Direct Writes in initial loads and full refreshes. Architecture walkthroughs and selected demonstrations will illustrate these workflows, using a 5 TB database as a reference scenario for branching. The focus is on understanding how the pieces fit together and where each approach applies, rather than on specific performance benchmarks. -
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Learning Pathway
A GIT Journey from Foundations to Automation for Data Professionals | From Zero to Heck Yeah! with Git and GitHub
Robert Volk
As the internet will tell you, "Git gets easier once you understand that branches are just homeomorphic endofunctors mapping submanifolds of a Hilbert space". In fact, it's even easier than that! This session will start with nothing: no source, no knowledge, and no repository, and will walk you through the basics of source control, why you'd use it, how to get started, and what techniques are best used with Git. We'll start with simple files, making a repository, committing changes, and synchronizing them with a remote host like GitHub. We'll demonstrate how Git and GitHub are already integrated with many tools you are already using, and demonstrate how useful remote hosts are for sharing and managing code. The level of detail is appropriate for beginners, grandparents, your dog, anyone who has never used Git or GitHub and would like to get started!
Learning Pathway
A GIT Journey from Foundations to Automation for Data Professionals | From Zero to Heck Yeah! with Git and GitHub
Robert Volk
Rob Volk
Session Goals: 1. Attendees will be introduced to basic source control concepts and techniques, 2. We will cover the practical use of Git and GitHub in several ways, including integration with tools like SSMS and VSCode, and the benefits each method offers, 3. This session will provide background for the additional Git Learning Pathway sessions
Session Prerequisites: Attendees do not need any prior knowledge of Git, GitHub, or source control concepts.
Track: Development
Level: Level 100
Theme: AI + Data
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Tuesday
-
11:30 AM-12:45 PM
-
Room: 401 Chelan
As the internet will tell you, "Git gets easier once you understand that branches are just homeomorphic endofunctors mapping submanifolds of a Hilbert space". In fact, it's even easier than that! This session will start with nothing: no source, no knowledge, and no repository, and will walk you through the basics of source control, why you'd use it, how to get started, and what techniques are best used with Git. We'll start with simple files, making a repository, committing changes, and synchronizing them with a remote host like GitHub. We'll demonstrate how Git and GitHub are already integrated with many tools you are already using, and demonstrate how useful remote hosts are for sharing and managing code. The level of detail is appropriate for beginners, grandparents, your dog, anyone who has never used Git or GitHub and would like to get started! -
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General Session
Understanding Practical Indexing Rules, Tipping Point, and Consolidation
Goran Orec
Indexes are the single most impactful lever you have for query performance in SQL Server, yet they remain a mystery to many developers and junior DBAs. This demo-heavy session strips away that mystery, giving you a practical mental model you can apply the same day. We'll cover three areas. First, you'll understand exactly how SQL Server physically stores your data, why that determines whether your query does a lightning-fast seek or a painful full-table scan. Second, you'll learn the practical rules for indexes that actually work. Third, we'll tackle index optimization: what SQL Server's built-in recommendations get wrong, the "tipping point", and how to consolidate the redundant indexes that accumulate in every production database over time. You'll leave with a clear framework for building indexes that make your queries faster, and the confidence to explain why.
General Session
Understanding Practical Indexing Rules, Tipping Point, and Consolidation
Goran Orec
CampBrain
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 200
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Tuesday
-
11:30 AM-12:45 PM
-
Room: 307 Methow
Indexes are the single most impactful lever you have for query performance in SQL Server, yet they remain a mystery to many developers and junior DBAs. This demo-heavy session strips away that mystery, giving you a practical mental model you can apply the same day. We'll cover three areas. First, you'll understand exactly how SQL Server physically stores your data, why that determines whether your query does a lightning-fast seek or a painful full-table scan. Second, you'll learn the practical rules for indexes that actually work. Third, we'll tackle index optimization: what SQL Server's built-in recommendations get wrong, the "tipping point", and how to consolidate the redundant indexes that accumulate in every production database over time. You'll leave with a clear framework for building indexes that make your queries faster, and the confidence to explain why. -
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General Session
Redgate Devour Hour – From Alerts to Answers: Database Intelligence with Redgate Monitor
Rene Garza
Most monitoring tools are good at telling you something's wrong. The harder part is knowing why, fast enough for it to matter. In this hands-on session, we'll show how Redgate Monitor turns a multi-platform estate (SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Oracle, MySQL, MongoDB) into a single, intelligent view: instant root-cause analysis, customizable alerting that cuts the noise, and Monitor AI query analysis that gets you from symptom to fix faster than a manual dig through wait stats. We'll also show what's next. Redgate Monitor's MCP server, now in preview, lets AI assistants like Claude, Copilot, and Cursor query your live monitoring data directly, so ""how's the estate doing"" gets an answer instead of a dashboard to interpret. Bring your toughest performance war story: we might be able to show you how it plays out differently with the full picture in view.
General Session
Redgate Devour Hour – From Alerts to Answers: Database Intelligence with Redgate Monitor
Rene Garza
Redgate
Session Goals: For DBAs and IT managers watching over more servers than they have hours in the day, you'll see what proactive, multi-platform database intelligence looks like in practice, and get a straight answer on where AI genuinely shortens the path from alert to resolution.
Session Prerequisites: None.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 100
Theme: Cloud + Multi-DB
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Tuesday
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12:45 PM-2:00 PM
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Room: 305 Chehalis
Most monitoring tools are good at telling you something's wrong. The harder part is knowing why, fast enough for it to matter. In this hands-on session, we'll show how Redgate Monitor turns a multi-platform estate (SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Oracle, MySQL, MongoDB) into a single, intelligent view: instant root-cause analysis, customizable alerting that cuts the noise, and Monitor AI query analysis that gets you from symptom to fix faster than a manual dig through wait stats. We'll also show what's next. Redgate Monitor's MCP server, now in preview, lets AI assistants like Claude, Copilot, and Cursor query your live monitoring data directly, so ""how's the estate doing"" gets an answer instead of a dashboard to interpret. Bring your toughest performance war story: we might be able to show you how it plays out differently with the full picture in view. -
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General Session
Redgate Devour Hour – Move Fast, Govern at Scale: Taming Database Change in the Age of AI
Jackson Kleeman
AI is generating database changes faster than most pipelines can review them. Gartner projects that governance gaps like this will derail 40% of enterprise AI programs by 2027, and 81% of tech leaders already report a rise in production issues linked to AI-generated code. In this hands-on session, we'll show how Redgate Flyway Enterprise brings the same policy checks, version control, and audit trail to database changes that your application code already gets, whether that change was written by a person or generated by AI. Watch a change move from commit to production in real time: policy-as-code catching what shouldn't ship, deterministic scripts producing the same result every time, and a complete audit trail generated automatically instead of reconstructed the night before an audit. You'll leave with a clear, practical picture of what governed database change looks like day to day, and where to start if yours isn't there yet.
General Session
Redgate Devour Hour – Move Fast, Govern at Scale: Taming Database Change in the Age of AI
Jackson Kleeman
Redgate
Session Goals: Even if you've never used Flyway, you'll walk away with a working framework for asking whether your own database change process would survive an audit tomorrow, and you'll see what automatic policy enforcement and drift detection look like when a change breaks the rules on purpose.
Session Prerequisites: None.
Track: Development
Level: Level 100
Theme: AI + Data
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Tuesday
-
12:45 PM-2:00 PM
-
Room: 301 Ashnola
AI is generating database changes faster than most pipelines can review them. Gartner projects that governance gaps like this will derail 40% of enterprise AI programs by 2027, and 81% of tech leaders already report a rise in production issues linked to AI-generated code. In this hands-on session, we'll show how Redgate Flyway Enterprise brings the same policy checks, version control, and audit trail to database changes that your application code already gets, whether that change was written by a person or generated by AI. Watch a change move from commit to production in real time: policy-as-code catching what shouldn't ship, deterministic scripts producing the same result every time, and a complete audit trail generated automatically instead of reconstructed the night before an audit. You'll leave with a clear, practical picture of what governed database change looks like day to day, and where to start if yours isn't there yet. -
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Luncheon
Redgate Luncheon – AI;BDR (AI; Because Didn't Read)
Kellyn Gorman
Kevin Feasel
Jonathan Stewart
AI is being pulled into the data layer faster than most organizations can articulate why. The pressure is applied into every roadmap, every vendor conversation, and every leadership meeting now includes some version of ""what's our AI story?"" The proximity to data is not the same as understanding the database, and access is not the same as intelligence. When AI agents, RAG pipelines, or embedded assistants are granted direct interaction with production databases, the organization inherits a new set of questions it often isn't prepared to answer: o What is this agent actually looking at? o Who or what invoked it, and from where? o Where does the data go once it leaves the database, and who is accountable for that path This panel brings together practitioners from across the Microsoft data community to move past the assumption that AI belongs in the database simply because it can be put there. We'll discuss what a legitimate, defensible case for AI at the data layer actually looks like, including those grounded in observability, auditability, and governance rather than momentum or fear of being left behind.
Luncheon
Redgate Luncheon – AI;BDR (AI; Because Didn't Read)
Kellyn Gorman
Redgate
Kevin Feasel
Catallaxy Services, LLC
Jonathan Stewart
SQLBites
Track: Architecture
Level: Level 300
Theme: AI + Data
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Tuesday
-
12:45 PM-2:15 PM
-
Room: Columbia Ballroom, 3rd Floor
AI is being pulled into the data layer faster than most organizations can articulate why. The pressure is applied into every roadmap, every vendor conversation, and every leadership meeting now includes some version of ""what's our AI story?"" The proximity to data is not the same as understanding the database, and access is not the same as intelligence. When AI agents, RAG pipelines, or embedded assistants are granted direct interaction with production databases, the organization inherits a new set of questions it often isn't prepared to answer: o What is this agent actually looking at? o Who or what invoked it, and from where? o Where does the data go once it leaves the database, and who is accountable for that path This panel brings together practitioners from across the Microsoft data community to move past the assumption that AI belongs in the database simply because it can be put there. We'll discuss what a legitimate, defensible case for AI at the data layer actually looks like, including those grounded in observability, auditability, and governance rather than momentum or fear of being left behind. -
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General Session
How To Play (Almost) Any Song On The Guitar As A Beginner
Edwin M Sarmiento
Take someone who is interested in playing the guitar to play any pop song.
General Session
How To Play (Almost) Any Song On The Guitar As A Beginner
Edwin M Sarmiento
15C
Track: Professional Development
Level: Level 100
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Tuesday
-
1:00 PM-1:15 PM
-
Room: Community Zone – Level 4 Foyer
Take someone who is interested in playing the guitar to play any pop song. -
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General Session
Taekwondo – The Korean Martial Art
J.D. Walker
Taekwondo basics, rank structure, a tiny bit of history, and the tenets/principles.
General Session
Taekwondo – The Korean Martial Art
J.D. Walker
Everforth/ECS Federal
Track: Professional Development
Level: Level 100
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Tuesday
-
1:15 PM-1:30 PM
-
Room: Community Zone – Level 4 Foyer
Taekwondo basics, rank structure, a tiny bit of history, and the tenets/principles. -
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General Session
Theater Lessons to Help You Speak in Front of a Crowd
Jared Kuehn
Whether it's for you friends, your team, your corporate execs, or out in the community – speaking in front of a group of people fills many people with anxiety. Using lessons I've learned from practicing theater for almost 30 years, this huddle will debunk some key misconceptions about the anxiety of speaking in front of people, and what you can do to prepare yourself for any scenario where you're in front of people.
General Session
Theater Lessons to Help You Speak in Front of a Crowd
Jared Kuehn
JourneyTeam
Track: Professional Development
Level: Level 100
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Tuesday
-
1:30 PM-1:45 PM
-
Room: Community Zone – Level 4 Foyer
Whether it's for you friends, your team, your corporate execs, or out in the community – speaking in front of a group of people fills many people with anxiety. Using lessons I've learned from practicing theater for almost 30 years, this huddle will debunk some key misconceptions about the anxiety of speaking in front of people, and what you can do to prepare yourself for any scenario where you're in front of people. -
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General Session
Just Start Peddling
Pat Wright
A look at getting started with cycling.
General Session
Just Start Peddling
Pat Wright
Redgate
Track: Professional Development
Level: Level 100
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Tuesday
-
1:45 PM-2:00 PM
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Room: Community Zone – Level 4 Foyer
A look at getting started with cycling. -
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General Session
Photography – The Quick and the Slow of It
Rodney Kidd
Following on from last years depth of field huddle, lets look at the very quick and very slow when it comes to shutter speed in photography.
General Session
Photography – The Quick and the Slow of It
Rodney Kidd
Still Looking
Track: Professional Development
Level: Level 100
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Tuesday
-
2:00 PM-2:15 PM
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Room: Community Zone – Level 4 Foyer
Following on from last years depth of field huddle, lets look at the very quick and very slow when it comes to shutter speed in photography. -
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General Session
Azure HorizonDB: Deep Dive into a New Enterprise-Scale PostgreSQL
Ishan Sinha
The session will provide an overview of Azure HorizonDB, Azure’s fully managed PostgreSQL database designed for mission-critical workloads. It explores the architecture behind improved scalability while maintaining performance, fast failover, and read replicas for availability. The session will also discuss how HorizonDB combines open-source PostgreSQL with Azure infrastructure, database innovations, and AI capabilities to support next-generation applications.
General Session
Azure HorizonDB: Deep Dive into a New Enterprise-Scale PostgreSQL
Ishan Sinha
Microsoft
Session Goals: • Attendees will learn how Azure HorizonDB delivers scalable, high-performance PostgreSQL for mission-critical workloads. • Explore how its architecture, availability features, Azure innovations, and AI capabilities support next-generation applications."
Session Prerequisites: None.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 200
Theme: Cloud + Multi-DB
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Tuesday
-
2:30 PM-3:45 PM
-
Room: 303 Bogachiel
The session will provide an overview of Azure HorizonDB, Azure’s fully managed PostgreSQL database designed for mission-critical workloads. It explores the architecture behind improved scalability while maintaining performance, fast failover, and read replicas for availability. The session will also discuss how HorizonDB combines open-source PostgreSQL with Azure infrastructure, database innovations, and AI capabilities to support next-generation applications. -
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General Session
How to "Excel" as a Solo DBA
Jordan Brennan (Sassi)
Data is the most valuable asset a company has, and yet even large companies might only budget for a single Database Administrator. Your job description might not match up to expectations if it was copied off the internet, and your interview was not necessarily conducted by another DBA – so you don't always get to know what your responsibilities are or what the state of the database environment will be until you start your new role. In a tech climate where it's increasingly hard to get entry to mid level experience, how do you grow in your career on your own, while also keeping the lights on at your job? In this session we will discuss strategies and tools you can use in your first 30/60/90 days in your new role (or to level up in your current role) to establish yourself as a critical and trusted resource, at the same time as upgrading your SQL Server skillset and showing your boss and coworkers you are doing more than 'keeping the lights on'.
General Session
How to "Excel" as a Solo DBA
Jordan Brennan (Sassi)
The Boston Beer Company
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 200
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Tuesday
-
2:30 PM-3:45 PM
-
Room: 405 Kachess
Data is the most valuable asset a company has, and yet even large companies might only budget for a single Database Administrator. Your job description might not match up to expectations if it was copied off the internet, and your interview was not necessarily conducted by another DBA – so you don't always get to know what your responsibilities are or what the state of the database environment will be until you start your new role. In a tech climate where it's increasingly hard to get entry to mid level experience, how do you grow in your career on your own, while also keeping the lights on at your job? In this session we will discuss strategies and tools you can use in your first 30/60/90 days in your new role (or to level up in your current role) to establish yourself as a critical and trusted resource, at the same time as upgrading your SQL Server skillset and showing your boss and coworkers you are doing more than 'keeping the lights on'. -
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General Session
Git Good: GitHub and GitHub Actions for the Rest of Us
Joey D'Antoni
LLMs are changing how we write code, manage infrastructure, and ship software, making source code management and DevOps skills more valuable than ever. If DevOps has always seemed confusing or mysterious, you're not alone. In this session, you will: – Learn Git and GitHub basics for storing and managing your code – Get comfortable collaborating in repositories – Use GitHub Actions to automate code, cloud, and database deployments – How GitHub Actions are basically just shell scripts – Understand how to ship software faster with fewer problems You'll leave ready to automate, collaborate, and deliver your projects with confidence.
General Session
Git Good: GitHub and GitHub Actions for the Rest of Us
Joey D'Antoni
DCAC
Session Goals: • Understand how to use GitHub for source code management, including repositories, branches, and commits. • Build and configure GitHub Actions workflows to automate code, cloud, and database deployments. • Apply CI/CD best practices to improve build quality and ship software more reliably.
Session Prerequisites: • None.
Track: Development
Level: Level 200
Theme: AI + Data
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Tuesday
-
2:30 PM-3:45 PM
-
Room: 302 Beckler
LLMs are changing how we write code, manage infrastructure, and ship software, making source code management and DevOps skills more valuable than ever. If DevOps has always seemed confusing or mysterious, you're not alone. In this session, you will: – Learn Git and GitHub basics for storing and managing your code – Get comfortable collaborating in repositories – Use GitHub Actions to automate code, cloud, and database deployments – How GitHub Actions are basically just shell scripts – Understand how to ship software faster with fewer problems You'll leave ready to automate, collaborate, and deliver your projects with confidence. -
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General Session
AI in the Real World: Smarter SQL Server Performance Tuning with SQL Diagnostic Manager
Justin Wilkes
Every DBA knows the drill: a query goes sideways, the tickets pile up, and you are staring at an execution plan trying to decide whether the fix is a rewrite, an index, or both. AI can shorten that loop, but only if it gives you something you can actually act on. In this session we will look at how Idera is applying AI inside SQL Diagnostic Manager to help DBAs tune faster, starting with the AI query optimizer and the AI index recommendations, shown live against real workloads. We will also walk through what else SQL Diagnostic Manager brings to day-to-day operations: continuous monitoring, alerting, baselines, and the visibility that tells you where to look before your users tell you. We will close with a quick look at where Idera fits into the broader SQL Server picture, from monitoring and auditing to backup and administration, so you leave knowing where we can help across the environment, not just in one corner of it.
General Session
AI in the Real World: Smarter SQL Server Performance Tuning with SQL Diagnostic Manager
Justin Wilkes
Idera
Session Goals: • Understand how AI can accelerate SQL Server query and index tuning. • See how SQL Diagnostic Manager identifies and prioritizes performance issues. • Understand how Idera supports broader SQL Server monitoring and administration.
Session Prerequisites: • Basic familiarity with SQL Server and database performance concepts.
Track: Architecture
Level: Level 200
Theme: AI + Data
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Tuesday
-
2:30 PM-3:00 PM
-
Room: 304 Calawah
Every DBA knows the drill: a query goes sideways, the tickets pile up, and you are staring at an execution plan trying to decide whether the fix is a rewrite, an index, or both. AI can shorten that loop, but only if it gives you something you can actually act on. In this session we will look at how Idera is applying AI inside SQL Diagnostic Manager to help DBAs tune faster, starting with the AI query optimizer and the AI index recommendations, shown live against real workloads. We will also walk through what else SQL Diagnostic Manager brings to day-to-day operations: continuous monitoring, alerting, baselines, and the visibility that tells you where to look before your users tell you. We will close with a quick look at where Idera fits into the broader SQL Server picture, from monitoring and auditing to backup and administration, so you leave knowing where we can help across the environment, not just in one corner of it. -
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General Session
Advanced Data Recovery Techniques
Paul Randal
Disasters happen – plain and simple. When disaster strikes a database you're responsible for, and backups and repair fail, how can you salvage data, and possibly your company and your job? This is where advanced data recovery techniques come in. Using undocumented tools and deep knowledge of database structures, you can manually patch up the database enough to extract critical data. This demo-heavy session will show you methods I've used extensively to salvage data for real-life clients after catastrophic corruption. You won't believe what it's possible to do!
