Data Conference 2025

22 October 2025, Technopark Zürich

Event Highlights

Speakers and Sessions

Injae Park

Microsoft MVP / Power BI Consultant

Injae Park

Microsoft MVP / Power BI Consultant

Power BI SVGs - messy with AI, quick with Scripting

Discover how Scalable Vector Graphics (SVGs) can transform your Power BI reports in this high-level deep dive. We'll explore how SVGs integrate into native visuals to create custom charts that can take your data storytelling to the next level. This is a demo-first session, and will explore different stages of using SVGs. We cover SVGs in native visuals, LLM-Powered SVG Creation, and go heavily into C# scripts to Automate SVGs and declare 'default' settings to aid SVG implementation - especially using a library of ready made SVG scripts. We will also showcase how to use TMDL and UDF as features that can support similar efficiencies. The target audience for this session are experienced Power BI developers and report designers who are familiar with Advanced Scripting with Tabular Editor and TMDL, who want to push the boundaries of native visuals. The goal is for attendees to leave with a deep understanding of using SVGs in Power BI - and how to utilize them in the most efficient manner.

About Injae Park

Injae Park is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP who combines his technical expertise with a passion for teaching by sharing his insights and practical tips through his YouTube channel @PowerBIPark. Injae's content ranges from beginner tutorials to advanced techniques, and as part of the Power BI Core Visual Representatives - he aims to bridge the MS Developer team with the Power BI community. His education in psychology and economics as well as his experience in consulting gives him a well-rounded perspective on the Power BI Developer experience, making his tutorials both engaging and accessible.

Brian Bønk

Senior Principal, Data & Analytics

Brian Bønk

Senior Principal, Data & Analytics

From Streaming to Insights in 60 Minutes

The ever-fast-paced world demands faster insights. Getting from raw streaming data to an interactive report shouldn’t take hours or even days. In this intermediate, hands-on session, we’ll show you how to transform real-time data into actionable insights with Power BI, all live on stage, with no pre-recordings. We start with real-time data ingestion from a streaming source and take you through the Medallion Architecture, optimizing for sub-second execution. From the gold layer, we’ll build a Power BI report step-by-step, focusing on both speed and usability. Along the way, we’ll share best practices for structuring your data model, optimizing refresh times, and ensuring high performance, even with live datasets. Key takeaways: How to ingest and process real-time data efficiently. Best practices for structuring a Power BI report on top of streaming data while maintaining speed and usability. Techniques to optimize performance, reduce refresh times, and handle continuously updating datasets. This session is for anyone who wants to understand the full journey from real-time data ingestion to building a high-performance Power BI report without compromising speed, usability, or data freshness.

About Brian Bønk

Brian has worked with SQL Server for more than two decades - varying from projects on both size and complexity. Now he's working to support the Data & Analytics team at Intellishore. MVP on Data Platform and Microsoft Recognized Fasttrack Solution Architect. Brian loves data and is always trying to glue the business and tech together using his knowledge and experience. He is always open to meet new people and help them to get better tomorrow.

Kevin Thomas

Microsoft Germany - Cloud Solution Architect

Kevin Thomas

Microsoft Germany - Cloud Solution Architect

X-Ray your Microsoft Fabric Landscape with FUAM

One important bit of the Microsoft Fabric adoption roadmap is System oversight. In this session, we will have a look into what is possible to Monitor and Audit your Fabric Landscape. We will look into the out of the box functionality, what is on the roadmap and we will deep-dive in more advanced functionality by using the Fabric Unified Admin Monitoring Framework (FUAM). This comprehensive framework will include data from different APIs, Capacity Management App, Best Practise - and Vertipaq Analyzer to build an outstanding monitoring solution. We will show live monitoring possibilities with FUAM and our experience by using it in large Fabric landscapes.

About Kevin Thomas

Kevin Thomas is a Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft Germany and specializes in BI, data architecture and engineering. With over 10 years of experience with various Microsoft data technologies ranging from SQL Server to Power BI and Microsoft Fabric, he helps customers get the most out of their data. He is the co-creator of FUAM (Fabric Unified Admin Monitoring), a open source solution enabling admins to get a unified view on their Fabric tenant.

Gellert Gintli

Microsoft Germany - Cloud Solution Architect

Gellert Gintli

Microsoft Germany - Cloud Solution Architect

X-Ray your Microsoft Fabric Landscape with FUAM

About Gellert Gintli

I'm a big fan of data. I've been working for years with Power BI and Azure Data Analytics services. I'm fascinated every time, what our customers can achieve with our technologies. It motivates me every day and I really like to support our customers.

