Alpa Buddhabhatti is a Microsoft MVP and Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT), working as a Lead Data Engineer and Data Architect. She specializes in building modern, scalable data platforms using Azure technologies such as Azure Data Factory, Azure SQL, Microsoft Fabric, Azure AI, Logic Apps, and serverless solutions. She also uses Generative AI and Microsoft Foundry with Microsoft Fabric to turn data into meaningful insights and innovation. Alpa is an international speaker at leading events including SQLBits, Microsoft Ignite, and PASS Summit. She is known for making complex Data and AI topics simple, practical, and inspiring—helping professionals grow their skills and confidence in the modern data world.

• Building an AI-Ready Analytics Platform with Microsoft Fabric

  Many organizations want to deliver AI-driven insights—but struggle with fragmented pipelines, inconsistent governance, and data platforms that aren’t designed for modern analytics at scale. This hands-on full-day workshop shows how to design and implement a practical, real-world analytics platform using Microsoft Fabric that prepares your data for trusted reporting, automation, and AI scenarios. Working through guided exercises and architecture-driven examples, attendees will explore the Fabric environment, set up repository-integrated development workflows, and implement scalable ingestion and transformation patterns using Data Factory, Notebooks, SQL, etc. You’ll learn how to apply Medallion architecture and metadata-driven design to build structured Lakehouse solutions that support reliable analytics and enterprise-ready data engineering. The session also demonstrates how CI/CD practices improve deployment confidence and how trusted datasets can be prepared for intelligent consumption through Microsoft Foundry. Participants will explore how Data Agents and Copilot can accelerate development and enable natural interaction with enterprise data. By the end of the workshop, you’ll leave with reusable architecture patterns, practical implementation techniques, and a clear blueprint to build secure, scalable, AI-ready analytics platforms you can apply immediately in your own environment.

I make databases go faster. I love teaching, travel, laughing, and collecting vintage sports cars. Las Vegas. He/him, pan.

• Dev-Prod Demon Hunters: Finding the Real Cause of Production Slowness

  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.

Grant Fritchey is a Data Platform MVP and AWS Community Builder with over 30 years' experience in IT, including time spent in support and development. He works with multiple data platforms including SQL Server and PostgreSQL, as well as multiple cloud platforms. He has also developed in VB, VB.NET, C#, and Java.

• Adding PostgreSQL to your SQL Server Skill Set

  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.

Pat Wright is an Advocate with Redgate Software. He has been a database professional for 25 years, specializing in PostgreSQL for the past 10 years, after a long career with SQL Server. He has worked across large-scale SaaS platforms, early-stage startups, and a wide range of consulting engagements over the past decade. Pat currently serves as the Sponsor Coordinator for PGUS and as President of Utah Geek Events, and is a frequent speaker in both the PostgreSQL and SQL Server communities. His sessions draw on deep real-world experience with performance, automation, and operational best practices. Outside of tech, he enjoys photography, classic cars, and cycling.

• Adding PostgreSQL to your SQL Server Skill Set

  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.