General Session
Advanced Data Recovery Techniques
Paul Randal
SQLskills
Session Goals: • Show how databases can be easily corrupted to allow DR testing. • Show how lack of backups doesn't always mean total data loss. • Show how deep the rabbit hole goes…
Session Prerequisites: • Familiarity with terms/concepts like DBCC CHECKDB, pages, records, locks, indexes. Although a 400-level session, it doesn't require that level of knowledge.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 400
Theme: AI + Data
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Tuesday
-
2:30 PM-3:45 PM
-
Room: 401 Chelan
Disasters happen – plain and simple. When disaster strikes a database you're responsible for, and backups and repair fail, how can you salvage data, and possibly your company and your job? This is where advanced data recovery techniques come in. Using undocumented tools and deep knowledge of database structures, you can manually patch up the database enough to extract critical data. This demo-heavy session will show you methods I've used extensively to salvage data for real-life clients after catastrophic corruption. You won't believe what it's possible to do! -
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General Session
The Fellowship of the Star Schema: Transforming OLTP Data for Power BI
Kristyna Ferris
One does not simply build reports on OLTP data. Join us on an epic journey from the depths of raw, normalized tables to the shining halls of a well-modeled star schema fit for Power BI greatness. We will demystify the differences between OLTP and OLAP, walk through star schema vs snowflake (and why Power BI has a clear favorite), and show you the compression differences between normalized and columnar storage that will make you never look at an OLTP model the same way again. We will cover the different types of dimensions, when to use them, and how to handle Slowly Changing Dimensions without losing your mind. You will leave knowing exactly how to identify a bad model, how to convert OLTP data into a clean star schema, and how to forge relationships that rule them all. Whether you are a data wizard, a curious hobbit, or somewhere in between, your models will never be the same.
General Session
The Fellowship of the Star Schema: Transforming OLTP Data for Power BI
Kristyna Ferris
P3 Adaptive
Session Goals: • Difference between OLAP and OLTP • How to create a star schema from scratch • What a slowly changing dimension is and when to use it
Session Prerequisites: • None! Come and learn!
Track: Analytics
Level: Level 100
Theme: AI + Data
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Tuesday
-
2:30 PM-3:45 PM
-
Room: 307 Methow
One does not simply build reports on OLTP data. Join us on an epic journey from the depths of raw, normalized tables to the shining halls of a well-modeled star schema fit for Power BI greatness. We will demystify the differences between OLTP and OLAP, walk through star schema vs snowflake (and why Power BI has a clear favorite), and show you the compression differences between normalized and columnar storage that will make you never look at an OLTP model the same way again. We will cover the different types of dimensions, when to use them, and how to handle Slowly Changing Dimensions without losing your mind. You will leave knowing exactly how to identify a bad model, how to convert OLTP data into a clean star schema, and how to forge relationships that rule them all. Whether you are a data wizard, a curious hobbit, or somewhere in between, your models will never be the same. -
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General Session
Airflow & dbt: The Hipsters of Data Integration Meet Azure
Tomislav Hlupić
Having been the indie darlings of the data space, Airflow and dbt have become mainstream – particularly in cloud environments where scalability and flexibility are king. They're revolutionizing the way we construct data pipelines with their fresh approach to orchestration and transformation, presenting a thrilling alternative to the legacy tools most of us are accustomed to. Now that Microsoft has acquired these new bright stars to include in its cloud ecosystem, there's an entirely new toolbox to tap into — without ever having to leave the confines of your existing stack. During this session, we will meet the dynamic duo of Airflow and dbt in Azure, see how they measure up to Microsoft Fabric pipelines, and review the pros and cons of each strategy. No matter if you're a seasoned coder or just exploring the cloud, you'll know a lot clearer where these tools play a role in your data adventure.
General Session
Airflow & dbt: The Hipsters of Data Integration Meet Azure
Tomislav Hlupić
Solvership
Session Goals: • Attendees will see where Airflow & dbt can be set up in Fabric. • How does dbt go versus more used approaches (Notebooks / Dataflows / SQL). • How can Airflow function in Fabric with the existing pipelines and notebooks.
Session Prerequisites: • Basic python knowledge just to understand the code.
Track: Development
Level: Level 200
Theme: Cloud + Multi-DB
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Tuesday
-
2:30 PM-5:15 PM
-
Room: 306 Duwamish
Having been the indie darlings of the data space, Airflow and dbt have become mainstream – particularly in cloud environments where scalability and flexibility are king. They're revolutionizing the way we construct data pipelines with their fresh approach to orchestration and transformation, presenting a thrilling alternative to the legacy tools most of us are accustomed to. Now that Microsoft has acquired these new bright stars to include in its cloud ecosystem, there's an entirely new toolbox to tap into — without ever having to leave the confines of your existing stack. During this session, we will meet the dynamic duo of Airflow and dbt in Azure, see how they measure up to Microsoft Fabric pipelines, and review the pros and cons of each strategy. No matter if you're a seasoned coder or just exploring the cloud, you'll know a lot clearer where these tools play a role in your data adventure. -
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Learning Pathway
Hands-on Lab: Building a Goal-Oriented AI Agent for Soccer Fans with AlloyDB
Christoph Petersen
Chris Madden
Building a Data Agent—From Generated SQL to a Custom ADK Agent: this is Lab #2 in the 3-part hands-on lab series. Football or soccer? Either way, this three-part hands-on lab is designed for developers, database administrators, and data engineers eager to stop patching AI into their apps and start making AI a core database and application capability. We’ll use Google Cloud’s PostgreSQL-compatible AlloyDB database as a platform, and will make sure the concepts will be applicable to other flavors of PostgreSQL and other databases such as SQL Server. We’ll build intelligent search on soccer data and agentic workflows that answer soccer questions via natural language, incorporating key AI concepts like vector search, MCP, context engineering, and hill climbing along the way. You can join us for individual sections of the lab or for all three sections. In Lab 1: “AlloyDB as a Search Engine—From Keywords to Hybrid”, we’ll discover why search boxes fail and how to fix them by combining keyword search with vector search. In Lab 2: “Building a Data Agent—From Generated SQL to a Custom ADK Agent”, we’ll shift the focus from retrieval to reasoning and build an app that accurately converts natural language to SQL and incorporates it into an ADK agent you build yourself. And in Lab 3: “AlloyDB Agentic Operations: From Symptom to Fix”, we’ll fix a slow PostgreSQL query a few different ways, including the fun way – by speaking in natural language to an AI agent.
Learning Pathway
Hands-on Lab: Building a Goal-Oriented AI Agent for Soccer Fans with AlloyDB
Christoph Petersen
Google
Chris Madden
Google Cloud
Session Goals: • Learn three valuable topics for every database professional that needs to incorporate AI into their applications and into their career: – Hybrid search – Natural language to SQL – AI-assisted database operations.
Session Prerequisites: • Participants can follow the lab workbook even without much database or AI knowledge.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 200
Theme: AI + Data
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Tuesday
-
2:30 PM-3:45 PM
-
Room: 301 Ashnola
Building a Data Agent—From Generated SQL to a Custom ADK Agent: this is Lab #2 in the 3-part hands-on lab series. Football or soccer? Either way, this three-part hands-on lab is designed for developers, database administrators, and data engineers eager to stop patching AI into their apps and start making AI a core database and application capability. We’ll use Google Cloud’s PostgreSQL-compatible AlloyDB database as a platform, and will make sure the concepts will be applicable to other flavors of PostgreSQL and other databases such as SQL Server. We’ll build intelligent search on soccer data and agentic workflows that answer soccer questions via natural language, incorporating key AI concepts like vector search, MCP, context engineering, and hill climbing along the way. You can join us for individual sections of the lab or for all three sections. In Lab 1: “AlloyDB as a Search Engine—From Keywords to Hybrid”, we’ll discover why search boxes fail and how to fix them by combining keyword search with vector search. In Lab 2: “Building a Data Agent—From Generated SQL to a Custom ADK Agent”, we’ll shift the focus from retrieval to reasoning and build an app that accurately converts natural language to SQL and incorporates it into an ADK agent you build yourself. And in Lab 3: “AlloyDB Agentic Operations: From Symptom to Fix”, we’ll fix a slow PostgreSQL query a few different ways, including the fun way – by speaking in natural language to an AI agent. -
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General Session
SQL Strikes Back: SQL Database Hyperscale for the Era of AI
Bob Ward
Anna Hoffman
You know SQL. Now get ready for the sequel. As AI applications evolve from copilots into intelligent systems that reason, remember, retrieve context, and take action, the database has a bigger role to play. Azure SQL Database Hyperscale brings the scale for the next chapter, helping developers keep application data, vector search, and AI-powered workloads close to the data. See how to build production AI applications with simpler architectures, less data movement, independently scalable compute, and the familiar SQL tools and skills you already trust. Every story deserves a stronger SQL.
General Session
SQL Strikes Back: SQL Database Hyperscale for the Era of AI
Bob Ward
Microsoft
Anna Hoffman
Microsoft
Session Goals: • Demonstrate how Azure SQL Database Hyperscale supports production-scale AI applications. • Attendees will learn how Hyperscale will simplify architectures, reduce data movement, and scale compute independently.
Session Prerequisites: None.
Track: Architecture
Level: Level 200
Theme: AI + Data
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Tuesday
-
2:30 PM-3:45 PM
-
Room: 402 Chiliwack
You know SQL. Now get ready for the sequel. As AI applications evolve from copilots into intelligent systems that reason, remember, retrieve context, and take action, the database has a bigger role to play. Azure SQL Database Hyperscale brings the scale for the next chapter, helping developers keep application data, vector search, and AI-powered workloads close to the data. See how to build production AI applications with simpler architectures, less data movement, independently scalable compute, and the familiar SQL tools and skills you already trust. Every story deserves a stronger SQL. -
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General Session
Pick Your Poison: Choosing the Right Edition of SQL Server
Kevin Feasel
SQL Server 2025 reshapes the edition landscape. Standard Edition gains features that previously required Enterprise. Developer Standard Edition is a new option for dev/test environments. Web Edition is gone entirely. These changes affect licensing costs, architecture decisions, and migration planning. This session walks through every current SQL Server edition: what each one provides and where the limits are. We'll cover what changed in 2025 and how to choose the right edition for your workload. We'll also walk through the mechanics of upgrading or downgrading between editions, as well as licensing models. You'll leave with a decision framework for picking the right edition and a checklist for evaluating your current deployments.
General Session
Pick Your Poison: Choosing the Right Edition of SQL Server
Kevin Feasel
Catallaxy Services, LLC
Session Goals: • Learn what each edition of SQL Server includes and how they differ. • Learn how to move between editions of SQL Server, including on-premises and in Azure. • Understand when to choose which edition your own environment.
Session Prerequisites: • This session assumes some familiarity with SQL Server installation and features.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 200
Theme: Security
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Tuesday
-
2:30 PM-3:45 PM
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Room: 305 Chehalis
SQL Server 2025 reshapes the edition landscape. Standard Edition gains features that previously required Enterprise. Developer Standard Edition is a new option for dev/test environments. Web Edition is gone entirely. These changes affect licensing costs, architecture decisions, and migration planning. This session walks through every current SQL Server edition: what each one provides and where the limits are. We'll cover what changed in 2025 and how to choose the right edition for your workload. We'll also walk through the mechanics of upgrading or downgrading between editions, as well as licensing models. You'll leave with a decision framework for picking the right edition and a checklist for evaluating your current deployments. -
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General Session
Send In The Clones: Shrink the Agent, Not the Database
Stephen Nolan
AI agents are writing database changes. Properly testing those changes is hard. A change that looks safe on a small table can use a different plan or index at production scale. A common approach gives an agent a lightweight database, such as Postgres compiled to WebAssembly. We took the opposite approach: shrink the agent, not the database. We kept the same engine and major version as production and copied the production statistics to the clone. Then we confined the agent: a WebAssembly sandbox with the Python standard library, no network, no filesystem, and one capability: execute SQL against the clone. We will show one PostgreSQL experiment where the test database's fidelity to production changes the outcome. You will see how production statistics determine which plan and index the optimizer picks. No production rows are needed; we will generate data at production scale and hold production's statistics fixed. The agent runs the change and sees both the plan it gets and the locks it takes.
General Session
Send In The Clones: Shrink the Agent, Not the Database
Stephen Nolan
DBGorilla
Session Goals: • Constrain the Agent: Restrict an agent to a single capability while keeping the database characteristics needed to test its changes. • Match What Matters: Identify which production characteristics an agent's test database must keep, and which it can safely generate. • Choose the Right Test Bed: Decide when a lightweight database is enough and when only a production-faithful clone gives the right answer.
Session Prerequisites: • A general idea of what a query plan is, and some experience making schema changes. No AI or ML background needed.
Track: Architecture
Level: Level 200
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Tuesday
-
3:15 PM-3:45 PM
-
Room: 304 Calawah
AI agents are writing database changes. Properly testing those changes is hard. A change that looks safe on a small table can use a different plan or index at production scale. A common approach gives an agent a lightweight database, such as Postgres compiled to WebAssembly. We took the opposite approach: shrink the agent, not the database. We kept the same engine and major version as production and copied the production statistics to the clone. Then we confined the agent: a WebAssembly sandbox with the Python standard library, no network, no filesystem, and one capability: execute SQL against the clone. We will show one PostgreSQL experiment where the test database's fidelity to production changes the outcome. You will see how production statistics determine which plan and index the optimizer picks. No production rows are needed; we will generate data at production scale and hold production's statistics fixed. The agent runs the change and sees both the plan it gets and the locks it takes. -
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Learning Pathway
Hands-on Lab: AlloyDB Agentic Operations: From Symptom to Fix
Christoph Petersen
Chris Madden
AlloyDB Agentic Operations: From Symptom to Fix: this is Lab #3 in the 3-part hands-on lab series. Football or soccer? Either way, this three-part hands-on lab is designed for developers, database administrators, and data engineers eager to stop patching AI into their apps and start making AI a core database and application capability. We’ll use Google Cloud’s PostgreSQL-compatible AlloyDB database as a platform, and will make sure the concepts will be applicable to other flavors of PostgreSQL and other databases such as SQL Server. We’ll build intelligent search on soccer data and agentic workflows that answer soccer questions via natural language, incorporating key AI concepts like vector search, MCP, context engineering, and hill climbing along the way. You can join us for individual sections of the lab or for all three sections. In Lab 1: “AlloyDB as a Search Engine—From Keywords to Hybrid”, we’ll discover why search boxes fail and how to fix them by combining keyword search with vector search. In Lab 2: “Building a Data Agent—From Generated SQL to a Custom ADK Agent”, we’ll shift the focus from retrieval to reasoning and build an app that accurately converts natural language to SQL and incorporates it into an ADK agent you build yourself. And in Lab 3: “AlloyDB Agentic Operations: From Symptom to Fix”, we’ll fix a slow PostgreSQL query a few different ways, including the fun way – by speaking in natural language to an AI agent.
Learning Pathway
Hands-on Lab: AlloyDB Agentic Operations: From Symptom to Fix
Christoph Petersen
Google
Chris Madden
Google Cloud
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 200
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Tuesday
-
4:00 PM-5:15 PM
-
Room: 301 Ashnola
AlloyDB Agentic Operations: From Symptom to Fix: this is Lab #3 in the 3-part hands-on lab series. Football or soccer? Either way, this three-part hands-on lab is designed for developers, database administrators, and data engineers eager to stop patching AI into their apps and start making AI a core database and application capability. We’ll use Google Cloud’s PostgreSQL-compatible AlloyDB database as a platform, and will make sure the concepts will be applicable to other flavors of PostgreSQL and other databases such as SQL Server. We’ll build intelligent search on soccer data and agentic workflows that answer soccer questions via natural language, incorporating key AI concepts like vector search, MCP, context engineering, and hill climbing along the way. You can join us for individual sections of the lab or for all three sections. In Lab 1: “AlloyDB as a Search Engine—From Keywords to Hybrid”, we’ll discover why search boxes fail and how to fix them by combining keyword search with vector search. In Lab 2: “Building a Data Agent—From Generated SQL to a Custom ADK Agent”, we’ll shift the focus from retrieval to reasoning and build an app that accurately converts natural language to SQL and incorporates it into an ADK agent you build yourself. And in Lab 3: “AlloyDB Agentic Operations: From Symptom to Fix”, we’ll fix a slow PostgreSQL query a few different ways, including the fun way – by speaking in natural language to an AI agent. -
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General Session
Mom/Daughter Duo: DBA Teaches Data Engineer Security Secrets Worth Stealing
Allison Harris
Sharon Reid
Data engineers and database administrators come at systems from very different angles. One is focused on speed and scale. The other is focused on stability, optimization, and protection. When it comes to security, those two worlds can't afford to stay separate. Join this mother/daughter duo as they bring both perspectives together to explore the security lessons data engineers can and should steal from the DBA playbook. Using practical examples and real-world scenarios, they'll walk through the fundamentals that matter most: least privilege access, secrets and credential management, protecting sensitive data in non-production environments, auditing and traceability, and understanding where fast moving pipelines quietly introduce risk. Whether you manage databases, build data pipelines, or lead data initiatives, you'll walk away with concrete strategies for balancing access and performance, and with a clear understanding of why DBAs and data engineers need to be speaking the same security language.
General Session
Mom/Daughter Duo: DBA Teaches Data Engineer Security Secrets Worth Stealing
Allison Harris
NFP
Sharon Reid
NISA
Session Goals: • Attendees will be able to reimagine security as a process to implement throughout the pipeline rather than a requirement at the end of the project. • Attendees will walk away with practical use cases for enacting security principles in multiple platforms.
Session Prerequisites: • You would need a basic understanding of databases and ETL processes.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 200
Theme: Security
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Tuesday
-
4:00 PM-5:15 PM
-
Room: 401 Chelan
Data engineers and database administrators come at systems from very different angles. One is focused on speed and scale. The other is focused on stability, optimization, and protection. When it comes to security, those two worlds can't afford to stay separate. Join this mother/daughter duo as they bring both perspectives together to explore the security lessons data engineers can and should steal from the DBA playbook. Using practical examples and real-world scenarios, they'll walk through the fundamentals that matter most: least privilege access, secrets and credential management, protecting sensitive data in non-production environments, auditing and traceability, and understanding where fast moving pipelines quietly introduce risk. Whether you manage databases, build data pipelines, or lead data initiatives, you'll walk away with concrete strategies for balancing access and performance, and with a clear understanding of why DBAs and data engineers need to be speaking the same security language. -
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General Session
How Agentic Memory Requirements Break Traditional Databases (And What to do About It)
Noah Sommerfeld
A traditional Database capacity plan breaks the moment your busiest user is an AI agent. Over the course of a conversation or task, an agent may need to store and retrieve memories, fork a dataset several times to test changes, fire a burst of exploratory queries, then shut down while waiting for the next task. And every step of these agents have to be written somewhere durable along the way. These demands map closely onto a newer database architecture: Lakebase Postgres with separated compute and storage. We'll walk through how each type of agent memory (working state, checkpoints, conversation history, entity facts) improves an agentic experience, and how Lakebase's branching, scale-to-zero, and instant rollback capabilities nicely support both the development lifecycle and production needs for agentic products Through live demos, we'll give an agent durable short- and long-term memory, let it branch a database to test a risky change safely, and audit exactly what it did. You'll leave with a blueprint for building agents that remember, and a clear picture of what they'll ask of the databases you run.
General Session
How Agentic Memory Requirements Break Traditional Databases (And What to do About It)
Noah Sommerfeld
Databricks
Session Goals: • Attendees will learn why memory is what makes agents genuinely useful, and how that reshapes the way we design and run the databases behind them. • They'll leave with a practical blueprint for building agents that remember, and a clear understanding of how Lakebase-style databases support those workloads.
Session Prerequisites: • A working knowledge of relational databases. Experience building AI agents is a bonus but not required.