Martin Gutmann

SAP & Microsoft kombinieren - Unabhängige, smarte Entscheidungen

Martin Gutmann

SAP & Microsoft kombinieren - Unabhängige, smarte Entscheidungen

Integrate SAP Data into MS Fabric

Integrating SAP data into Microsoft Fabric and Power BI promises incredible potential—but it’s rarely straightforward. In this session, we’ll cut through the marketing noise and get real about the technical and architectural challenges of working with SAP data. You’ll get a practical overview of the typical problems companies face when dealing with SAP as a data source—ranging from complex data models and performance issues to semantic inconsistencies and tool limitations. We’ll explore SAP’s evolving data and analytics toolset (like BW, Business Data Cloud, CDS Views, Datasphere and SAC) and compare them with Microsoft’s counterparts. We’ll also share real-world insights on: What looks great on paper but fails in practice. Integration patterns that actually scale and work long-term. Key decision points when choosing between tools and platforms. This session is led by Data Purpose, an independent consultancy that lives in both worlds—SAP and Microsoft. Expect honest advice, practical examples, and a roadmap to make informed decisions that go beyond flashy demos.

About Martin Gutmann

Martin Gutmann hat in den letzten 20 Jahren umfangreiche Erfahrungen im Bereich SAP Analytics gesammelt. Seine tägliche Motivation ist es, durch die Nutzung von Daten Verbesserungen für nahezu jede Organisation zu erzielen. Als Mitglied der Geschäftsleitung des grössten SAP-Integrators in der Schweiz hat er erkannt, dass Microsoft-Produkte bei Kunden weit verbreitet sind, jedoch häufig nicht effizient mit SAP kombiniert werden. Im Jahr 2022 gründete er die Firma Data Purpose, um nationale und internationale Unternehmen und Organisationen dabei zu beraten, wie sie Technologie, Menschen und Prozesse optimal kombinieren können.

Marc Lelijveld

Data Platform MVP | Technical Evangelist | Solution Architect Data Solutions & Insights

Marc Lelijveld

Data Platform MVP | Technical Evangelist | Solution Architect Data Solutions & Insights

Extending Fabric Monitoring for custom requirements

Microsoft Fabric offers a rich collection of out of the box monitoring functionality. No matter if you are a Fabric administrator, data steward, domain owner, capacity- or solution admin, there is a out of the box solution for your purpose. However, there may be cases in which you want to enrich the provided reports with your organization specifics. You may want to plot the Fabric adoption across your organizational hierarchy? Or extend the retention of the data beyond 30 days? In this session, we will show the out of the box solutions Fabric offers, to understand them and where to find them. Also, we will explain various customization purposes. From simple report customizations, to export options, to automated patterns for long term saving of the data without leaving the Fabric ecosystem! Learning objectives of this session: Where to find the various monitoring reports in Fabric. Understand these reports inside out. Customize the visualizations in these reports. Extract the monitoring data from the admin space for customization and long term saving. Enriching reports with your organizational specific data.

About Marc Lelijveld

Data Platform MVP, Power BI and Fabric enthusiastic, public speaker and passionate for everything which transforms data into action! Working at Macaw in the Netherlands as Solution Architect and Technical Evangelist in the Data Solutions & Insights team. What I like the most? Sharing my thoughts, experience, best-practices and enthusiasm about Microsoft data platform with others. I mostly do this in public speaking at usergroups, conferences, customer presentations and end-user training. Besides that I also have my own blog which you can find at https://data-marc.com/

Iqbal Khan

Product Engineer @ Microsoft

Iqbal Khan

Product Engineer @ Microsoft

Extending Fabric Monitoring for custom requirements

About Iqbal Khan

Iqbal Khan is a Product Engineer at Microsoft, helping develop the latest Power BI and Fabric features to assist organizations in their deployment of analytics-based technologies. In his role, Iqbal serves as the technical lead for the Admin monitoring workspace feature set provided in Power BI/Fabric. The Admin monitoring workspace is designed to provide admins with cutting-edge capabilities to conduct security and governance-related tasks such as audits and usage checks.

Eva-Maria Kopf

Consultant Data & Analytics at IT-Logix AG

Eva-Maria Kopf

Consultant Data & Analytics at IT-Logix AG

Aesthetics meets function: Does a dashboard need to be beautiful?