Track: Architecture
Level: Level 200
Theme: AI + Data
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Tuesday
-
4:00 PM-5:15 PM
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Room: 307 Methow
A traditional Database capacity plan breaks the moment your busiest user is an AI agent. Over the course of a conversation or task, an agent may need to store and retrieve memories, fork a dataset several times to test changes, fire a burst of exploratory queries, then shut down while waiting for the next task. And every step of these agents have to be written somewhere durable along the way. These demands map closely onto a newer database architecture: Lakebase Postgres with separated compute and storage. We'll walk through how each type of agent memory (working state, checkpoints, conversation history, entity facts) improves an agentic experience, and how Lakebase's branching, scale-to-zero, and instant rollback capabilities nicely support both the development lifecycle and production needs for agentic products Through live demos, we'll give an agent durable short- and long-term memory, let it branch a database to test a risky change safely, and audit exactly what it did. You'll leave with a blueprint for building agents that remember, and a clear picture of what they'll ask of the databases you run. -
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General Session
Thriving in a Tough Job Market: Résumés, Interviews, and Career Strategy
Paresh Motiwala
In a challenging economy, job hunting can feel overwhelming, but the right strategy can help you stand out even when opportunities are scarce. This highly interactive session gives IT professionals a practical, no‑nonsense roadmap for navigating the job market with confidence. We’ll break down what hiring managers look for today, how applicant‑tracking systems filter résumés, and how to position your experience so it rises to the top of the stack. You’ll learn how to craft a résumé that highlights impact instead of tasks, uses metrics to tell your story, and avoids the common mistakes that quietly get candidates screened out. We’ll also cover how to tailor your résumé for different roles without rewriting it from scratch. From there, we’ll shift to interviewing, including how to prepare for behavioral questions, how to communicate your value clearly, and how to handle tough conversations about layoffs, gaps, or career changes. We’ll also discuss strategies for staying resilient, networking effectively, and creating opportunities even when the market feels slow. Whether you’re actively searching or simply preparing for what’s next, this session will equip you with practical tools to compete and win in a difficult job market.
General Session
Thriving in a Tough Job Market: Résumés, Interviews, and Career Strategy
Paresh Motiwala
Harris County, TX
Session Goals: • Craft impact‑focused résumés that pass both human and ATS review. • Communicate value confidently and handle tough interview questions. • Use practical networking and job‑search strategies to stay competitive in a slow market.
Session Prerequisites: • No prior knowledge needed.
Track: Professional Development
Level: Level 100
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Tuesday
-
4:00 PM-5:15 PM
-
Room: 303 Bogachiel
In a challenging economy, job hunting can feel overwhelming, but the right strategy can help you stand out even when opportunities are scarce. This highly interactive session gives IT professionals a practical, no‑nonsense roadmap for navigating the job market with confidence. We’ll break down what hiring managers look for today, how applicant‑tracking systems filter résumés, and how to position your experience so it rises to the top of the stack. You’ll learn how to craft a résumé that highlights impact instead of tasks, uses metrics to tell your story, and avoids the common mistakes that quietly get candidates screened out. We’ll also cover how to tailor your résumé for different roles without rewriting it from scratch. From there, we’ll shift to interviewing, including how to prepare for behavioral questions, how to communicate your value clearly, and how to handle tough conversations about layoffs, gaps, or career changes. We’ll also discuss strategies for staying resilient, networking effectively, and creating opportunities even when the market feels slow. Whether you’re actively searching or simply preparing for what’s next, this session will equip you with practical tools to compete and win in a difficult job market. -
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General Session
Creating Agentic Solutions with Fabric IQ
Ginger Grant
AI isn’t getting a free pass for just answering questions anymore, it’s time to start putting it to work with Agentic AI. In Microsoft Fabric, this shift comes to life through Fabric IQ and Data Agents. Together, they form a practical, enterprise-ready foundation for completing tasks with your data and creating solutions instead of one-off AI experiments. In this session, you’ll see Fabric IQ woven directly into the platform, letting you interact with your data using natural language while getting real insights, not surface-level summaries. We’ll break down how it understands semantic models, metadata, and usage patterns so it can produce outputs you can actually use. Through live demos and repeatable design patterns, you see how to use different parts of Fabric to build an end-to-end agentic solution that connects insight, execution, and orchestration. We will also address the hard parts including security, role-based access control, and keeping agents within governed boundaries. You will walk out knowing how to build AI that doesn’t just answer questions, it gets things done.
General Session
Creating Agentic Solutions with Fabric IQ
Ginger Grant
Desert Isle Group
Session Goals: • Configure Fabric IQ to query semantic models using natural language and return structured outputs. • Build Data Agents that execute tasks against OneLake data using defined prompts and workflows. • Orchestrate multi-step agent workflows that combine Fabric IQ insights with Data Agent execution.
Session Prerequisites: • Knowledge of Fabric is helpful.
Track: Analytics
Level: Level 200
Theme: AI + Data
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Tuesday
-
4:00 PM-5:15 PM
-
Room: 305 Chehalis
AI isn’t getting a free pass for just answering questions anymore, it’s time to start putting it to work with Agentic AI. In Microsoft Fabric, this shift comes to life through Fabric IQ and Data Agents. Together, they form a practical, enterprise-ready foundation for completing tasks with your data and creating solutions instead of one-off AI experiments. In this session, you’ll see Fabric IQ woven directly into the platform, letting you interact with your data using natural language while getting real insights, not surface-level summaries. We’ll break down how it understands semantic models, metadata, and usage patterns so it can produce outputs you can actually use. Through live demos and repeatable design patterns, you see how to use different parts of Fabric to build an end-to-end agentic solution that connects insight, execution, and orchestration. We will also address the hard parts including security, role-based access control, and keeping agents within governed boundaries. You will walk out knowing how to build AI that doesn’t just answer questions, it gets things done. -
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General Session
Who's Really Logged In? Practical Governance for AI in Your Database Estate
Kellyn Gorman
John Martin
AI assistants and MCP servers are already connecting to production databases, whether a developer wired one up to chase a bug or an analyst is using one to query data. For most DBAs, the question isn’t whether to allow it. It’s whether you’d notice if something went wrong. In Redgate’s State of the Database Landscape 2026 report, AI use in database work rose from 15% to 44% in a year, but only 23% of organizations have a formal governance framework. We’ll start with the risks of assistants and MCP servers, and why every entity that connects needs its own identity. Then we’ll follow a practical scenario, showing where access quietly grows beyond what anyone intended and what good practice looks like at each step. Along the way, we’ll demo how Redgate Monitor helps you identify issues through the workload you already monitor, and how a hardened security baseline, including CIS Benchmarks, keeps your estate configured securely, and shows when it drifts. You’ll leave with techniques you can apply to your own estate, whatever tools you use, and a practical starting point for the question most teams still can’t answer after an incident: “what did the AI assistant actually do?”.
General Session
Who's Really Logged In? Practical Governance for AI in Your Database Estate
Kellyn Gorman
Redgate
John Martin
Redgate
Session Goals: • Know the risks. Understand how sensible shortcuts quietly give AI agents more access than anyone intended. • Leave with five practical principles. Apply them to your own estate straight away, whatever tools you use. • Know how to answer “what did the agent do?” Learn what to put in place now so you're not caught out after an incident.
Session Prerequisites: • Working knowledge of SQL Server administration: logins, users, roles and permissions. • Comfortable reading basic T-SQL queries. • Familiarity with the database settings DBAs typically manage. CIS Benchmarks® experience is helpful but not required. • No experience with AI agents or Redgate Monitor needed.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 200
Theme: AI + Data
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Tuesday
-
4:00 PM-5:15 PM
-
Room: 405 Kachess
AI assistants and MCP servers are already connecting to production databases, whether a developer wired one up to chase a bug or an analyst is using one to query data. For most DBAs, the question isn’t whether to allow it. It’s whether you’d notice if something went wrong. In Redgate’s State of the Database Landscape 2026 report, AI use in database work rose from 15% to 44% in a year, but only 23% of organizations have a formal governance framework. We’ll start with the risks of assistants and MCP servers, and why every entity that connects needs its own identity. Then we’ll follow a practical scenario, showing where access quietly grows beyond what anyone intended and what good practice looks like at each step. Along the way, we’ll demo how Redgate Monitor helps you identify issues through the workload you already monitor, and how a hardened security baseline, including CIS Benchmarks, keeps your estate configured securely, and shows when it drifts. You’ll leave with techniques you can apply to your own estate, whatever tools you use, and a practical starting point for the question most teams still can’t answer after an incident: “what did the AI assistant actually do?”. -
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General Session
Exploring SQL Server 2025's Practical Benefits for T-SQL Developers
Andy Yun
2025 brought us a new release of SQL Server, but all you heard about was AI. Want to know if this release has any benefits for T-SQL developers? Then join me, where we'll explore the myriad of "meat and potatoes" offerings in SQL Server 2025. We'll cover topics that have a direct impact on T-SQL developers, like regular expressions, fuzzy string matching, and optimized sp_executesql. And we'll also explore enhancements that benefit performance, like optimized locking and feedback enhancements. When you leave, you'll have a clear appreciation for the practical enhancements in this release that benefit T-SQL developers. And hopefully agree with me that SQL Server just keeps getting better and better.
General Session
Exploring SQL Server 2025's Practical Benefits for T-SQL Developers
Andy Yun
Everpure
Session Goals: • Learn about the direct T-SQL enhancements that will directly impact a T-SQL developer, like RegEx and optimized sp_executesql. • Learn about the indirect enhancements in SQL Server 2025, that will improve one's T-SQL query performance, like optimized locking and IQP feedback enhancements.
Session Prerequisites: • Only general knowledge of SQL Server and T-SQL development.
Track: Development
Level: Level 200
Theme: AI + Data
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Tuesday
-
4:00 PM-5:15 PM
-
Room: 302 Beckler
2025 brought us a new release of SQL Server, but all you heard about was AI. Want to know if this release has any benefits for T-SQL developers? Then join me, where we'll explore the myriad of "meat and potatoes" offerings in SQL Server 2025. We'll cover topics that have a direct impact on T-SQL developers, like regular expressions, fuzzy string matching, and optimized sp_executesql. And we'll also explore enhancements that benefit performance, like optimized locking and feedback enhancements. When you leave, you'll have a clear appreciation for the practical enhancements in this release that benefit T-SQL developers. And hopefully agree with me that SQL Server just keeps getting better and better. -
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Learning Pathway
Adapting for AI Readiness as a Data Professional | No Fluff, Just Facts: AI Essentials for Data Professionals
Deborah Melkin
The AI hype train shows no signs of slowing down and it seems like every week there is a new model, a new acronym, or some new AI wizardry that commands our attention. We feel like we have to learn every new thing we hear about and it's difficult to sort fact from fiction when we become aware of these new things. Most importantly, how do we know what tools and technologies in the AI realm will help us and which ones are distractions? Spend an hour with an experienced data professional detailing what tools are helpful, what technologies are important to understand, and what are the essential AI skills to have as the job of a data professional evolves. No sales, no hype, and no fluff – just a session full of helpful information that you can apply immediately. We also hope you'll join us for sessions 2 and 3 of this learning pathway as offer more tangible guidance to navigating AI as a data professional.
Learning Pathway
Adapting for AI Readiness as a Data Professional | No Fluff, Just Facts: AI Essentials for Data Professionals
Deborah Melkin
GLG
Session Goals: • Learn which AI tools are helpful. • Learn which AI-related technologies and concepts are important to understand. • Learn what the essential AI skills are to have as you move forward in your career.
Session Prerequisites: • Basic knowledge of SQL is preferred.
Track: Analytics
Level: Level 200
Theme: AI + Data
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Tuesday
-
4:00 PM-5:15 PM
-
Room: 402 Chiliwack
The AI hype train shows no signs of slowing down and it seems like every week there is a new model, a new acronym, or some new AI wizardry that commands our attention. We feel like we have to learn every new thing we hear about and it's difficult to sort fact from fiction when we become aware of these new things. Most importantly, how do we know what tools and technologies in the AI realm will help us and which ones are distractions? Spend an hour with an experienced data professional detailing what tools are helpful, what technologies are important to understand, and what are the essential AI skills to have as the job of a data professional evolves. No sales, no hype, and no fluff – just a session full of helpful information that you can apply immediately. We also hope you'll join us for sessions 2 and 3 of this learning pathway as offer more tangible guidance to navigating AI as a data professional. -
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Events
Exhibitor Reception
Join us for the Exhibitor Reception, an informal evening with our sponsors to connect, explore what they're building, and spark conversations that could shape your next project – or support your work long after Summit ends. You'll find good food, drinks, and a welcoming atmosphere designed for genuine connection.
Events
Exhibitor Reception
Track: Professional Development
Level: Level 100
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Tuesday
-
5:30 PM-7:00 PM
-
Room: Columbia Ballroom, 3rd Floor
Join us for the Exhibitor Reception, an informal evening with our sponsors to connect, explore what they're building, and spark conversations that could shape your next project – or support your work long after Summit ends. You'll find good food, drinks, and a welcoming atmosphere designed for genuine connection. -
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Events
Book Signing at the Microsoft Booth
Bob Ward
Stop by the Microsoft booth for your chance to grab a signed copy of ‘Azure SQL Hyperscale Unveiled: The Cloud SQL AI Database for Everyone'. Meet Bob Ward while you're there! Don't miss out – limited copies available.
Events
Book Signing at the Microsoft Booth
Bob Ward
Microsoft
Track: Professional Development
Level: Level 100
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Tuesday
-
5:45 PM-6:45 PM
-
Room: Microsoft Booth – Columbia Foyer, 3rd Floor
Stop by the Microsoft booth for your chance to grab a signed copy of ‘Azure SQL Hyperscale Unveiled: The Cloud SQL AI Database for Everyone'. Meet Bob Ward while you're there! Don't miss out – limited copies available. -
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Events
Games Night
Edward Pollack
Join us for Games Night — back by popular demand — to unwind, connect, and have some fun. Settle in for a relaxed evening with a mix of classics and community favorites, including Catan, Exploding Kittens, Trivial Pursuit, Uno, and more. We’ll have a variety of games available, and you’re welcome to bring your own if you have a favorite you’d like to share. Space is limited, so be sure to add this event to your calendar to secure your spot.
Events
Games Night
Edward Pollack
Transfinder
Session Goals: An evening of relaxed, fun networking.
Track: Professional Development
Level: Level 100
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Tuesday
-
7:00 PM-10:00 PM
-
Room: Columbia Ballroom, 3rd Floor
Join us for Games Night — back by popular demand — to unwind, connect, and have some fun. Settle in for a relaxed evening with a mix of classics and community favorites, including Catan, Exploding Kittens, Trivial Pursuit, Uno, and more. We’ll have a variety of games available, and you’re welcome to bring your own if you have a favorite you’d like to share. Space is limited, so be sure to add this event to your calendar to secure your spot. -
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Events
Data Run
Edward Pollack
Start your day with an energizing run through the heart of downtown Seattle! Join fellow PASS Summit attendees on Tuesday, Nov 10 at 6:00 AM for the annual DataRun, starting at 808 Howell Street, Seattle, WA. Whether you're a seasoned runner or just looking for a fun way to connect with the data community, this casual group run offers a great opportunity to network, enjoy the Seattle waterfront and city scenery, and kick off your Summit experience on an active note. All paces are welcome. Lace up your running shoes and join us! Eventbrite signup for the Data Run: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/data-run-at-pass-data-community-summit-tickets-1993454869176
Events
Data Run
Edward Pollack
Transfinder
Track: Professional Development
Level: Level 100
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Wednesday
-
6:00 AM-7:00 AM
-
Room: Hyatt Regency Seattle (808 Howell Street)
Start your day with an energizing run through the heart of downtown Seattle! Join fellow PASS Summit attendees on Tuesday, Nov 10 at 6:00 AM for the annual DataRun, starting at 808 Howell Street, Seattle, WA. Whether you're a seasoned runner or just looking for a fun way to connect with the data community, this casual group run offers a great opportunity to network, enjoy the Seattle waterfront and city scenery, and kick off your Summit experience on an active note. All paces are welcome. Lace up your running shoes and join us! Eventbrite signup for the Data Run: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/data-run-at-pass-data-community-summit-tickets-1993454869176 -
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Events
Yoga With The Community
Wake your body up and prepare your mind for learning with this one-hour yoga session. Led by a community member, it's open to all abilities, whether you've been practicing for years, you're brand new to the mat, or you're somewhere in between. Breathe, stretch, and set an intention for PASS Summit before the first Keynote starts.
Events
Yoga With The Community
Track: Professional Development
Level: Level 100
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Wednesday
-
6:30 AM-7:30 AM
-
Room: Community Zone – Level 4 Foyer
Wake your body up and prepare your mind for learning with this one-hour yoga session. Led by a community member, it's open to all abilities, whether you've been practicing for years, you're brand new to the mat, or you're somewhere in between. Breathe, stretch, and set an intention for PASS Summit before the first Keynote starts. -
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General Session
Breakfast with the Azure Data LT – AMA
Bob Ward
Shireesh Thota
Charles Fedderson
Mohammad Ali
Priya Sathy
Ajay Kalhan
Start your day at PASS Data Community Summit with breakfast and an engaging Q&A with leaders from across Microsoft Data, hosted by Principal Architect Bob Ward. Bring your questions and join the conversation spanning Microsoft SQL, PostgreSQL, Microsoft Fabric, Horizon DB, and more. Whether you're curious about the latest innovations, what's coming next, or how Microsoft’s solutions are evolving, our panel wants to hear what’s on your mind. This is always one of the most popular sessions at PASS Data Community Summit, so come hungry for breakfast and insights.
General Session
Breakfast with the Azure Data LT – AMA
Bob Ward
Microsoft
Shireesh Thota
Microsoft
Charles Fedderson
Microsoft
Mohammad Ali
Microsoft
Priya Sathy
Microsoft
Ajay Kalhan
Microsoft
Session Prerequisites: Doors at 6.45 AM. Please note, these sessions have limited spaces and admittance will be on a first come-first serve basis at the door. You must have favorited this session in the app for a place.
Track: Professional Development
Level: Level 100
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Wednesday
-
7:00 AM-7:50 AM
-
Room: Microsoft and AMD Breakfast, Columbia Ballroom
Start your day at PASS Data Community Summit with breakfast and an engaging Q&A with leaders from across Microsoft Data, hosted by Principal Architect Bob Ward. Bring your questions and join the conversation spanning Microsoft SQL, PostgreSQL, Microsoft Fabric, Horizon DB, and more. Whether you're curious about the latest innovations, what's coming next, or how Microsoft’s solutions are evolving, our panel wants to hear what’s on your mind. This is always one of the most popular sessions at PASS Data Community Summit, so come hungry for breakfast and insights. -
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Keynote
Redgate Keynote – Cleared for Takeoff: Database Estate Governance and Control Alongside AI
Steve Jones
Kellyn Gorman
Tushita Gupta
Chris Hawkins
James Murtagh
Shelby Vaught
Tom Hodgson
Every technological leap forward starts the same way: someone decides to go further than anyone thought possible, trusting the instruments, the training, and the innovations of everyone who came before them. That's as true for database professionals adopting AI today as it was for the first aviators who crossed the Atlantic alone. We'll discuss what it really takes to embrace AI's benefits across the entire database lifecycle without losing the visibility, governance, and control that keep your data estate safe. We'll face into the challenges posed by cloud migration journeys, multiple platform usage, inconsistent processes, protocols and skill levels across internal teams. The goal: governing your database estate smoothly, with confidence, repeatability and reliability. Join Steve Jones, Kellyn Gorman, Tushita Gupta, Chris Hawkins, Tom Hodgson, James Murtagh, and Shelby Vaught to see how Redgate helps you dare to innovate, one well-governed flight at a time.
Keynote
Redgate Keynote – Cleared for Takeoff: Database Estate Governance and Control Alongside AI
Steve Jones
Redgate
Kellyn Gorman
Redgate
Tushita Gupta
Redgate
Chris Hawkins
Redgate
James Murtagh
Redgate
Shelby Vaught
Redgate
Tom Hodgson
Redgate
Track: Architecture
Level: Level 100
Theme: AI + Data
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Wednesday
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8:15 AM-9:30 AM
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Room: Columbia Ballroom, 3rd Floor
Every technological leap forward starts the same way: someone decides to go further than anyone thought possible, trusting the instruments, the training, and the innovations of everyone who came before them. That's as true for database professionals adopting AI today as it was for the first aviators who crossed the Atlantic alone. We'll discuss what it really takes to embrace AI's benefits across the entire database lifecycle without losing the visibility, governance, and control that keep your data estate safe. We'll face into the challenges posed by cloud migration journeys, multiple platform usage, inconsistent processes, protocols and skill levels across internal teams. The goal: governing your database estate smoothly, with confidence, repeatability and reliability. Join Steve Jones, Kellyn Gorman, Tushita Gupta, Chris Hawkins, Tom Hodgson, James Murtagh, and Shelby Vaught to see how Redgate helps you dare to innovate, one well-governed flight at a time. -
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General Session
Meet & Mingle | Community Leaders
This is your space to connect with fellow community leaders and share what makes your group thrive. Community Leaders Assemble is an informal networking session designed for open conversation—no presentations, just people talking about their communities. Bring your stories, challenges, and successes, and discover fresh ideas from others who share your passion for building engaged, vibrant groups.
General Session
Meet & Mingle | Community Leaders
Track: Professional Development
Level: Level 100
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Wednesday
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9:35 AM-10:00 AM
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Room: Community Zone – Level 4 Foyer
This is your space to connect with fellow community leaders and share what makes your group thrive. Community Leaders Assemble is an informal networking session designed for open conversation—no presentations, just people talking about their communities. Bring your stories, challenges, and successes, and discover fresh ideas from others who share your passion for building engaged, vibrant groups. -
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General Session
Fabric IQ: Bringing Conversational Analytics to Where Decisions Happen
Nellie Gustafsson
Mohammad Ali
Data should meet users where decisions happen. In this session, learn how Microsoft Fabric enables conversational analytics across the tools and experiences people use every day. With Fabric IQ, Fabric provides a trusted intelligence layer that can power Microsoft Copilot, custom applications, business workflows, and AI assistants with governed business data and context. Discover how organizations can bring analytics, context, AI, and governance together so users can move seamlessly from question to insight to action, while maintaining a consistent foundation for security, trust, and business definitions wherever work gets done.
General Session
Fabric IQ: Bringing Conversational Analytics to Where Decisions Happen
Nellie Gustafsson
Microsoft
Mohammad Ali
Microsoft
Session Goals: • Attendees will learn how Fabric IQ delivers conversational analytics within everyday tools and workflows. • Show how governed data, shared context, AI, and security can move users from questions to action.
Session Prerequisites: None.
Track: Analytics
Level: Level 200
Theme: AI + Data
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Wednesday
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10:00 AM-11:15 AM
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Room: 304 Calawah
Data should meet users where decisions happen. In this session, learn how Microsoft Fabric enables conversational analytics across the tools and experiences people use every day. With Fabric IQ, Fabric provides a trusted intelligence layer that can power Microsoft Copilot, custom applications, business workflows, and AI assistants with governed business data and context. Discover how organizations can bring analytics, context, AI, and governance together so users can move seamlessly from question to insight to action, while maintaining a consistent foundation for security, trust, and business definitions wherever work gets done. -
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General Session
Modernize Without Moving (Yet): SQL with Azure Arc & Fabric Database Hub
Ben Weissman
Modernizing your SQL Server estate doesn’t have to start with a full migration to the cloud. With Azure Arc, you can bring cloud-based management, governance, and innovation to SQL Server wherever it runs – on-premises, at the edge, or in other clouds. In this session, we’ll explore how Azure Arc for SQL Server enables centralized visibility, policy-based governance, and streamlined operations across your data estate. You’ll see how to onboard and manage SQL Server instances at scale, assess migration readiness, and identify the right workloads for modernization. We’ll then extend that visibility with Microsoft Fabric Database Hub, providing observability across your broader data estate and helping you understand database health, performance, and operational trends across SQL Server, Azure SQL, and Fabric. Finally, we’ll connect management, observability, and migration: using Arc and Fabric Database Hub to understand what you have, identify where action is needed, and move workloads toward Azure incrementally and on your terms. Expect practical demos, real-world scenarios, and clear guidance for modernizing step by step without disrupting what already works.
General Session
Modernize Without Moving (Yet): SQL with Azure Arc & Fabric Database Hub
Ben Weissman
Solisyon
Session Goals: • Understand how to enhance on-prem SQL Server functionality through Arc. • Build a central management pane for your entire SQL estate, no matter where it is. • Facilitate easy migrations.
Session Prerequisites: • Basic understanding of SQL Server and Azure terminology.
Track: Architecture
Level: Level 200
Theme: Cloud + Multi-DB
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Wednesday
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10:00 AM-11:15 AM
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Room: 307 Methow
Modernizing your SQL Server estate doesn’t have to start with a full migration to the cloud. With Azure Arc, you can bring cloud-based management, governance, and innovation to SQL Server wherever it runs – on-premises, at the edge, or in other clouds. In this session, we’ll explore how Azure Arc for SQL Server enables centralized visibility, policy-based governance, and streamlined operations across your data estate. You’ll see how to onboard and manage SQL Server instances at scale, assess migration readiness, and identify the right workloads for modernization. We’ll then extend that visibility with Microsoft Fabric Database Hub, providing observability across your broader data estate and helping you understand database health, performance, and operational trends across SQL Server, Azure SQL, and Fabric. Finally, we’ll connect management, observability, and migration: using Arc and Fabric Database Hub to understand what you have, identify where action is needed, and move workloads toward Azure incrementally and on your terms. Expect practical demos, real-world scenarios, and clear guidance for modernizing step by step without disrupting what already works. -
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General Session
Migrating Your SQL Server DBA Skills to PostgreSQL
Dave Bland
As the industry changes, the need for Database Administrators that can support multiple database systems has increased. Of the many database systems that are available, PostgreSQL is becoming more and more popular. In this session we will cover a number of the most common DBA tasks that a SQL Server DBA completes on a regular basis and review how those same tasks can be completed in PostgreSQL. We will go over a few of the common tools using to administer a PostgreSQL database. The terminology can at times be a bit confusing, this session we will cover some the common terms in PostgreSQL and how they relate to the familiar terms in SQL Server. The concept of vacuuming is something that SQL Server DBA's are not used to working with, we will cover what it is and why it is important to manage. Permissions and security will be covered as well. If you are looking to move into the PostgreSQL world and have some experience as a SQL Server DBA, this might be a good session to give you a starting point to launch that journey.
General Session
Migrating Your SQL Server DBA Skills to PostgreSQL
Dave Bland
Lexia Learning
Session Goals: • The attendee will be able to state some common PostgreSQL terms and how they related to tasks in SQL Server. • The attendee will be able to list common tools used to manage a PostgreSQL database. • The attendee will be able to state the role of the vacuuming process in a PostgreSQL system.
Session Prerequisites: • Some basic SQL Server DBA skills would be helpful.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 200
Theme: Cloud + Multi-DB
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Wednesday
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10:00 AM-11:15 AM
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Room: 405 Kachess
As the industry changes, the need for Database Administrators that can support multiple database systems has increased. Of the many database systems that are available, PostgreSQL is becoming more and more popular. In this session we will cover a number of the most common DBA tasks that a SQL Server DBA completes on a regular basis and review how those same tasks can be completed in PostgreSQL. We will go over a few of the common tools using to administer a PostgreSQL database. The terminology can at times be a bit confusing, this session we will cover some the common terms in PostgreSQL and how they relate to the familiar terms in SQL Server. The concept of vacuuming is something that SQL Server DBA's are not used to working with, we will cover what it is and why it is important to manage. Permissions and security will be covered as well. If you are looking to move into the PostgreSQL world and have some experience as a SQL Server DBA, this might be a good session to give you a starting point to launch that journey. -
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Learning Pathway
Adapting for AI Readiness as a Data Professional | AI in the SQL World: Tools We Have & Tips for Using Them
Taiob Ali
In the first session of this learning pathway, we walked through the tools, technologies, and skills needed for a data professional to up their game in our AI-impacted world. In this session, we'll focus on what to do as Microsoft, and our own managers, become increasingly focused on having us integrate AI into our daily workflows, what does that actually mean for us as data professionals that work on Microsoft data platforms? If our boss instructs us to do X% of work "with AI", what does that mean and how can we do that without negatively impacting our work? Maybe we've heard our developer friends going on and on about how much coding assistants have helped them and we want to explore what GitHub Copilot in SSMS can do for us. It could be that we're being asked to support "AI search" in our database – but we're not quite sure what that means and how to do that. If any of those scenarios (or similar) resonate with you, join us for this session as we explore the AI-related tools and capabilities in the Microsoft SQL ecosystem and how you can use them to boost productivity, support new workloads, and maybe even have a little more fun at work as well.
Learning Pathway
Adapting for AI Readiness as a Data Professional | AI in the SQL World: Tools We Have & Tips for Using Them
Taiob Ali
GMO LLC
Session Goals: • Learn about helpful ways to integrate AI into our daily workflows. • Learn about what coding assistants are and how they can helpful in data-related development. • Learn about implementing "AI search" in Azure SQL and SQL Server and what developers mean when they ask us to do that.
Session Prerequisites: • A basic knowledge of SQL is preferred.
Track: Analytics
Level: Level 200
Theme: AI + Data
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Wednesday
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10:00 AM-11:15 AM
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Room: 402 Chiliwack
In the first session of this learning pathway, we walked through the tools, technologies, and skills needed for a data professional to up their game in our AI-impacted world. In this session, we'll focus on what to do as Microsoft, and our own managers, become increasingly focused on having us integrate AI into our daily workflows, what does that actually mean for us as data professionals that work on Microsoft data platforms? If our boss instructs us to do X% of work "with AI", what does that mean and how can we do that without negatively impacting our work? Maybe we've heard our developer friends going on and on about how much coding assistants have helped them and we want to explore what GitHub Copilot in SSMS can do for us. It could be that we're being asked to support "AI search" in our database – but we're not quite sure what that means and how to do that. If any of those scenarios (or similar) resonate with you, join us for this session as we explore the AI-related tools and capabilities in the Microsoft SQL ecosystem and how you can use them to boost productivity, support new workloads, and maybe even have a little more fun at work as well. -
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General Session
Secure CI/CD for Power BI with GitHub
Akshata Revankar
As Power BI becomes mission-critical, manual deployments create risk: inconsistent environments, accidental overwrites, and limited traceability. This session demonstrates how to implement secure, repeatable CI/CD for Power BI using Github repos for CI and GitHub Actions for CD. Attendees will learn how to structure workspaces, version Power BI assets, automate deployments, and enforce governance. Real-world examples show how organizations reduce errors, improve reliability, and accelerate delivery by aligning Power BI with modern DevOps practices. Key Topics Covered Challenges in traditional Power BI lifecycle management Reference architecture for CI/CD across dev/test/prod Using deployment pipelines for controlled environment promotion Versioning PBIP files and integrating with GitHub Automating deployments with GitHub Actions and service principals Governance, auditability, and policy-as-code considerations
General Session
Secure CI/CD for Power BI with GitHub
Akshata Revankar
Microsoft
Session Goals: • Learn how to implement secure, automated CI/CD pipelines for Power BI using GitHub. • Understand versioning and deployment best practices that improve reliability and governance.
Session Prerequisites: • Familiarity with Power BI and basic DevOps concepts recommended. • Some exposure to GitHub helpful.
Track: Development
Level: Level 300
Theme: AI + Data
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Wednesday
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10:00 AM-11:15 AM
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Room: 303 Bogachiel
As Power BI becomes mission-critical, manual deployments create risk: inconsistent environments, accidental overwrites, and limited traceability. This session demonstrates how to implement secure, repeatable CI/CD for Power BI using Github repos for CI and GitHub Actions for CD. Attendees will learn how to structure workspaces, version Power BI assets, automate deployments, and enforce governance. Real-world examples show how organizations reduce errors, improve reliability, and accelerate delivery by aligning Power BI with modern DevOps practices. Key Topics Covered Challenges in traditional Power BI lifecycle management Reference architecture for CI/CD across dev/test/prod Using deployment pipelines for controlled environment promotion Versioning PBIP files and integrating with GitHub Automating deployments with GitHub Actions and service principals Governance, auditability, and policy-as-code considerations -
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General Session
AI-Assisted BI (AIBI): Using LLMs to Build and Maintain Semantic Models
Reid Havens
LLMs are changing how BI developers work, and most teams are barely scratching the surface. This session goes beyond asking Copilot to write a measure. We'll look at how tools like Claude Code and the Power BI MCP server can be used to author DAX, document models, refactor naming conventions, generate testing notebooks, and enforce standards across workspaces. You'll see real workflows for using LLMs to build and maintain semantic models in Fabric, not hypothetical demos, but the way this actually works in day-to-day development. We'll cover prompting strategies that produce reliable DAX, how to validate LLM output against your model metadata with Semantic Link, and where LLMs still fall short so you know when to step in. Whether you're a solo developer looking to move faster or part of a team trying to standardize model quality, this session gives you a practical starting point for integrating LLMs into your BI development workflow.
General Session
AI-Assisted BI (AIBI): Using LLMs to Build and Maintain Semantic Models
Reid Havens
Analytic Endeavors
Session Goals: • Know where LLMs add real value in semantic model development and where they don't. • Practical prompting and validation patterns for DAX authoring and model refactoring. • A workflow for integrating LLMs into your existing BI development process.
Session Prerequisites: • Comfortable building semantic models in Power BI and writing DAX measures. • No prior experience with LLMs, Claude Code, or the MCP server is needed. • Familiarity with Fabric workspaces is helpful.
Track: Analytics
Level: Level 300
Theme: AI + Data
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Wednesday
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10:00 AM-11:15 AM
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Room: 301 Ashnola
LLMs are changing how BI developers work, and most teams are barely scratching the surface. This session goes beyond asking Copilot to write a measure. We'll look at how tools like Claude Code and the Power BI MCP server can be used to author DAX, document models, refactor naming conventions, generate testing notebooks, and enforce standards across workspaces. You'll see real workflows for using LLMs to build and maintain semantic models in Fabric, not hypothetical demos, but the way this actually works in day-to-day development. We'll cover prompting strategies that produce reliable DAX, how to validate LLM output against your model metadata with Semantic Link, and where LLMs still fall short so you know when to step in. Whether you're a solo developer looking to move faster or part of a team trying to standardize model quality, this session gives you a practical starting point for integrating LLMs into your BI development workflow. -
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General Session
Who Reviewed That Migration? Database Change Control in the Age of AI
Rene Garza
An AI assistant just proposed a schema change. It's plausible, it passed CI, and it reached test before anyone outside the pull request knew it existed. That gap isn't new. Teams have always struggled to see each other's changes, but AI widens the gap fast, proposing more changes than review processes were built to absorb. AI has made writing database code easier. It hasn't made deploying it any safer, and a bad database change isn't just a failed build: it's degraded performance, broken systems, and a recovery decision under pressure. You live with poor schema decisions for years. This session builds a practical workflow: set policies for changes to meet, version every change, test, review, and keep a record of what happened, when, and why. You will hear how real teams are putting this into practice and leave with diagnostic questions to run against your own processes.
General Session
Who Reviewed That Migration? Database Change Control in the Age of AI
Rene Garza
Redgate
Session Prerequisites: None.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 100
Theme: AI + Data
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Wednesday
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10:00 AM-11:15 AM
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Room: 306 Duwamish
An AI assistant just proposed a schema change. It's plausible, it passed CI, and it reached test before anyone outside the pull request knew it existed. That gap isn't new. Teams have always struggled to see each other's changes, but AI widens the gap fast, proposing more changes than review processes were built to absorb. AI has made writing database code easier. It hasn't made deploying it any safer, and a bad database change isn't just a failed build: it's degraded performance, broken systems, and a recovery decision under pressure. You live with poor schema decisions for years. This session builds a practical workflow: set policies for changes to meet, version every change, test, review, and keep a record of what happened, when, and why. You will hear how real teams are putting this into practice and leave with diagnostic questions to run against your own processes. -
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General Session
Read Committed Is Cruel by Default
Erik Darling
Nobody picked Read Committed. Ever. SQL Server came that way, and most shops never change it; they get scared off by blog posts that are somewhere between dumb and wrong, if they even know there's an alternative. And so it sits there locking everything in sight while you festoon every query with NOLOCK hints and hope for the best. Readers block writers, writers block readers, deadlocks never cease firing, and one report takes down the whole application. Row versioning has been in SQL Server since 2005: – Read Committed Snapshot Isolation flips the whole database over at once. – Snapshot Isolation lets you opt in one query at a time, so you can prove it works. If you think changing is risky, consider this: the moment Microsoft had to run customer workloads themselves, they switched RCSI on by default in Azure SQL Database. No isolation level is perfect for every single query. Your job is picking the one that causes the fewest problems for your workload, and handling the exceptions as they come up. If you already slap NOLOCK on everything in sight, using other locking hints to handle the exceptions shouldn't scare you a bit. Row versioning gives you lock-free reads without the dirt. This session shows you how to choose for yourself, instead of living with whatever the installer left you.
General Session
Read Committed Is Cruel by Default
Erik Darling
Darling Data
Session Goals: • Spot the blocking, deadlocks, and outright wrong query results that locking Read Committed produces by default, and why reaching for NOLOCK makes all of it worse. • Understand how Read Committed Snapshot Isolation and Snapshot Isolation fix that with row versioning, and what they cost you (the version store, update conflicts, and the few things they don't fix). • Leave able to choose row versioning for the bulk of a workload and handle the exceptions with targeted locking hints, instead of living with whatever the installer left on.
Session Prerequisites: • Comfortable reading and writing everyday T-SQL, plus a general sense of what a transaction is. • No prior knowledge of isolation levels, locking internals, or row versioning is needed; the session builds all of it up.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 300
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Wednesday
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10:00 AM-11:15 AM
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Room: 401 Chelan
Nobody picked Read Committed. Ever. SQL Server came that way, and most shops never change it; they get scared off by blog posts that are somewhere between dumb and wrong, if they even know there's an alternative. And so it sits there locking everything in sight while you festoon every query with NOLOCK hints and hope for the best. Readers block writers, writers block readers, deadlocks never cease firing, and one report takes down the whole application. Row versioning has been in SQL Server since 2005: – Read Committed Snapshot Isolation flips the whole database over at once. – Snapshot Isolation lets you opt in one query at a time, so you can prove it works. If you think changing is risky, consider this: the moment Microsoft had to run customer workloads themselves, they switched RCSI on by default in Azure SQL Database. No isolation level is perfect for every single query. Your job is picking the one that causes the fewest problems for your workload, and handling the exceptions as they come up. If you already slap NOLOCK on everything in sight, using other locking hints to handle the exceptions shouldn't scare you a bit. Row versioning gives you lock-free reads without the dirt. This session shows you how to choose for yourself, instead of living with whatever the installer left you. -
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Deep Dive
An Inside Look at How Microsoft Builds SQL Features
Bob Ward
Naveen Prakash
Travis Wright
Come learn a behind the scenes look at how Microsoft builds features and capabilities for SQL. This session will go deep into how Microsoft uses AI technology from design to code to deployment including fun examples of how we debug our own product. This is an advanced session, but you will walk away with tips and techniques to apply to your use of SQL.
Deep Dive
An Inside Look at How Microsoft Builds SQL Features
Bob Ward
Microsoft
Naveen Prakash
Mircrosoft
Travis Wright
Microsoft
Session Goals: • Learn internals of important features of SQL Server. • Learn how Microsoft uses AI to build features to apply to your own application and system. • Have fun watching SQL experts debug and build the product on stage!
Session Prerequisites: • A fundamental understanding of SQL Server.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 400
Theme: AI + Data
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Wednesday
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10:00 AM-12:45 PM
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Room: 302 Beckler
Come learn a behind the scenes look at how Microsoft builds features and capabilities for SQL. This session will go deep into how Microsoft uses AI technology from design to code to deployment including fun examples of how we debug our own product. This is an advanced session, but you will walk away with tips and techniques to apply to your use of SQL. -
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Learning Pathway
A GIT Journey from Foundations to Automation for Data Professionals | From Commit to Pull Request: Practical GitHub Skills for the Modern Data Professional
Michael D'Spain
Many data professionals know the basics of Git and GitHub but often struggle with the collaborative workflows used by modern development teams. In this intermediate-level session, you'll learn how to work more effectively with GitHub using Visual Studio Code, combining the ease of the graphical interface with an understanding of the underlying Git commands. Through real-world demonstrations, we'll explore navigating Git features in VS Code, creating and managing branches, understanding branching strategies, resolving merge conflicts,storing secrets and creating pull requests. You'll also see how AI tools such as Claude and VS Code's AI capabilities can help explain errors, troubleshoot Git issues, and accelerate your learning. Whether you're a DBA, data engineer, analyst, or developer, this session will help you build the GitHub fluency needed to collaborate confidently and contribute more effectively to team-based data projects.
Learning Pathway
A GIT Journey from Foundations to Automation for Data Professionals | From Commit to Pull Request: Practical GitHub Skills for the Modern Data Professional
Michael D'Spain
Walmart Vizio
Session Goals: Participants will leave with the knowledge and confidence to use GitHub in VS Code like a modern development team, including branching, pull requests, merge conflict resolution, and AI-assisted troubleshooting.
Session Prerequisites: Basic git commands.