Data storytelling, information design, information aesthetics and data art - buzzwords or helpful approaches for data visualization and information provision? Does my dashboard have to be functional and/or beautiful? Will I increase the use and acceptance of my data product with a more beautiful dashboard? But what exactly is a beautiful dashboard? Gestalt psychology concepts such as the ‘Gestalt Principles’ show how our brain organizes information in order to find meaning in visual perception. The targeted use of colours, shapes, symmetry and other visual elements can create designs that have a profound impact on the viewer. Neuroaesthetics shows how our brain processes visual information. In dashboard creation, however, it is not only important to create appealing dashboards, but also to adhere to basic standards. We therefore also look at various dashboard guidelines that ensure the correct interpretation of data and therefore the underlying function of a dashboard. In this presentation you will learn how the right balance between aesthetics and functionality increases the effectiveness and accessibility of data. We will highlight design approaches and best practices based on neuroscientific principles, both functional and aesthetic. Be inspired by current trends and learn how information design can revolutionize your understanding of data - for a clear, intuitive and yet standardized presentation of complex information.

About Eva-Maria Kopf

Eva-Maria already dealt intensively with the topic of data during her Master's degree in ‘Business Intelligence & Analytics’. As a Consultant Data & Analytics at IT-Logix AG, she supports organisations in the provision of data as well as in the development and implementation of decision-driven BI reporting.

Gianna Neeser

Senior Consultant Data & Analytics at IT-Logix AG

Gianna Neeser

Senior Consultant Data & Analytics at IT-Logix AG

Aesthetics meets function: Does a dashboard need to be beautiful?

About Gianna Neeser

Gianna works as a Senior Consultant Data & Analytics at IT-Logix AG. She discovered her interest in data during her studies and is now involved in the development of data warehouses. She supports organizations in the collection and analysis of BI-specific requirements, the implementation of projects as an Agile BI Coach in development teams.

Gerhard Brueckl

Cloud Data Platform Architect

Gerhard Brueckl

Cloud Data Platform Architect

Fabric & Databricks - better together

When building an Analytical Platform in Azure, you can choose between Azure Databricks and Microsoft Fabric. However, both of them have their specific strengths and you might want or need to use both of them. In this session we will cover how the two technologies can work to together to get the best of both worlds.

About Gerhard Brueckl

Gerhard has been working with the Microsoft Data Platform for almost 20 years. From building traditional BI/DWH solution to designing and implementing whole data platforms hosted in Microsoft Azure. He is also working a lot with big data technologies like Spark and Delta Lake. Gerhard is an active member in the data community and also develops OSS extensions for VSCode for data professionals.

Nick Gushchin

Co-founder of the Swiss AI Chatbot Factory, Advisor to AI Startup CloEE

Nick Gushchin

Co-founder of the Swiss AI Chatbot Factory, Advisor to AI Startup CloEE

From Ticket Chaos to Strategic Efficiency: How AI Is Transforming Internal IT Support

In this session, I’ll show how Artificial Intelligence can take internal IT support to the next level — by automating ticket triage, routine workflows, and even physical asset management. You’ll see real examples of AI in action: chatbots resolving first-line issues 24/7, smart routing that cuts resolution time in half, and AI co-pilots helping developers fix problems before they escalate. I’ll walk you through a practical, step-by-step roadmap for implementation, highlight key KPIs to measure success, and share lessons learned from real-world adoption — including mistakes to avoid. This talk is ideal for IT leaders, support managers, and anyone looking to transform their internal support from a cost center into a strategic advantage.

About Nick Gushchin

Tech entrepreneur and AI expert With over 18 years of experience in banking and technology, I specialize in integrating AI solutions to optimize business processes, enhance decision-making, and drive innovation. I help companies implement Generative AI, autonomous agents, and AI-driven automation to gain a competitive edge.

Siro Bühlmann

Co-Founder Data Minds | Data & Solution Architect

Siro Bühlmann

Co-Founder Data Minds | Data & Solution Architect

The Future of ETL is Code: How Notebook-Driven Pipelines and DevOps Principles Are Reshaping Data En

The way we build and manage data pipelines is changing — fast. Spreadsheets, wizards, and drag-and-drop interfaces no longer cut it in a world that demands agility, scalability, and governance. A new paradigm is emerging: code-first ETL, powered by notebooks, automation, and DevOps principles. In this session, we explore how this shift is reshaping the data engineering landscape. From development workflows to production readiness, we look at how modern lakehouse platforms enable teams to build robust, testable, and version-controlled data pipelines — without sacrificing speed or flexibility. Whether you're working in Microsoft Fabric, Databricks, or any cloud-native data stack, this talk will give you a fresh perspective on how notebooks, code, and automation can unlock the next level of productivity in your data projects.