Track: Development
Level: Level 200
Theme: AI + Data
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Wednesday
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10:00 AM-11:15 AM
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Room: 305 Chehalis
Many data professionals know the basics of Git and GitHub but often struggle with the collaborative workflows used by modern development teams. In this intermediate-level session, you'll learn how to work more effectively with GitHub using Visual Studio Code, combining the ease of the graphical interface with an understanding of the underlying Git commands. Through real-world demonstrations, we'll explore navigating Git features in VS Code, creating and managing branches, understanding branching strategies, resolving merge conflicts,storing secrets and creating pull requests. You'll also see how AI tools such as Claude and VS Code's AI capabilities can help explain errors, troubleshoot Git issues, and accelerate your learning. Whether you're a DBA, data engineer, analyst, or developer, this session will help you build the GitHub fluency needed to collaborate confidently and contribute more effectively to team-based data projects. -
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General Session
Bigger Estate, Same Team: Five Ways to Stay in Control and Make Your Impact Visible
Grant Fritchey
Bryan Nagy
When a DBA does the job well, very little happens: no outage, no failed audit, no surprise on the cloud bill. That work is easy to overlook, especially when budgets are under scrutiny and the estate keeps growing. Redgate's 2026 State of the Database Landscape found that 84% of organizations now run two or more database platforms, and 43% run a mix of on-premises and cloud. SQL Server is increasingly joined by PostgreSQL and cloud services, and teams are often expected to cover it without growing to match. This session works through five situations familiar to anyone running a growing estate: 1. Handling the audit ask without a scramble 2. Catching an anomalous spike in cloud spend 3. Planning for cloud migration 4. Cutting alert noise 5. Finding and fixing slow queries faster, using AI Join Grant Fritchey to learn how to use estate monitoring data to stay in control and make a clearer case for what that work is worth.
General Session
Bigger Estate, Same Team: Five Ways to Stay in Control and Make Your Impact Visible
Grant Fritchey
Redgate
Bryan Nagy
CardWorks Financial Group
Session Goals: • Learn how to handle common pressures in a growing estate: audit, cloud cost, migration planning, alert noise and query performance. • Use performance, cost and alert trends from Redgate Monitor to show the impact of your team's work. • See how AI supports diagnosing and fixing performance bottlenecks, whatever stage you're at in your AI adoption journey, with you in control of what it can see and do.
Session Prerequisites: None.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 200
Theme: Cloud + Multi-DB
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Wednesday
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11:30 AM-12:45 PM
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Room: 405 Kachess
When a DBA does the job well, very little happens: no outage, no failed audit, no surprise on the cloud bill. That work is easy to overlook, especially when budgets are under scrutiny and the estate keeps growing. Redgate's 2026 State of the Database Landscape found that 84% of organizations now run two or more database platforms, and 43% run a mix of on-premises and cloud. SQL Server is increasingly joined by PostgreSQL and cloud services, and teams are often expected to cover it without growing to match. This session works through five situations familiar to anyone running a growing estate: 1. Handling the audit ask without a scramble 2. Catching an anomalous spike in cloud spend 3. Planning for cloud migration 4. Cutting alert noise 5. Finding and fixing slow queries faster, using AI Join Grant Fritchey to learn how to use estate monitoring data to stay in control and make a clearer case for what that work is worth. -
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Lightning Talk
Native Regex on the Microsoft Data Platform
Edward Pollack
This is a fun and fast-paced run through the native Regex functionality in Azure SQL Database and SQL Server 2025. Gone are the days of complex string-matching and endless LIKE operators! Native Regex has been one of the most requested features in T-SQL for years and this is an opportunity to finally use it to simplify your old code, improve performance, and write more reliable queries!
Lightning Talk
Native Regex on the Microsoft Data Platform
Edward Pollack
Transfinder
Session Goals: • Learn about the many new Regex functions in T-SQL. • Understand how these new functions can simplify code and improve preformance. • Learn how to use these as strict upgrades to existing functions.
Session Prerequisites: • None.
Track: Development
Level: Level 100
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Wednesday
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11:30 AM-11:40 AM
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Room: 303 Bogachiel
This is a fun and fast-paced run through the native Regex functionality in Azure SQL Database and SQL Server 2025. Gone are the days of complex string-matching and endless LIKE operators! Native Regex has been one of the most requested features in T-SQL for years and this is an opportunity to finally use it to simplify your old code, improve performance, and write more reliable queries! -
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Learning Pathway
Adapting for AI Readiness as a Data Professional | Keeping Up Without Falling Down: AI's Future for Data Professionals
Matt Gordon
The first two sessions in this learning pathway cover essential AI-related knowledge for data professionals and then how to apply that knowledge to your work. The final session in the learning pathway covers what we do next and where we go from here. Everyone who works in technology is feeling the pressure to keep up with every new development in AI – and most of us feel like we're failing at that effort, or at least falling behind. This session will focus on where we think AI will take us – and our job responsibilities – in the future. Leaning on the access that Microsoft MVPs have to what Microsoft is thinking about the future of their data platform offerings, we have put together a guide for what we think we should learn, what we think we should do with that newfound knowledge, and how to take care of ourselves in an increasingly turbulent data professional landscape. Our jobs aren't going away, but we need to make sure we're equipped for where they are headed. Join us to help start on that journey.
Learning Pathway
Adapting for AI Readiness as a Data Professional | Keeping Up Without Falling Down: AI's Future for Data Professionals
Matt Gordon
Lean TECHniques
Session Goals: • Learn what to learn and what skills to develop to keep up with the AI-driven evolution of our jobs as data professionals. • Learn how to apply that knowledge and those newfound skills to your work now. • Learn how to take care of ourselves in an increasingly turbulent technology landscape.
Session Prerequisites: • A basic knowledge of SQL is preferred.
Track: Analytics
Level: Level 200
Theme: AI + Data
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Wednesday
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11:30 AM-12:45 PM
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Room: 401 Chelan
The first two sessions in this learning pathway cover essential AI-related knowledge for data professionals and then how to apply that knowledge to your work. The final session in the learning pathway covers what we do next and where we go from here. Everyone who works in technology is feeling the pressure to keep up with every new development in AI – and most of us feel like we're failing at that effort, or at least falling behind. This session will focus on where we think AI will take us – and our job responsibilities – in the future. Leaning on the access that Microsoft MVPs have to what Microsoft is thinking about the future of their data platform offerings, we have put together a guide for what we think we should learn, what we think we should do with that newfound knowledge, and how to take care of ourselves in an increasingly turbulent data professional landscape. Our jobs aren't going away, but we need to make sure we're equipped for where they are headed. Join us to help start on that journey. -
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General Session
Always On Availability Groups and Failover Clustering Internals
Edwin M Sarmiento
Windows Server Failover Clustering (WSFC) is the platform that makes SQL Server Always On Availability Groups highly available. There are external interactions between WSFC and SQL Server that you as a DBA cannot monitor from within SQL Server. You need to know the different components that make up the WSFC and how they work to properly deploy and manage Always On Availability Groups for high availability. In this session, you will dive into the internals of the WSFC, the SQL Server cluster resource DLL, and how they work together to make your SQL Server databases highly available. You will analyze the cluster error log for identifying the root cause of an unexpected or planned failover. Finally, you will learn administrative tasks that you're not supposed to do outside of SQL Server.
General Session
Always On Availability Groups and Failover Clustering Internals
Edwin M Sarmiento
15C
Session Goals: • Learn the interaction between SQL Server and the Windows Server Failover Cluster to achieve high availability. • Avoid performing administrative tasks that jeopardizes availability of SQL Server databases. • How to use the cluster error log with SQL Server logs to troubleshoot availability issues.
Session Prerequisites: • Attendees should have experience deploying SQL Server Always On Availability Groups on Windows Server Failover Clusters.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 400
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Wednesday
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11:30 AM-12:45 PM
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Room: 402 Chiliwack
Windows Server Failover Clustering (WSFC) is the platform that makes SQL Server Always On Availability Groups highly available. There are external interactions between WSFC and SQL Server that you as a DBA cannot monitor from within SQL Server. You need to know the different components that make up the WSFC and how they work to properly deploy and manage Always On Availability Groups for high availability. In this session, you will dive into the internals of the WSFC, the SQL Server cluster resource DLL, and how they work together to make your SQL Server databases highly available. You will analyze the cluster error log for identifying the root cause of an unexpected or planned failover. Finally, you will learn administrative tasks that you're not supposed to do outside of SQL Server. -
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General Session
Shattering Records: Architecting a 1,000,000 IOPS SQL Server
Christoph Petersen
Chris Madden
Modern SQL Server workloads, from massive parallel processing to high-concurrency OLTP, now demand I/O performance once limited to specialized on-premises hardware. Achieving 1,000,000 IOPS in cloud or virtual environments is no longer theoretical—it is a requirement for scale. This session deconstructs the infrastructure needed to sustain this level of performance. We will analyze the convergence of compute, storage, and networking, identifying where standard configurations fail under extreme load. We’ll dissect technical hurdles including CPU selection, NUMA-aware memory association, and networking throughput limits. Additionally, we map these infrastructure layers back to SQL Server internals to tune the database engine to leverage the performance provided by the underlying hardware. Designed for DBAs and architects pushing physical limits, this session provides a technical blueprint for the fastest modern database environments. Attendees will leave with: * Hardware Blueprint: Comparing CPU families and storage solutions for sub-millisecond latency. * Configuration Checklists: Methodologies for host-level storage offloading and networking. * Tuning Guide: SQL Server changes to prevent engine bottlenecks. Cost-Performance Analysis: Frameworks for right-sizing resources without over-provisioning.
General Session
Shattering Records: Architecting a 1,000,000 IOPS SQL Server
Christoph Petersen
Google
Chris Madden
Google Cloud
Session Goals: • Performance: Aligning VM specifications with next-gen block storage to eliminate I/O bottlenecks. • Continuity: Evaluate HA/DR patterns that maintain performance parity during failover. • Cost: Balance resource elasticity and SQL Server core licensing to maximize price-performance.
Session Prerequisites: • Designed for DBAs and architects who need to push SQL Server to its physical limits. • This session provides the technical blueprint for building one of the fastest database environments possible today.
Track: Architecture
Level: Level 300
Theme: Cloud + Multi-DB
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Wednesday
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11:30 AM-12:45 PM
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Room: 304 Calawah
Modern SQL Server workloads, from massive parallel processing to high-concurrency OLTP, now demand I/O performance once limited to specialized on-premises hardware. Achieving 1,000,000 IOPS in cloud or virtual environments is no longer theoretical—it is a requirement for scale. This session deconstructs the infrastructure needed to sustain this level of performance. We will analyze the convergence of compute, storage, and networking, identifying where standard configurations fail under extreme load. We’ll dissect technical hurdles including CPU selection, NUMA-aware memory association, and networking throughput limits. Additionally, we map these infrastructure layers back to SQL Server internals to tune the database engine to leverage the performance provided by the underlying hardware. Designed for DBAs and architects pushing physical limits, this session provides a technical blueprint for the fastest modern database environments. Attendees will leave with: * Hardware Blueprint: Comparing CPU families and storage solutions for sub-millisecond latency. * Configuration Checklists: Methodologies for host-level storage offloading and networking. * Tuning Guide: SQL Server changes to prevent engine bottlenecks. Cost-Performance Analysis: Frameworks for right-sizing resources without over-provisioning. -
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General Session
PostgreSQL Storage Internals: From MVCC to TOAST and Beyond
Adam Machanic
PostgreSQL has become a popular database choice thanks to its excellent programmability and permissive license. And while it tends to be easy to set up and manage, truly robust designs require an understanding of what's happening under the hood. In this session you'll learn about how Postgres handles one of the most important parts of any database engine, storing your data. The session begins with a discussion on Multi-Version Concurrency Control (MVCC). We will dive deep, examining how visibility rules, transaction snapshots, and hint bits are leveraged to enable high concurrency MVCC. Building on this, we'll explore tuple versioning in detail; how updates create new row versions, how dead tuples accumulate, and why vacuum is necessary to reclaim space. We'll also touch on write amplification, highlighting how your seemingly simple update can generate significant I/O overhead and storage bloat. Next the session will explore how Postgres handles complex data types–including arrays and composite structures–and how their representation influences both performance and space utilization. Finally, we'll cover TOAST (The Oversized-Attribute Storage Technique), explaining how large values are transparently managed, out-of-lined, and compressed, along with trade-offs this introduces. Attendees will leave with a mental model for understanding PostgreSQL's storage behavior and a better capability for both diagnosing performance issues and making informed design decisions.
General Session
PostgreSQL Storage Internals: From MVCC to TOAST and Beyond
Adam Machanic
Stealth Startup
Session Goals: • Understand the PostgreSQL storage system. • Understand how to make informed design decisions based on storage system tradeoffs.
Session Prerequisites: • Some knowledge of how database systems work (either SQL Server or Postgres). • Basic SQL.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 300
Theme: Cloud + Multi-DB
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Wednesday
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11:30 AM-12:45 PM
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Room: 307 Methow
PostgreSQL has become a popular database choice thanks to its excellent programmability and permissive license. And while it tends to be easy to set up and manage, truly robust designs require an understanding of what's happening under the hood. In this session you'll learn about how Postgres handles one of the most important parts of any database engine, storing your data. The session begins with a discussion on Multi-Version Concurrency Control (MVCC). We will dive deep, examining how visibility rules, transaction snapshots, and hint bits are leveraged to enable high concurrency MVCC. Building on this, we'll explore tuple versioning in detail; how updates create new row versions, how dead tuples accumulate, and why vacuum is necessary to reclaim space. We'll also touch on write amplification, highlighting how your seemingly simple update can generate significant I/O overhead and storage bloat. Next the session will explore how Postgres handles complex data types–including arrays and composite structures–and how their representation influences both performance and space utilization. Finally, we'll cover TOAST (The Oversized-Attribute Storage Technique), explaining how large values are transparently managed, out-of-lined, and compressed, along with trade-offs this introduces. Attendees will leave with a mental model for understanding PostgreSQL's storage behavior and a better capability for both diagnosing performance issues and making informed design decisions. -
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General Session
Observability for Microsoft Fabric: What's Happening in Your Platform
Jonathan Stewart
Which Fabric items consumed the most capacity units last week? When was your lakehouse table last refreshed? If a pipeline failed at 2 AM, would you know before your users told you? For most teams, the honest answer is: "I'd have to check three different places and hope I find it." Microsoft Fabric consolidates compute, storage, and analytics into one platform — but observability hasn't caught up. Capacity metrics live in one app, pipeline monitoring in another, semantic model health in a third. This session is for Fabric administrators, data engineers, and platform teams who need to answer "is my platform healthy?" without checking six dashboards. We'll build an observability practice from the ground up using Fabric's own APIs, XMLA endpoints, and capacity metrics: – Monitor capacity utilization and detect throttling before it impacts users – Track pipeline and notebook execution across workspaces with automated alerting on failures and SLA breaches – Audit semantic models continuously with the 78-rule Best Practice Analyzer — not once during development, but on every refresh – Measure data freshness across lakehouses and warehouses, flagging tables that miss their expected refresh windows This isn't a product demo. You'll leave with patterns, queries, and scripts built on the same building blocks available to every Fabric customer — ready to deploy Monday morning.
General Session
Observability for Microsoft Fabric: What's Happening in Your Platform
Jonathan Stewart
SQLBites
Session Goals: • Build a capacity monitoring practice using the Capacity Metrics App semantic model. • Implement automated pipeline and notebook failure detection across workspaces. • Connect capacity, pipeline, model health, and freshness signals into a unified platform health view.
Session Prerequisites: • Working knowledge of Microsoft Fabric administration or data engineering. • Familiarity with Fabric workspaces, pipelines, and semantic models. • Experience with capacity management or platform monitoring is helpful but not required.
Track: Analytics
Level: Level 300
Theme: AI + Data
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Wednesday
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11:30 AM-12:45 PM
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Room: 306 Duwamish
Which Fabric items consumed the most capacity units last week? When was your lakehouse table last refreshed? If a pipeline failed at 2 AM, would you know before your users told you? For most teams, the honest answer is: "I'd have to check three different places and hope I find it." Microsoft Fabric consolidates compute, storage, and analytics into one platform — but observability hasn't caught up. Capacity metrics live in one app, pipeline monitoring in another, semantic model health in a third. This session is for Fabric administrators, data engineers, and platform teams who need to answer "is my platform healthy?" without checking six dashboards. We'll build an observability practice from the ground up using Fabric's own APIs, XMLA endpoints, and capacity metrics: – Monitor capacity utilization and detect throttling before it impacts users – Track pipeline and notebook execution across workspaces with automated alerting on failures and SLA breaches – Audit semantic models continuously with the 78-rule Best Practice Analyzer — not once during development, but on every refresh – Measure data freshness across lakehouses and warehouses, flagging tables that miss their expected refresh windows This isn't a product demo. You'll leave with patterns, queries, and scripts built on the same building blocks available to every Fabric customer — ready to deploy Monday morning. -
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General Session
SQL Server 2025 Vectors: Under the Hood and Into Production
Anthony Nocentino
SQL Server 2025's vector data type puts semantic search and retrieval-augmented generation directly into a data estate you already operate and trust. That's a big deal, and there's real engineering depth that is worth understanding before you ship anything to production. This session goes inside the vector data type: storage layout, index structures, and what actually happens at query execution time when you ask SQL Server to perform a similarity search. We'll be direct about where vector indexes help and where they don't. Then we'll zoom out and build a working example application that puts all of it together. If you're an architect, DBA, or developer building the next generation of SQL Server applications, this one's for you. Let's go.
General Session
SQL Server 2025 Vectors: Under the Hood and Into Production
Anthony Nocentino
Everpure
Session Goals: • Describe vector data type internals: storage, indexing, and query execution. • Evaluate vector index performance and limitations at scale. • Apply application architecture patterns to build a working application using SQL Server 2025's vector search capabilities.
Session Prerequisites: • Core database engine concepts like data types, indexes and reading query plans.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 300
Theme: AI + Data
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Wednesday
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11:30 AM-12:45 PM
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Room: 301 Ashnola
SQL Server 2025's vector data type puts semantic search and retrieval-augmented generation directly into a data estate you already operate and trust. That's a big deal, and there's real engineering depth that is worth understanding before you ship anything to production. This session goes inside the vector data type: storage layout, index structures, and what actually happens at query execution time when you ask SQL Server to perform a similarity search. We'll be direct about where vector indexes help and where they don't. Then we'll zoom out and build a working example application that puts all of it together. If you're an architect, DBA, or developer building the next generation of SQL Server applications, this one's for you. Let's go. -
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General Session
Governing AI Agents: Designing Skills for Control and Trust
Tyler Garner
AI agents are rapidly being introduced into data platforms, but many implementations lack the governance, observability, and control required for enterprise use. Ad hoc prompts and loosely defined tool access create systems that are difficult to audit, unsafe to scale, and unreliable in production. This session introduces a structured approach to building “skills” as governed capability units for AI agents. Rather than allowing agents unrestricted access to databases, APIs, and workflows, we define skills with clear contracts, permissions, and operational boundaries. This enables teams to standardize how agents interact with data systems while maintaining control over execution and risk. We will walk through a reference architecture that separates agent reasoning from governed execution layers, showing how skills act as the interface between AI systems and enterprise data platforms. Attendees will see how to implement policy-driven access, enforce least-privilege patterns, and instrument workflows for observability and auditability. The session also covers practical considerations for production readiness, including logging, evaluation, failure handling, and feedback loops that improve system reliability over time. Examples will demonstrate how agents can safely query data, trigger workflows, and return results without introducing opaque or unmanageable behavior.
General Session
Governing AI Agents: Designing Skills for Control and Trust
Tyler Garner
X-Energy
Session Goals: • Understand how to design skills as governed interfaces for AI agents. • Learn to implement policy-driven access, observability, and auditability. • Apply patterns to transform experimental agents into controlled, production-ready systems.
Session Prerequisites: • Familiarity with SQL, basic API concepts, and general understanding of AI/LLM use cases. • No prior experience building AI agents is required, but attendees should be comfortable with architectural concepts and data system design patterns.
Track: Architecture
Level: Level 300
Theme: Security
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Wednesday
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11:30 AM-12:45 PM
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Room: 305 Chehalis
AI agents are rapidly being introduced into data platforms, but many implementations lack the governance, observability, and control required for enterprise use. Ad hoc prompts and loosely defined tool access create systems that are difficult to audit, unsafe to scale, and unreliable in production. This session introduces a structured approach to building “skills” as governed capability units for AI agents. Rather than allowing agents unrestricted access to databases, APIs, and workflows, we define skills with clear contracts, permissions, and operational boundaries. This enables teams to standardize how agents interact with data systems while maintaining control over execution and risk. We will walk through a reference architecture that separates agent reasoning from governed execution layers, showing how skills act as the interface between AI systems and enterprise data platforms. Attendees will see how to implement policy-driven access, enforce least-privilege patterns, and instrument workflows for observability and auditability. The session also covers practical considerations for production readiness, including logging, evaluation, failure handling, and feedback loops that improve system reliability over time. Examples will demonstrate how agents can safely query data, trigger workflows, and return results without introducing opaque or unmanageable behavior. -
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Lightning Talk
7 Simple Strategies to Combat Imposter Syndrome
Amy Abel
Do you feel like a fraud? Do you constantly question your ability to do your job? This is imposter syndrome, and you are not alone. The reality is that most professionals in tech have navigated these feelings at some point in their careers. In this session, we will identify the warning signs of imposter syndrome and examine exactly how it can stall your career growth. I will share the specific strategies that have helped me overcome self-doubt throughout my own journey. You will leave with actionable steps to recognize your value, silence the inner critic, and own your success.
Lightning Talk
7 Simple Strategies to Combat Imposter Syndrome
Amy Abel
Straight Path
Session Goals: • Identify signs of imposter syndrome to recognize when self-doubt is clouding your judgment. • Understand how feelings of fraudulence can negatively impact your career growth and daily decision making. • Apply practical strategies and personal techniques to overcome the inner critic.
Session Prerequisites: • None.
Track: Professional Development
Level: Level 100
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Wednesday
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11:40 AM-11:50 AM
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Room: 303 Bogachiel
Do you feel like a fraud? Do you constantly question your ability to do your job? This is imposter syndrome, and you are not alone. The reality is that most professionals in tech have navigated these feelings at some point in their careers. In this session, we will identify the warning signs of imposter syndrome and examine exactly how it can stall your career growth. I will share the specific strategies that have helped me overcome self-doubt throughout my own journey. You will leave with actionable steps to recognize your value, silence the inner critic, and own your success. -
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Lightning Talk
Synchronous Availability Groups Don’t Always Mean Zero Data Loss
Theodoros Katsimanis
Synchronous Availability Groups are often assumed to guarantee zero data loss. This session shows two real configurations where data can still be lost during crash/failover and how to configure AGs correctly when zero data loss truly matters.
Lightning Talk
Synchronous Availability Groups Don’t Always Mean Zero Data Loss
Theodoros Katsimanis
KaizenGaming.com
Session Goals: • Understand why synchronous commit does not always guarantee zero data loss. • Identify two configuration settings that allow committed data to be lost during failover. • Configure Availability Groups correctly when zero data loss is a strict requirement.
Session Prerequisites: • Basic understanding of SQL Server and Availability Groups is required. • Familiarity with transaction logs, commit behavior, and high availability concepts is helpful. • Some experience with production systems will make the session easier to follow.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 300
Theme: Security
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Wednesday
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11:50 AM-12:00 PM
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Room: 303 Bogachiel
Synchronous Availability Groups are often assumed to guarantee zero data loss. This session shows two real configurations where data can still be lost during crash/failover and how to configure AGs correctly when zero data loss truly matters. -
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Lightning Talk
DIY Log Shipping for RDS
Matthew Gantz
Log shipping is a powerful and reliable tool for migrating databases and disaster recovery. Even with the rise of Availability Groups and other modern features, its simplicity and predictability make it an essential part of the DBA toolkit. Unfortunately, AWS RDS does not support log shipping out of the box. In this session, I will show you how to build your own lightweight solution using a small set of scripts. We will walk through a practical approach for migrating a database from an on-premises SQL Server instance to AWS RDS with minimal downtime and a simple, low-risk rollback strategy. If you are planning a cloud migration or want to use RDS as a DR solution, this this talk will give you a proven approach you can implement right away.
Lightning Talk
DIY Log Shipping for RDS
Matthew Gantz
Versant
Session Goals: • Be able to setup a log shipping solution from on-prem to AWS. • Be able to reverse the log shipping to rollback to on-prem.
Session Prerequisites: • Some background knowledge of log shipping is helpful but not strictly required.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 200
Theme: Cloud + Multi-DB
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Wednesday
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12:00 PM-12:10 PM
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Room: 303 Bogachiel
Log shipping is a powerful and reliable tool for migrating databases and disaster recovery. Even with the rise of Availability Groups and other modern features, its simplicity and predictability make it an essential part of the DBA toolkit. Unfortunately, AWS RDS does not support log shipping out of the box. In this session, I will show you how to build your own lightweight solution using a small set of scripts. We will walk through a practical approach for migrating a database from an on-premises SQL Server instance to AWS RDS with minimal downtime and a simple, low-risk rollback strategy. If you are planning a cloud migration or want to use RDS as a DR solution, this this talk will give you a proven approach you can implement right away. -
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Lightning Talk
I Let an LLM Build My Semantic Model (Here's What Happened)
Reid Havens
I handed Claude Code the keys to a semantic model through Tabular Editor's CLI and told it to build, document, and refactor it. This is what actually happened. In this lightning talk, you'll see a real workflow where an LLM drives Tabular Editor CLI to do real semantic model development work. Writing DAX measures, organizing display folders, renaming objects, creating calculation groups, and generating documentation. You'll see how Semantic Link validates the output and catches what the LLM gets wrong. Some of it was impressive. Some of it needed guardrails. All of it was faster than doing it by hand. You'll walk away knowing what LLMs can reliably do today in semantic model development, where they confidently give you wrong answers, and how to set up a workflow that gets the most out of both.
Lightning Talk
I Let an LLM Build My Semantic Model (Here's What Happened)
Reid Havens
Analytic Endeavors
Session Goals: • See a real LLM-driven semantic model development workflow using Tabular Editor CLI. • Know what LLMs handle well in model development and where they need human oversight. • A practical setup for integrating LLMs into your own development process.
Session Prerequisites: • Experience building semantic models and writing DAX in Power BI. • No experience with LLMs, Claude Code, or Tabular Editor CLI required.
Track: Analytics
Level: Level 200
Theme: AI + Data
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Wednesday
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12:10 PM-12:20 PM
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Room: 303 Bogachiel
I handed Claude Code the keys to a semantic model through Tabular Editor's CLI and told it to build, document, and refactor it. This is what actually happened. In this lightning talk, you'll see a real workflow where an LLM drives Tabular Editor CLI to do real semantic model development work. Writing DAX measures, organizing display folders, renaming objects, creating calculation groups, and generating documentation. You'll see how Semantic Link validates the output and catches what the LLM gets wrong. Some of it was impressive. Some of it needed guardrails. All of it was faster than doing it by hand. You'll walk away knowing what LLMs can reliably do today in semantic model development, where they confidently give you wrong answers, and how to set up a workflow that gets the most out of both. -
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Lightning Talk
GenAI for Schema Conversion: What It Actually Gets Right (and Wrong)
Marcelo Fernandes
Generative AI is transforming how we approach database schema conversion, promising to automate the tedious, error-prone work that has historically slowed down migration projects. But how well does it actually perform in practice? This lightning session delivers an honest, tool-agnostic assessment of using generative AI for database code conversion. Drawing from real migration projects, we examine specific T-SQL patterns and stored procedures where AI-powered conversion excels — and where it confidently produces code that is subtly wrong. We walk through concrete before-and-after examples: complex joins, cursor-based logic, dynamic SQL, error handling blocks, and data type mappings. For each category, you will see the AI-generated output alongside the manually corrected version, so you can calibrate your own expectations. Beyond individual conversions, we discuss the human review process that remains essential. How do you efficiently validate AI-generated code? What testing strategies catch the failures that look correct at first glance? And how do you build a feedback loop that improves conversion quality over time? This is not a product demo or a marketing pitch. It is a practitioner's perspective on where generative AI genuinely accelerates schema conversion today, where it creates false confidence, and how to build a realistic workflow that leverages AI without blindly trusting it. Set your expectations before your next migration.
Lightning Talk
GenAI for Schema Conversion: What It Actually Gets Right (and Wrong)
Marcelo Fernandes
AWS
Session Goals: • Understand where generative AI reliably accelerates schema conversion and where it introduces subtle errors. • Learn practical strategies for validating and testing AI-generated database code. • Build realistic expectations for incorporating GenAI into your database migration workflow.
Session Prerequisites: • Experience with MSSQL and T-SQL. • Basic understanding of database migration concepts and schema conversion challenges. • Familiarity with stored procedures, functions, and database code objects. • No prior experience with generative AI tools required.
Track: Architecture
Level: Level 100
Theme: AI + Data
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Wednesday
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12:20 PM-12:30 PM
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Room: 303 Bogachiel
Generative AI is transforming how we approach database schema conversion, promising to automate the tedious, error-prone work that has historically slowed down migration projects. But how well does it actually perform in practice? This lightning session delivers an honest, tool-agnostic assessment of using generative AI for database code conversion. Drawing from real migration projects, we examine specific T-SQL patterns and stored procedures where AI-powered conversion excels — and where it confidently produces code that is subtly wrong. We walk through concrete before-and-after examples: complex joins, cursor-based logic, dynamic SQL, error handling blocks, and data type mappings. For each category, you will see the AI-generated output alongside the manually corrected version, so you can calibrate your own expectations. Beyond individual conversions, we discuss the human review process that remains essential. How do you efficiently validate AI-generated code? What testing strategies catch the failures that look correct at first glance? And how do you build a feedback loop that improves conversion quality over time? This is not a product demo or a marketing pitch. It is a practitioner's perspective on where generative AI genuinely accelerates schema conversion today, where it creates false confidence, and how to build a realistic workflow that leverages AI without blindly trusting it. Set your expectations before your next migration. -
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General Session
Redgate Devour Hour – From Alerts to Answers: Database Intelligence with Redgate Monitor
Rene Garza
Most monitoring tools are good at telling you something's wrong. The harder part is knowing why, fast enough for it to matter. In this hands-on session, we'll show how Redgate Monitor turns a multi-platform estate (SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Oracle, MySQL, MongoDB) into a single, intelligent view: instant root-cause analysis, customizable alerting that cuts the noise, and Monitor AI query analysis that gets you from symptom to fix faster than a manual dig through wait stats. We'll also show what's next. Redgate Monitor's MCP server, now in preview, lets AI assistants like Claude, Copilot, and Cursor query your live monitoring data directly, so ""how's the estate doing"" gets an answered instead of a dashboard to interpret. Bring your toughest performance war story: we might be able to show you how it plays out differently with the full picture in view.
General Session
Redgate Devour Hour – From Alerts to Answers: Database Intelligence with Redgate Monitor
Rene Garza
Redgate
Session Goals: For DBAs and IT managers watching over more servers than they have hours in the day, you'll see what proactive, multi-platform database intelligence looks like in practice, and get a straight answer on where AI genuinely shortens the path from alert to resolution.
Session Prerequisites: None.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 100
Theme: Cloud + Multi-DB
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Wednesday
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12:45 PM-2:00 PM
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Room: 305 Chehalis
Most monitoring tools are good at telling you something's wrong. The harder part is knowing why, fast enough for it to matter. In this hands-on session, we'll show how Redgate Monitor turns a multi-platform estate (SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Oracle, MySQL, MongoDB) into a single, intelligent view: instant root-cause analysis, customizable alerting that cuts the noise, and Monitor AI query analysis that gets you from symptom to fix faster than a manual dig through wait stats. We'll also show what's next. Redgate Monitor's MCP server, now in preview, lets AI assistants like Claude, Copilot, and Cursor query your live monitoring data directly, so ""how's the estate doing"" gets an answered instead of a dashboard to interpret. Bring your toughest performance war story: we might be able to show you how it plays out differently with the full picture in view. -
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Luncheon
WIT Luncheon: What Do You Do When You Hear The Word "No"?
Ginger Grant
The annual Women in Tech (WIT) Luncheon is proudly sponsored by Microsoft & AMD. This year, Ginger Grant has been selected by Data Platform WIT to address "What do you do when you hear the word "No"? At some point in your career, someone has told you No. “No, you shouldn’t talk to the customer.” “No you shouldn’t present to the team.” “No you don’t need to learn the new technology.” What do you do when you hear no? Are you going to stop doing what you are doing? In this session I want to challenge you to perhaps do something else. I want to share the method I have used when I confronted with No to empower your decision making. See how No can flip from a word that defeats you to instead be the start of your own agency in your career.
Luncheon
WIT Luncheon: What Do You Do When You Hear The Word "No"?
Ginger Grant
Desert Isle Group
Session Goals: • Don’t give others the power to control your destiny. • Attendees should know the word no is a choice not an absolute. • Have the agency to determine what to do when you hear the word no, not meekly do what others feel you should.
Track: Professional Development
Level: Level 100
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Wednesday
-
12:45 PM-2:00 PM
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Room: Columbia Ballroom, 3rd Floor
The annual Women in Tech (WIT) Luncheon is proudly sponsored by Microsoft & AMD. This year, Ginger Grant has been selected by Data Platform WIT to address "What do you do when you hear the word "No"? At some point in your career, someone has told you No. “No, you shouldn’t talk to the customer.” “No you shouldn’t present to the team.” “No you don’t need to learn the new technology.” What do you do when you hear no? Are you going to stop doing what you are doing? In this session I want to challenge you to perhaps do something else. I want to share the method I have used when I confronted with No to empower your decision making. See how No can flip from a word that defeats you to instead be the start of your own agency in your career. -
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General Session
Redgate Devour Hour – Move Fast, Govern at Scale: Taming Database Change in the Age of AI
Jackson Kleeman
AI is generating database changes faster than most pipelines can review them. Gartner projects that governance gaps like this will derail 40% of enterprise AI programs by 2027, and 81% of tech leaders already report a rise in production issues linked to AI-generated code. In this hands-on session, we'll show how Redgate Flyway Enterprise brings the same policy checks, version control, and audit trail to database changes that your application code already gets, whether that change was written by a person or generated by AI. Watch a change move from commit to production in real time: policy-as-code catching what shouldn't ship, deterministic scripts producing the same result every time, and a complete audit trail generated automatically instead of reconstructed the night before an audit. You'll leave with a clear, practical picture of what governed database change looks like day to day, and where to start if yours isn't there yet.
General Session
Redgate Devour Hour – Move Fast, Govern at Scale: Taming Database Change in the Age of AI
Jackson Kleeman
Redgate
Session Goals: Even if you've never used Flyway, you'll walk away with a working framework for asking whether your own database change process would survive an audit tomorrow, and you'll see what automatic policy enforcement and drift detection look like when a change breaks the rules on purpose.
Session Prerequisites: None.
Track: Development
Level: Level 100
Theme: AI + Data
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Wednesday
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12:45 PM-2:00 PM
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Room: 301 Ashnola
AI is generating database changes faster than most pipelines can review them. Gartner projects that governance gaps like this will derail 40% of enterprise AI programs by 2027, and 81% of tech leaders already report a rise in production issues linked to AI-generated code. In this hands-on session, we'll show how Redgate Flyway Enterprise brings the same policy checks, version control, and audit trail to database changes that your application code already gets, whether that change was written by a person or generated by AI. Watch a change move from commit to production in real time: policy-as-code catching what shouldn't ship, deterministic scripts producing the same result every time, and a complete audit trail generated automatically instead of reconstructed the night before an audit. You'll leave with a clear, practical picture of what governed database change looks like day to day, and where to start if yours isn't there yet. -
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General Session
My House Floats- Living on a Floating Home
Kellyn Gorman
Before butting and renovating our floating home in Portland, Oregon, I made researching and the unique challenges of renovating/living on a floating home a hobby. I’ll talk about the house and why there are over 900 floating homes in the Portland area, along with why I love living on one!
General Session
My House Floats- Living on a Floating Home
Kellyn Gorman
Redgate
Track: Professional Development
Level: Level 100
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Wednesday
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1:15 PM-1:30 PM
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Room: Community Zone – Level 4 Foyer
Before butting and renovating our floating home in Portland, Oregon, I made researching and the unique challenges of renovating/living on a floating home a hobby. I’ll talk about the house and why there are over 900 floating homes in the Portland area, along with why I love living on one! -
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General Session
Brick by Brick – An Honest Look at Pair-Building with an AI Agent
Ben Weissman
A shelf full of LEGO became a database and a web app – built in a back-and-forth with an AI agent. It mixed up sets, invented data and told me a web service wasn't possible; I changed requirements mid-project, ran SQL scripts by hand, and checked every identification in the end. An honest retrospective with real mistakes: on my own it would have taken days, the agent on its own produced errors – together we ended up with something fun and nerdy that actually works.
General Session
Brick by Brick – An Honest Look at Pair-Building with an AI Agent
Ben Weissman
Solisyon
Track: Professional Development
Level: Level 100
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Wednesday
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1:30 PM-1:45 PM
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Room: Community Zone – Level 4 Foyer
A shelf full of LEGO became a database and a web app – built in a back-and-forth with an AI agent. It mixed up sets, invented data and told me a web service wasn't possible; I changed requirements mid-project, ran SQL scripts by hand, and checked every identification in the end. An honest retrospective with real mistakes: on my own it would have taken days, the agent on its own produced errors – together we ended up with something fun and nerdy that actually works. -
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General Session
Database BINGO
Head to the Community Zone for this fun session!
General Session
Database BINGO
Track: Professional Development
Level: Level 100
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Wednesday
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1:45 PM-2:15 PM
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Room: Community Zone – Level 4 Foyer
Head to the Community Zone for this fun session! -
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General Session
Empowering Lakehouse Solutions with Fabric Warehouse
Christian Henrik Reich
Microsoft Fabric Lakehouses receive a great deal of attention, but Fabric Warehouse is often underused or misunderstood in lakehouse architecture. As the platform has evolved, the Warehouse has become a more important part of the broader Fabric story, especially for teams that need strong SQL-based analytics alongside Spark and Lakehouse workloads. This session takes a closer look at Fabric Warehouse, including its engine, performance characteristics, and the role it can play in modern lakehouse solutions. Attendees will learn where the Warehouse fits, how it interoperates with Spark and Lakehouses, and how to think about it as part of a broader architectural design rather than as a separate or competing option. The session also explores how the Warehouse has developed over time and what that means in practice for solution design, performance, and workload placement. The goal is to help attendees understand not only what Fabric Warehouse is, but when and why to use it. Participants will leave with a clearer view of how Fabric Warehouse can strengthen lakehouse solutions and how to apply it more effectively in real-world Fabric architectures.
General Session
Empowering Lakehouse Solutions with Fabric Warehouse
Christian Henrik Reich
Microsoft
Session Goals: • Understand where Fabric Warehouse fits in a Lakehouse architecture. • Learn how it interoperates with Spark and Lakehouses. • Leave with practical guidance on performance, workload placement, and effective use in real Fabric solutions.
Session Prerequisites: • Basic familiarity with data warehousing, SQL, and modern analytics architectures is helpful. • Some knowledge of Microsoft Fabric or Lakehouse concepts will make the session easier to follow. • Deep Fabric Warehouse experience is not required.
Track: Architecture
Level: Level 300
Theme: AI + Data
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Wednesday
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2:15 PM-3:30 PM
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Room: 301 Ashnola
Microsoft Fabric Lakehouses receive a great deal of attention, but Fabric Warehouse is often underused or misunderstood in lakehouse architecture. As the platform has evolved, the Warehouse has become a more important part of the broader Fabric story, especially for teams that need strong SQL-based analytics alongside Spark and Lakehouse workloads. This session takes a closer look at Fabric Warehouse, including its engine, performance characteristics, and the role it can play in modern lakehouse solutions. Attendees will learn where the Warehouse fits, how it interoperates with Spark and Lakehouses, and how to think about it as part of a broader architectural design rather than as a separate or competing option. The session also explores how the Warehouse has developed over time and what that means in practice for solution design, performance, and workload placement. The goal is to help attendees understand not only what Fabric Warehouse is, but when and why to use it. Participants will leave with a clearer view of how Fabric Warehouse can strengthen lakehouse solutions and how to apply it more effectively in real-world Fabric architectures. -
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General Session
DeepSQL: How To Discover SQL Server Internals
Robert Volk
If you've wondered how SQL Server does what it does, how it works on the inside, and how to figure out where to look for these things, this session will open the door to finding all the treasure under the SQL! This session will cover SQL Server internals and demonstrate how to explore them for yourself. Get to know the inner workings of DMVs, system databases and objects. Using regular SQL statements, in addition to other tools, this session will demonstrate how to plumb the depths of the entire SQL Server environment, including undocumented features, and how different components work together. If you've even wondered what's underneath sp_help and sys.objects, this session will show you. Exploring SQL Server is not that difficult and can be very rewarding and fun! Find out about hidden DBCC commands and parameters! See how to find all references between system objects! Learn how underdocumented features can help you answer big questions or solve vexing problems.
General Session
DeepSQL: How To Discover SQL Server Internals
Robert Volk
Rob Volk
Session Goals: Attendees will learn about: – SQL Server system databases and objects – Undocumented features and how to find them – How to explore internals and use SQL Server features in novel ways
Session Prerequisites: Attendees should have intermediate to advanced knowledge and experience with SQL Server, and be very curious to learn more about it. Understanding of pages, index structures, and how to use system functions and DMVs to query system status.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 300
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Wednesday
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2:15 PM-3:30 PM
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Room: 402 Chiliwack
If you've wondered how SQL Server does what it does, how it works on the inside, and how to figure out where to look for these things, this session will open the door to finding all the treasure under the SQL! This session will cover SQL Server internals and demonstrate how to explore them for yourself. Get to know the inner workings of DMVs, system databases and objects. Using regular SQL statements, in addition to other tools, this session will demonstrate how to plumb the depths of the entire SQL Server environment, including undocumented features, and how different components work together. If you've even wondered what's underneath sp_help and sys.objects, this session will show you. Exploring SQL Server is not that difficult and can be very rewarding and fun! Find out about hidden DBCC commands and parameters! See how to find all references between system objects! Learn how underdocumented features can help you answer big questions or solve vexing problems. -
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General Session
The Recovering Shy Person's Guide to Putting Yourself Forward
Lenore Flower
Have you ever found yourself holding back from tackling a new project, submitting that conference proposal, or publishing that blog post because the "what ifs" just became too much? Everyone holds themselves back sometimes — but putting yourself forward can be especially tough when you already feel like the odd one out. This session is for every person who's ever thought "I'm not ready yet" even when they were bursting with ideas. Whether you're navigating neurodivergence, underrepresentation, or just the very human experience of not seeing yourself reflected in the rooms you're trying to enter — this one's for you. Join me for an honest, inclusive discussion where I'll share strategies for what it actually takes to find your voice and give you a nudge to use it. We'll talk about the unique challenges that come with being "different" in tech spaces, the strategies that flopped, the ones that actually worked, and the practical first steps to showing up as a speaker, blogger, podcaster, content creator, or internal advocate — without waiting until you feel "ready." Spoiler: you're already ready. You just need the map — and maybe someone in your corner who believes it before you do.
General Session
The Recovering Shy Person's Guide to Putting Yourself Forward
Lenore Flower
Data Plumber LLC
Session Goals: • Identify barriers "different" professionals face — neurodivergence, underrepresentation, and patterns that hold you back. • Apply strategies for finding your voice as a speaker, blogger, or advocate. • Define one concrete next step toward visibility you can act on today.
Session Prerequisites: • No prior knowledge required.
Track: Professional Development
Level: Level 100
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Wednesday
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2:15 PM-3:30 PM
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Room: 307 Methow
Have you ever found yourself holding back from tackling a new project, submitting that conference proposal, or publishing that blog post because the "what ifs" just became too much? Everyone holds themselves back sometimes — but putting yourself forward can be especially tough when you already feel like the odd one out. This session is for every person who's ever thought "I'm not ready yet" even when they were bursting with ideas. Whether you're navigating neurodivergence, underrepresentation, or just the very human experience of not seeing yourself reflected in the rooms you're trying to enter — this one's for you. Join me for an honest, inclusive discussion where I'll share strategies for what it actually takes to find your voice and give you a nudge to use it. We'll talk about the unique challenges that come with being "different" in tech spaces, the strategies that flopped, the ones that actually worked, and the practical first steps to showing up as a speaker, blogger, podcaster, content creator, or internal advocate — without waiting until you feel "ready." Spoiler: you're already ready. You just need the map — and maybe someone in your corner who believes it before you do. -
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General Session
Choosing the Right Data Store: An Overview of Azure Data Platform Choices
Denny Cherry
Choosing the right data store can make or break the performance and costs of your application. In this session, you will learn about all the options available to you in the Azure Data Platform. You'll learn about CosmosDB, Azure SQL Database, Azure Postgres, and MySQL services, as well as Databricks and HDInsight. You will also learn how to leverage caching to reduce the overall workload on your data tier. We will discuss the notion of polyglot persistence, storing different data in different data stores with the goal of optimizing your overall data architecture, for flexibility and performance.
General Session
Choosing the Right Data Store: An Overview of Azure Data Platform Choices
Denny Cherry
Denny Cherry & Associates Consulting
Session Goals: • How to select the correct database platform for your database. • Differences between the different Azure offerings.
Session Prerequisites: • None.
Track: Architecture
Level: Level 200
Theme: AI + Data
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Wednesday
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2:15 PM-3:30 PM
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Room: 302 Beckler
Choosing the right data store can make or break the performance and costs of your application. In this session, you will learn about all the options available to you in the Azure Data Platform. You'll learn about CosmosDB, Azure SQL Database, Azure Postgres, and MySQL services, as well as Databricks and HDInsight. You will also learn how to leverage caching to reduce the overall workload on your data tier. We will discuss the notion of polyglot persistence, storing different data in different data stores with the goal of optimizing your overall data architecture, for flexibility and performance. -
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General Session
SQL Server Always On Deployments: What Works, What Breaks, and What to Do
Marcelo Adade
Always On Availability Groups and Failover Cluster Instances are powerful features, but real-world deployments often come with challenges that go far beyond the basics. In this demo-packed session, we’ll share practical lessons learned from administering SQL Server Always On environments, focusing on what actually works in production, what commonly breaks, and how to respond effectively. We’ll explore configuration decisions, recurring pitfalls, troubleshooting patterns, and operational realities that are not always obvious from the documentation. Through real examples and practical demonstrations, you’ll gain insight into how to better plan, validate, and support Always On deployments across different scenarios. By the end of the session, attendees will be better prepared to design, operate, and troubleshoot the majority of Always On implementations they encounter.
General Session
SQL Server Always On Deployments: What Works, What Breaks, and What to Do
Marcelo Adade
DBBITS
Session Goals: • Plan reliable Always On AG and FCI deployments. • Identify and prevent common configuration and operational failures. • Troubleshoot real-world Always On issues more effectively.
Session Prerequisites: • Some knowledge and experience related to HADR and Always On AGs and FCIs in SQL Server.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 300
Theme: Cloud + Multi-DB
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Wednesday
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2:15 PM-3:30 PM
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Room: 401 Chelan
Always On Availability Groups and Failover Cluster Instances are powerful features, but real-world deployments often come with challenges that go far beyond the basics. In this demo-packed session, we’ll share practical lessons learned from administering SQL Server Always On environments, focusing on what actually works in production, what commonly breaks, and how to respond effectively. We’ll explore configuration decisions, recurring pitfalls, troubleshooting patterns, and operational realities that are not always obvious from the documentation. Through real examples and practical demonstrations, you’ll gain insight into how to better plan, validate, and support Always On deployments across different scenarios. By the end of the session, attendees will be better prepared to design, operate, and troubleshoot the majority of Always On implementations they encounter. -
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General Session
PostgreSQL Indexes for the SQL Server DBA
Rick Lowe
Indexing has a massive impact on performance in both SQL Server and PostgreSQL, and some aspects work much the same in both platforms. But there are differences that can trip up experienced SQL Server DBAs as they start working with PostgreSQL. This session will drill into some some of these initial stumbling blocks during a high level overview of the index types available in pg.
General Session
PostgreSQL Indexes for the SQL Server DBA
Rick Lowe
Data FLowe Solutions LLC
Session Goals: How clustered indexes are different between the platforms Why vacuuming is critical for pg High level understanding of pg index types
Session Prerequisites: Some familiarity with PostreSQL is assumed, and a firm understanding of SQL Server indexing will be helpful in following the comparisons.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 300
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Wednesday
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2:15 PM-3:30 PM
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Room: 306 Duwamish
Indexing has a massive impact on performance in both SQL Server and PostgreSQL, and some aspects work much the same in both platforms. But there are differences that can trip up experienced SQL Server DBAs as they start working with PostgreSQL. This session will drill into some some of these initial stumbling blocks during a high level overview of the index types available in pg. -
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General Session
Turbocharge Your AI Agent with SQL Server and Google Cloud
Tim Chapman
Itay Maoz
SQL Server on Google Cloud gives you easy access to an entire world of Gemini models, sophisticated AI agents, and AI-driven database management. We’ll learn how Cloud SQL, Google’s managed SQL Server offering, combines the latest SQL Server versions with powerful cloud infrastructure and Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform integration to offer the latest foundation models from Google and other AI providers. We’ll explore the architecture of modern agents and how the managed MCP server for Cloud SQL for SQL Server and the ADK framework enable easy, secure access to your data. Finally, we’ll cover agentic database operations for monitoring and optimizing your database fleet.
General Session
Turbocharge Your AI Agent with SQL Server and Google Cloud
Tim Chapman
Google
Itay Maoz
Google
Session Goals: • Learn how a modern AI agent is built with SQL Server and AI technologies from Google Cloud including Gemini, MCP servers, and the Agent Development Framework.
Session Prerequisites: None.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 200
Theme: AI + Data
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Wednesday
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2:15 PM-3:30 PM
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Room: 304 Calawah
SQL Server on Google Cloud gives you easy access to an entire world of Gemini models, sophisticated AI agents, and AI-driven database management. We’ll learn how Cloud SQL, Google’s managed SQL Server offering, combines the latest SQL Server versions with powerful cloud infrastructure and Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform integration to offer the latest foundation models from Google and other AI providers. We’ll explore the architecture of modern agents and how the managed MCP server for Cloud SQL for SQL Server and the ADK framework enable easy, secure access to your data. Finally, we’ll cover agentic database operations for monitoring and optimizing your database fleet. -
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General Session
Ditch the Spreadsheet: Enterprise Planning in Microsoft Fabric IQ
Brent Meulebroeck
For most organizations, planning — budgets, forecasts, targets, and scenarios — happens in a completely different world from analytics. Finance teams live in Excel or dedicated FP&A tools like Planful or Anaplan, while data teams manage reports and dashboards in Power BI and Fabric. The result is a familiar cycle of data exports, manual reconciliation, version conflicts, and plans that drift further from reality with every passing week. Planning in Microsoft Fabric IQ changes that equation. Announced at FabCon Atlanta in early 2026, Planning brings enterprise-grade financial and business planning directly into the Fabric platform — so your plans live alongside your data, not in a silo beside it. In this session we are going to cover: – What is Planning in Fabric? – How can you migrate from your existing FP&A processes to Planning in Fabric? – How Planning integrates with teams for collaboration and approval workflows – Live Demo – Planning in action in a real-world scenario – Cost and performance considerations
General Session
Ditch the Spreadsheet: Enterprise Planning in Microsoft Fabric IQ
Brent Meulebroeck
Fulton Analytics
Session Goals: This session is designed for a mixed audience. Finance and FP&A professionals will come away understanding what Planning can do and how it compares to their current tools. Data and BI practitioners will understand the integration with semantic models and what's involved in connecting and maintaining it. If your organization is still stitching planning and analytics together with exports and manual processes, this session will show you a better way.
Track: Analytics
Level: Level 100
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Wednesday
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2:15 PM-3:30 PM
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Room: 303 Bogachiel
For most organizations, planning — budgets, forecasts, targets, and scenarios — happens in a completely different world from analytics. Finance teams live in Excel or dedicated FP&A tools like Planful or Anaplan, while data teams manage reports and dashboards in Power BI and Fabric. The result is a familiar cycle of data exports, manual reconciliation, version conflicts, and plans that drift further from reality with every passing week. Planning in Microsoft Fabric IQ changes that equation. Announced at FabCon Atlanta in early 2026, Planning brings enterprise-grade financial and business planning directly into the Fabric platform — so your plans live alongside your data, not in a silo beside it. In this session we are going to cover: – What is Planning in Fabric? – How can you migrate from your existing FP&A processes to Planning in Fabric? – How Planning integrates with teams for collaboration and approval workflows – Live Demo – Planning in action in a real-world scenario – Cost and performance considerations -
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General Session
Your SQL Called, It Wants More Speed
Bob Ward
Conor Cunningham
David Harmon
What can AI and SQL Server 2025 do for your SQL environment, and how much faster can it run? Join us as we go under the hood at Microsoft to find out. We'll start with the AI built into SQL Server 2025: native vector search, embeddings, and in-engine retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), all with the T-SQL you already know. Next, see how batch mode and modern AMD EPYC™ processors speed up queries and improve efficiency. We'll also cover modernizing with Azure VMs and Azure SQL Hyperscale. You'll leave with practical ways to build AI-ready apps, tune performance, scale smarter, and balance performance, efficiency, and cost.
General Session
Your SQL Called, It Wants More Speed
Bob Ward
Microsoft
Conor Cunningham
Microsoft
David Harmon
AMD
Session Goals: • Attendees will see how SQL Server 2025 and modern processors can accelerate queries and improve efficiency. • We will share practical approaches to vector search, performance tuning, modernization, and cost-effective scaling.
Session Prerequisites: None.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 200
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Wednesday
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2:15 PM-3:30 PM
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Room: 305 Chehalis
What can AI and SQL Server 2025 do for your SQL environment, and how much faster can it run? Join us as we go under the hood at Microsoft to find out. We'll start with the AI built into SQL Server 2025: native vector search, embeddings, and in-engine retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), all with the T-SQL you already know. Next, see how batch mode and modern AMD EPYC™ processors speed up queries and improve efficiency. We'll also cover modernizing with Azure VMs and Azure SQL Hyperscale. You'll leave with practical ways to build AI-ready apps, tune performance, scale smarter, and balance performance, efficiency, and cost. -
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General Session
Inside Real SQL Server Breaches: Privilege Escalations and How to Stop It
Andreas Wolter
Fabiano Amorim
Real-world SQL Server attacks rarely follow textbook patterns – and many environments remain vulnerable to non-obvious privilege escalation paths that bypass typical security assumptions. In this session, we walk through realistic attack scenarios based on recently discovered SQL Server vulnerabilities. Starting from a low-privileged account, we demonstrate how attackers can escalate privileges to sysadmin, access sensitive data, and evade detection. Each scenario is immediately followed by a deep analysis of why the attack works in real environments – and how it could have been detected and prevented using native SQL Server capabilities. While some vulnerabilities demonstrated have been addressed or are considered by design, they expose broader patterns of misconfiguration and design assumptions that can lead to similar attack paths in modern environments. You will learn: • How privilege escalation paths in SQL Server actually work in practice • Why common security configurations and assumptions fail • How to detect suspicious behavior using auditing, T-SQL, and native tooling • What concrete steps you can take to harden your environment This session bridges the gap between offensive research and defensive practice – turning real attack techniques into actionable security improvements you can apply immediately.
General Session
Inside Real SQL Server Breaches: Privilege Escalations and How to Stop It
Andreas Wolter
Sarpedon Quality Lab LLC
Fabiano Amorim
PowerTuning
Session Goals: • How privilege escalation paths in SQL Server actually work in practice. • Why common security configurations and assumptions fail. • How to detect suspicious behavior using auditing, T-SQL, and native tooling. • What concrete steps you can take to harden your environment.
Session Prerequisites: • Basic understanding on SQL Server security features.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 300
Theme: Security
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Wednesday
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2:15 PM-3:30 PM
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Room: 405 Kachess
Real-world SQL Server attacks rarely follow textbook patterns – and many environments remain vulnerable to non-obvious privilege escalation paths that bypass typical security assumptions. In this session, we walk through realistic attack scenarios based on recently discovered SQL Server vulnerabilities. Starting from a low-privileged account, we demonstrate how attackers can escalate privileges to sysadmin, access sensitive data, and evade detection. Each scenario is immediately followed by a deep analysis of why the attack works in real environments – and how it could have been detected and prevented using native SQL Server capabilities. While some vulnerabilities demonstrated have been addressed or are considered by design, they expose broader patterns of misconfiguration and design assumptions that can lead to similar attack paths in modern environments. You will learn: • How privilege escalation paths in SQL Server actually work in practice • Why common security configurations and assumptions fail • How to detect suspicious behavior using auditing, T-SQL, and native tooling • What concrete steps you can take to harden your environment This session bridges the gap between offensive research and defensive practice – turning real attack techniques into actionable security improvements you can apply immediately. -
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Events
Exhibitor Raffles
Join us in the Exhibit Hall for our exhibitor raffle to see if you're one of the lucky winners. Join the fun in the Exhibit Hall.
Events
Exhibitor Raffles
Track: Professional Development
Level: Level 100
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Wednesday
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3:40 PM-4:00 PM
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Room: Columbia Foyer, 3rd Floor
Join us in the Exhibit Hall for our exhibitor raffle to see if you're one of the lucky winners. Join the fun in the Exhibit Hall. -
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General Session
The Architecture Gap: Why Your AI Strategy Is Slower Than You Think
Kevin Wilkie
AI isn’t failing because of models, tools, or talent—it’s failing because of architecture. Across enterprises, organizations are investing heavily in AI while quietly running on data platforms that were never designed to support it. The result? Slow delivery, fragile pipelines, rising costs, and “AI initiatives” that never make it to production. In this session, we’ll break down the growing gap between modern AI ambitions and legacy (and even “modernized”) data architectures. You’ll see why lift-and-shift migrations often make the problem worse, how hybrid architectures are emerging as a practical path forward, and what architectural patterns actually enable AI at scale. If your organization is struggling to turn AI strategy into real outcomes, the problem may not be your AI—it may be your platform.
General Session
The Architecture Gap: Why Your AI Strategy Is Slower Than You Think
Kevin Wilkie
Sherpa of Data
Session Goals: • Evaluate if your current data architecture can support AI workloads. • Identify architectural anti-patterns (such as lift-and-shift) that can increase cost and complexity. • Apply hybrid architecture strategies to better align platforms with AI use cases and business outcomes.
Session Prerequisites: • Attendees should have intermediate familiarity with data platforms, including data warehousing and ETL/ELT processes. • Experience with platforms such as SQL Server, Snowflake, and Microsoft Fabric is helpful, but not required.
Track: Architecture
Level: Level 200
Theme: AI + Data
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Wednesday
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4:00 PM-5:15 PM
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Room: 301 Ashnola
AI isn’t failing because of models, tools, or talent—it’s failing because of architecture. Across enterprises, organizations are investing heavily in AI while quietly running on data platforms that were never designed to support it. The result? Slow delivery, fragile pipelines, rising costs, and “AI initiatives” that never make it to production. In this session, we’ll break down the growing gap between modern AI ambitions and legacy (and even “modernized”) data architectures. You’ll see why lift-and-shift migrations often make the problem worse, how hybrid architectures are emerging as a practical path forward, and what architectural patterns actually enable AI at scale. If your organization is struggling to turn AI strategy into real outcomes, the problem may not be your AI—it may be your platform. -
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General Session
What’s New in Microsoft SQL in 2026 | Data Exposed Live
Anna Hoffman
Data Exposed Live is back at PASS Data Community Summit! Join Anna Hoffman and other members of the SQL Product Group in a quick and chaotic session where we review everything that’s happened in the past year in Microsoft SQL (meaning SQL Server, Azure SQL, Fabric SQL, and all the tools/SDKs). This session is also streamed live to Data Exposed and blog post you can take home.
General Session
What’s New in Microsoft SQL in 2026 | Data Exposed Live
Anna Hoffman
Microsoft
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 100
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Wednesday
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4:00 PM-5:15 PM
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Room: 401 Chelan
Data Exposed Live is back at PASS Data Community Summit! Join Anna Hoffman and other members of the SQL Product Group in a quick and chaotic session where we review everything that’s happened in the past year in Microsoft SQL (meaning SQL Server, Azure SQL, Fabric SQL, and all the tools/SDKs). This session is also streamed live to Data Exposed and blog post you can take home. -
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General Session
Eventhouse: The Hidden Power Behind Fabric Real-Time Intelligence
Frank Geisler
Eventhouse is the analytical engine behind Real-Time Intelligence in Microsoft Fabric—but most implementations barely scratch the surface of what it can do. In this deep technical session, we go beyond the basics and explore how Eventhouse enables high-performance, low-latency analytics on streaming data at scale. You’ll gain insight into how data is ingested, stored, indexed, and queried within Eventhouse, and why its architecture is fundamentally different from traditional data warehouses and lakehouses. We’ll examine how KQL leverages columnar storage, caching, and distributed execution to deliver near-instant query performance—even on high-volume event streams. The session also covers advanced topics such as data retention strategies, partitioning, ingestion optimization, and query tuning. You’ll learn how to design for both performance and cost efficiency, and how to avoid common bottlenecks in real-world deployments. This is a Level 400 session aimed at experienced data professionals who want to understand not just how to use Eventhouse—but how it works under the hood and how to push it to its limits.
General Session
Eventhouse: The Hidden Power Behind Fabric Real-Time Intelligence
Frank Geisler
GDS Business Intelligence GmbH
Session Goals: • Understand the internal architecture of Eventhouse. • Optimize ingestion and query performance for real-time workloads. • Design scalable and cost-efficient Eventhouse solutions.
Session Prerequisites: • Solid Microsoft Fabric experience. • KQL (Kusto Query Language). • Data architecture knowledge.
Track: Analytics
Level: Level 300
Theme: AI + Data
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Wednesday
-
4:00 PM-5:15 PM
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Room: 306 Duwamish
Eventhouse is the analytical engine behind Real-Time Intelligence in Microsoft Fabric—but most implementations barely scratch the surface of what it can do. In this deep technical session, we go beyond the basics and explore how Eventhouse enables high-performance, low-latency analytics on streaming data at scale. You’ll gain insight into how data is ingested, stored, indexed, and queried within Eventhouse, and why its architecture is fundamentally different from traditional data warehouses and lakehouses. We’ll examine how KQL leverages columnar storage, caching, and distributed execution to deliver near-instant query performance—even on high-volume event streams. The session also covers advanced topics such as data retention strategies, partitioning, ingestion optimization, and query tuning. You’ll learn how to design for both performance and cost efficiency, and how to avoid common bottlenecks in real-world deployments. This is a Level 400 session aimed at experienced data professionals who want to understand not just how to use Eventhouse—but how it works under the hood and how to push it to its limits. -
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General Session
Azure PowerShell for DBAs: Stop Clicking, Start Scripting
Mikey Bronowski
If you are managing Azure SQL through the portal, you are doing it the slow way. PowerShell gives you the ability to automate the work you repeat every day – provisioning, configuration, backups, monitoring – and get it done in seconds instead of minutes. This session is built around real, usable examples for DBAs who are comfortable with SQL but newer to scripting in Azure.
General Session
Azure PowerShell for DBAs: Stop Clicking, Start Scripting
Mikey Bronowski
DataPopkorn.com
Session Goals: • Automate common Azure SQL management tasks using PowerShell. • Reduce time spent on repetitive portal work with practical, reusable scripts. • Build a foundation for scripting in Azure without needing to be a developer.
Session Prerequisites: • Basic PowerShell and SQL knowledge.
Track: Development
Level: Level 100
Theme: Cloud + Multi-DB
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Wednesday
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4:00 PM-5:15 PM
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Room: 305 Chehalis
If you are managing Azure SQL through the portal, you are doing it the slow way. PowerShell gives you the ability to automate the work you repeat every day – provisioning, configuration, backups, monitoring – and get it done in seconds instead of minutes. This session is built around real, usable examples for DBAs who are comfortable with SQL but newer to scripting in Azure. -
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General Session
Leadership Essentials for Data Teams
Aaron Cutshall
Most people think that leadership is about solving problems. However, leadership isn't just about having power, authority, and making the big decisions. It's about taking ownership and responsibility for the consequences of those decisions and being accountable for how you will respond to problems that arise. On top of that, leaders aren’t just judged by what they do, but also what their people do. Leading a data team presents further unique challenges as most data teams consist of people from widely different backgrounds, skills, aptitudes, and attitudes. Plus, todays data teams are often scattered across multiple time zones, geographies, and languages. This session addresses the primary principles of leadership plus tips on how to: • Handle Personality Conflicts • Deal with Incomplete or Missing Requirements • Enforce Standards & Documentation • Foster Growth & Cohesion Leadership isn't just limited to designated leaders either. Team members are also leaders by example, expertise, or by simply being awesome team members! Therefore, if you lead a data team, want to be a leader, or are a member of a data team, this session is for you!
General Session
Leadership Essentials for Data Teams
Aaron Cutshall
SQLRV, LLC
Session Goals: • Understand fundamental leadership principles. • Encourage growth amidst personality conflicts. • Build & enforce standards with incomplete or missing requirements.
Session Prerequisites: • None.
Track: Professional Development
Level: Level 100
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Wednesday
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4:00 PM-5:15 PM
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Room: 307 Methow
Most people think that leadership is about solving problems. However, leadership isn't just about having power, authority, and making the big decisions. It's about taking ownership and responsibility for the consequences of those decisions and being accountable for how you will respond to problems that arise. On top of that, leaders aren’t just judged by what they do, but also what their people do. Leading a data team presents further unique challenges as most data teams consist of people from widely different backgrounds, skills, aptitudes, and attitudes. Plus, todays data teams are often scattered across multiple time zones, geographies, and languages. This session addresses the primary principles of leadership plus tips on how to: • Handle Personality Conflicts • Deal with Incomplete or Missing Requirements • Enforce Standards & Documentation • Foster Growth & Cohesion Leadership isn't just limited to designated leaders either. Team members are also leaders by example, expertise, or by simply being awesome team members! Therefore, if you lead a data team, want to be a leader, or are a member of a data team, this session is for you! -
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Learning Pathway
A GIT Journey from Foundations to Automation for Data Professionals | The Automation Engine for Modern DBAs and DBREs Using GitHub
Amy Abel
Learning Pathway: A GIT Journey from Foundations to Automation for Data Professionals Modern database teams can no longer rely on manual deployments, email approvals, spreadsheet tracking, and undocumented processes. As organizations adopt AI-assisted development and accelerate software delivery, automation has become essential for maintaining reliability, consistency, and governance. In this demo-driven session, we will explore how GitHub can evolve from a source control platform into an automation platform for database operations. Attendees will learn how GitHub Actions, Secrets, Templates, Issue Forms, and Webhooks can be used to automate deployments, standardize requests, improve security, and create repeatable operational workflows. Through practical database-focused examples, Amy will demonstrate how these capabilities help DBAs and DBREs eliminate repetitive manual tasks, reduce operational risk, and build self-service processes that scale across teams. We will also uncover a few GitHub productivity features and hidden gems that can dramatically improve day-to-day efficiency. Building on the governance and safety concepts discussed in the companion webinar, this session focuses on putting those guardrails into action through automation. Attendees will leave with practical ideas for transforming GitHub into a central component of their database engineering platform.
Learning Pathway
A GIT Journey from Foundations to Automation for Data Professionals | The Automation Engine for Modern DBAs and DBREs Using GitHub
Amy Abel
Straight Path
Session Goals: • Understanding the Git ecosystem, the difference between Git and GitHub. • Using branching and merging as a safety net for isolating change. • Leveraging GitHub Actions, Webhooks, Issue Templates, and automation.
Session Prerequisites: • Basic Tech Skills Familiarity with files, folders, and the command line. • DevOps Curiosity A desire to automate manual database deployments. • No Prior Git Experience Required We start with fundamentals then advance to automation.
Track: Development
Level: Level 200
Theme: Cloud + Multi-DB
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Wednesday
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4:00 PM-5:15 PM
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Room: 405 Kachess
Learning Pathway: A GIT Journey from Foundations to Automation for Data Professionals Modern database teams can no longer rely on manual deployments, email approvals, spreadsheet tracking, and undocumented processes. As organizations adopt AI-assisted development and accelerate software delivery, automation has become essential for maintaining reliability, consistency, and governance. In this demo-driven session, we will explore how GitHub can evolve from a source control platform into an automation platform for database operations. Attendees will learn how GitHub Actions, Secrets, Templates, Issue Forms, and Webhooks can be used to automate deployments, standardize requests, improve security, and create repeatable operational workflows. Through practical database-focused examples, Amy will demonstrate how these capabilities help DBAs and DBREs eliminate repetitive manual tasks, reduce operational risk, and build self-service processes that scale across teams. We will also uncover a few GitHub productivity features and hidden gems that can dramatically improve day-to-day efficiency. Building on the governance and safety concepts discussed in the companion webinar, this session focuses on putting those guardrails into action through automation. Attendees will leave with practical ideas for transforming GitHub into a central component of their database engineering platform. -
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General Session
AI-Powered SQL Dev with VS Code and Copilot
Anupama Natarajan
Bhaskar Natarajan
Modern database development is shifting from manual scripting to AI-assisted engineering. Using Visual Studio Code, MSSQL extensions, SQL Database Projects, and GitHub Copilot, this session demonstrates a complete AI-native workflow. You’ll learn how to generate queries, refactor stored procedures, manage schema changes, and implement CI/CD pipelines—all with Copilot assistance. We’ll also explore how AI accelerates code reviews, documentation, and debugging. This is a practical, hands-on session for developers who want to dramatically boost productivity.
General Session
AI-Powered SQL Dev with VS Code and Copilot
Anupama Natarajan
Pearl Innovations Limited
Bhaskar Natarajan
Pearl Innovations Ltd.
Session Goals: • Set up modern SQL development workflow in VS Code. • Use Copilot for query generation and optimization. • Implement Git-based database DevOps.
Session Prerequisites: • Basic SQL development experience. • Familiarity with Git/version control. • Optional: Exposure to DevOps practices.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 300
Theme: AI + Data
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Wednesday
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4:00 PM-5:15 PM
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Room: 302 Beckler
Modern database development is shifting from manual scripting to AI-assisted engineering. Using Visual Studio Code, MSSQL extensions, SQL Database Projects, and GitHub Copilot, this session demonstrates a complete AI-native workflow. You’ll learn how to generate queries, refactor stored procedures, manage schema changes, and implement CI/CD pipelines—all with Copilot assistance. We’ll also explore how AI accelerates code reviews, documentation, and debugging. This is a practical, hands-on session for developers who want to dramatically boost productivity. -
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General Session
Building Secure Text-to-SQL Chatbots with PostgreSQL RLS
Durga Prasad
InduTeja Aligeti
Can your AI chatbot accidentally leak sensitive data? As enterprises deploy LLM-powered Text-to-SQL interfaces, access control becomes critical. This session demonstrates how to build a chatbot that respects all data permissions through three defense layers. First, we implement schema pruning—dynamically filtering table and column metadata so the LLM never sees unauthorized structures. Second, we add AST-based validation using pg_query to parse and verify every generated SQL statement against allow-lists before execution, catching hallucinations and prompt injections. Finally, PostgreSQL's native Row-Level Security (RLS) provides the last line of defense, automatically filtering results based on user identity. Through live demos with a multi-tenant database, you'll see how a marketing user's query never returns HR payroll data, and how the system gracefully handles errors without leaking schema information. Walk away with a complete security blueprint for production AI chatbots.
General Session
Building Secure Text-to-SQL Chatbots with PostgreSQL RLS
Durga Prasad
Amazon
InduTeja Aligeti
AWS (Amazon Web Services)
Session Goals: • Architect a Text-to-SQL pipeline with role-based schema pruning and column-level access control. • Implement AST-based SQL validation to catch unauthorized queries before execution. • Configure PostgreSQL RLS policies that automatically enforce row-level security in chatbot responses.
Session Prerequisites: • Attendees should have experience with SQL databases and basic understanding of API development.
Track: Analytics
Level: Level 300
Theme: Security
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Wednesday
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4:00 PM-5:15 PM
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Room: 303 Bogachiel
Can your AI chatbot accidentally leak sensitive data? As enterprises deploy LLM-powered Text-to-SQL interfaces, access control becomes critical. This session demonstrates how to build a chatbot that respects all data permissions through three defense layers. First, we implement schema pruning—dynamically filtering table and column metadata so the LLM never sees unauthorized structures. Second, we add AST-based validation using pg_query to parse and verify every generated SQL statement against allow-lists before execution, catching hallucinations and prompt injections. Finally, PostgreSQL's native Row-Level Security (RLS) provides the last line of defense, automatically filtering results based on user identity. Through live demos with a multi-tenant database, you'll see how a marketing user's query never returns HR payroll data, and how the system gracefully handles errors without leaking schema information. Walk away with a complete security blueprint for production AI chatbots. -
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General Session
Pokemon, Choose Your Index: You Can't Have Them All
Brent Ozar
Index tuning often sounds abstract: selectivity, key order, includes, trade-offs. In this session, let's turn it into a game! Delivered entirely through live demos and audience interaction, Brent Ozar turns index design into a series of Pokémon-style battles. Using the Users table from the Stack Overflow database, Brent Ozar presents real-world query patterns and invites the audience to “play” index cards—each representing a different index design—to see which ones win, which ones struggle, and which ones backfire. As each query battle unfolds, you’ll see why some indexes are super-effective against certain workloads but weak against others, why covering everything is tempting (and dangerous), and why you can’t catch—or create—every index without paying a price. Brent will explain the results in plain English, tying each outcome back to how SQL Server actually uses indexes under the covers. By the end of the session, you’ll walk away with a much stronger intuition for choosing the *right* index for a workload, understanding trade-offs, and explaining index decisions to developers and managers alike. No slides full of theory—just hands-on demos, real queries, and a room full of data professionals playing along.
General Session
Pokemon, Choose Your Index: You Can't Have Them All
Brent Ozar
Brent Ozar Unlimited
Session Goals: • Understand how index column order affects query processing. • Learn why you shouldn't start indexes with non-selective columns. • Discover how to craft indexes that are useful for all kinds of queries.
Session Prerequisites: • You should be comfortable reading T-SQL queries.
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 300
Theme: AI + Data
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Wednesday
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4:00 PM-5:15 PM
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Room: 402 Chiliwack
Index tuning often sounds abstract: selectivity, key order, includes, trade-offs. In this session, let's turn it into a game! Delivered entirely through live demos and audience interaction, Brent Ozar turns index design into a series of Pokémon-style battles. Using the Users table from the Stack Overflow database, Brent Ozar presents real-world query patterns and invites the audience to “play” index cards—each representing a different index design—to see which ones win, which ones struggle, and which ones backfire. As each query battle unfolds, you’ll see why some indexes are super-effective against certain workloads but weak against others, why covering everything is tempting (and dangerous), and why you can’t catch—or create—every index without paying a price. Brent will explain the results in plain English, tying each outcome back to how SQL Server actually uses indexes under the covers. By the end of the session, you’ll walk away with a much stronger intuition for choosing the *right* index for a workload, understanding trade-offs, and explaining index decisions to developers and managers alike. No slides full of theory—just hands-on demos, real queries, and a room full of data professionals playing along. -
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General Session
Ensuring Data Integrity: Validation Strategies for PostgreSQL Migrations
Vanshika Nigam
Amit Arora
Migrating databases to PostgreSQL requires rigorous validation to ensure data accuracy and schema consistency. This session explores practical validation approaches for migrations from commercial databases to PostgreSQL, addressing one of the critical yet often overlooked aspects of database modernization. We'll examine multiple validation tools, including AI solutions and techniques with specific technical implementations. Starting with basic verification methods like row count comparison using SQL queries for quick sanity checks, we'll progress to more sophisticated approaches including Foreign Data Wrappers (tds_fdw for SQL Server) that create foreign tables representing source data, enabling direct SQL queries and comparisons between migrated and source tables. We'll also demonstrate AWS DMS validation features, DBeaver Enterprise Edition for GUI based data comparison. The session includes hands on examples of automated validation workflows that catch discrepancies in row counts, data types, constraints, NULL values, character encoding, and actual data values. We'll discuss validation strategies for large datasets, sampling techniques, statistical validation approaches, and methods for validating complex database objects like stored procedures and triggers.
General Session
Ensuring Data Integrity: Validation Strategies for PostgreSQL Migrations
Vanshika Nigam
Amazon Web Services
Amit Arora
Amazon Web Services
Session Goals: Attendees will leave equipped with a comprehensive validation toolkit and decision framework for selecting the right approach based on their specific migration scenario, source database platform, and data complexity requirements.
Session Prerequisites: Basic understanding of databases, cloud and migrations
Track: Database Management
Level: Level 200
Theme: AI + Data
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Wednesday
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4:00 PM-5:15 PM
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Room: 304 Calawah
Migrating databases to PostgreSQL requires rigorous validation to ensure data accuracy and schema consistency. This session explores practical validation approaches for migrations from commercial databases to PostgreSQL, addressing one of the critical yet often overlooked aspects of database modernization. We'll examine multiple validation tools, including AI solutions and techniques with specific technical implementations. Starting with basic verification methods like row count comparison using SQL queries for quick sanity checks, we'll progress to more sophisticated approaches including Foreign Data Wrappers (tds_fdw for SQL Server) that create foreign tables representing source data, enabling direct SQL queries and comparisons between migrated and source tables. We'll also demonstrate AWS DMS validation features, DBeaver Enterprise Edition for GUI based data comparison. The session includes hands on examples of automated validation workflows that catch discrepancies in row counts, data types, constraints, NULL values, character encoding, and actual data values. We'll discuss validation strategies for large datasets, sampling techniques, statistical validation approaches, and methods for validating complex database objects like stored procedures and triggers. -
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Events
Crab Pot #SQLFamily Dinner – 2026
Join us for a farewell dinner at the Crab Pot on Friday, November 11th, at 6:00 pm. Join us for our annual tradition of meeting at the Crab Pot on Wednesday night, November 11th, at 6:00 pm, just after the PASS Summit wraps up. This will be a casual dinner to wind down from another great week with friends and colleagues in Seattle. RSVP for this event at: https://crabpot2026.eventbrite.com/ The Crab Pot Seattle 1305 Alaskan Way Seattle, WA 98101
Events
Crab Pot #SQLFamily Dinner – 2026
Track: Professional Development
Level: Level 100
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Wednesday
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6:00 PM-9:00 PM
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Room: The Crab Pot Seattle
Join us for a farewell dinner at the Crab Pot on Friday, November 11th, at 6:00 pm. Join us for our annual tradition of meeting at the Crab Pot on Wednesday night, November 11th, at 6:00 pm, just after the PASS Summit wraps up. This will be a casual dinner to wind down from another great week with friends and colleagues in Seattle. RSVP for this event at: https://crabpot2026.eventbrite.com/ The Crab Pot Seattle 1305 Alaskan Way Seattle, WA 98101 -
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Events
Expo Expedition
Stop by all participating booths and complete your stamp card to automatically enter to win one of these prizes. Once your card is complete, add your name and drop it in the prize box located at the registration desk. Prizes courtesy of Redgate. Draws will happen in the Exhibit Hall Wednesday, November 11 at 3.40pm
Events
Expo Expedition
Track:
Level: Level 0
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Room: TBD
Stop by all participating booths and complete your stamp card to automatically enter to win one of these prizes. Once your card is complete, add your name and drop it in the prize box located at the registration desk. Prizes courtesy of Redgate. Draws will happen in the Exhibit Hall Wednesday, November 11 at 3.40pm -
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General Session
Hobby Huddles in the Community Zone
Hosted in the Community Zone, these Hobby Huddle sessions are a fun way for people in the community to showcase their passions and hobbies outside of everyday work life. Head to the Community Zone during lunch on Tuesday and Wednesday to join these highly entertaining and informative back-to-back mini sessions. Topics include: • Photography • Taekwondo • Theatre Lessons to Help Public Speaking • Learning Guitar as a Beginner • Living on a Floating Home • An Honest Look at Pair-Building with an AI Agent • Just Start Peddling
General Session
Hobby Huddles in the Community Zone
Track:
Level: Level 100
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Room: TBD
Hosted in the Community Zone, these Hobby Huddle sessions are a fun way for people in the community to showcase their passions and hobbies outside of everyday work life. Head to the Community Zone during lunch on Tuesday and Wednesday to join these highly entertaining and informative back-to-back mini sessions. Topics include: • Photography • Taekwondo • Theatre Lessons to Help Public Speaking • Learning Guitar as a Beginner • Living on a Floating Home • An Honest Look at Pair-Building with an AI Agent • Just Start Peddling -