About Siro Bühlmann

Siro Bühlmann is a seasoned data specialist and entrepreneur with over a decade of experience in digital transformation, business intelligence, and e-commerce. As the founder of Data Minds Consulting GmbH, he empowers organizations to harness their data for strategic advantage, focusing on scalable data architectures, Power BI solutions, and modern data warehousing. His career spans leadership roles at Orange Business Digital Switzerland AG and PwC, where he led data integration and analytics initiatives. With a background in business informatics from the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), Siro combines technical expertise with a deep understanding of business processes to drive impactful data strategies.

Guilherme Joaquim

Power BI Platform Engineer

Guilherme Joaquim

Power BI Platform Engineer

Power BI Deployments as Code: End-to-End CI/CD pipeline

Learn how a platform engineering team can deliver a fully automated, customizable CI/CD service for Power BI reports and semantic models via GitLab and Python—no Fabric Git integration required. In this session, we’ll focus on the conceptual architecture and best-practice patterns using Power BI .pbip files with the open-source fabric-cicd and pbipy Python libraries. Session highlights: End-to-End high-level deployment architecture. Centralized platform approach for scaling deployments across multiple workspaces. Branch-based release strategies and environment isolation. Service Principal & Workload Identity Federation patterns for secure authentication. Automate report & semantic-model publishing with Python. Note: While the demos use GitLab, the same approach should also work for example, with Azure DevOps or GitHub

About Guilherme Joaquim

Guilherme Joaquim is a Power BI Platform Engineer and Fabric Administrator at Migros, one of Switzerland's largest retailers. In his role, he is responsible for the Fabric platform focusing on automation, monitoring, Power BI performance optimization and the integration between Google BigQuery and Microsoft Fabric. Guilherme has several years of experience in the business intelligence and data engineering field, implementing enterprise solutions in Power BI, Azure cloud and Microsoft Fabric. He is also the author of the blog 'Data Traveling' (https://www.data-traveling.com/) where he shares his experiences, thoughts, and use cases on implementing solutions within the Microsoft data platform.

Kristian Bubalo

Cloud Solution Architect Data & AI

Kristian Bubalo

Cloud Solution Architect Data & AI

Bring light to the darkness and answer the question: Which house should you choose for your gold layer?

In the evolving landscape of Microsoft Fabric, selecting the optimal house for the gold layer and the right semantic model connection mode—Import, Direct Lake, or DirectQuery—can feel like navigating a maze. This session sheds light on the performance and functional implications of each option by benchmarking Power BI queries. Using a dynamic notebook, we execute consistent Power BI queries across multiple models to evaluate runtime performance under various conditions, including Row-Level Security (RLS) applied at different levels (fact table, small dimension, large dimension). What you’ll learn: Decision drivers for each house (Warehouse, Lakehouse, Eventhouse). Strength and weakness of the different Power BI connection modes (Import, DirectQuery, Direct Lake). Pros and Cons for RLS in SQL Endpoints and Semantic Models. How to dynamically execute and trace Power BI queries for performance benchmarking. Whether you're optimizing for query speed, scalability, latency, or security, this session will help you make informed, data-driven decisions about your gold layer architecture in Power BI.

About Kristian Bubalo

As a Cloud Solution Architect, throughout my career I have always been passionate about building the best Analytical solutions which fits my customers needs best. During this time, I have had the privilege of working alongside talented individuals at major companies, such as The Project Group GmbH. I now work at Microsoft as a Cloud Solution Architect, in Zurich, Switzerland. Our goal is to empower every organization and every person to achieve more. With Microsoft Fabric each individual is capable of analyzing their data - Any data, any way, anywhere. And all in one view.

Meinrad Weiss

Microsoft, Senior Cloud Solution Architect Data&AI

Meinrad Weiss

Microsoft, Senior Cloud Solution Architect Data&AI

Bring light to the darkness and answer the question: Which house should you choose for your gold layer?

About Meinrad Weiss

With nearly two decades of experience at Trivadis as a consultant in the data space, Meinrad has honed expertise in SQL Server, OLTP, and analytical databases. Proficient in relational, multidimensional cubes, and tabular models, Meinrad was an early adopter of Microsoft Azure and its related data services. A regular speaker at local conferences, he transitioned to Microsoft seven years ago as a Senior Cloud Solution Architect. In this role, Meinrad focuses on data projects, primarily analytical and IoT solutions using Microsoft Fabric. Additionally, Meinrad possesses a strong understanding of ADF pipelines and semantic models, having developed several frameworks to automate data ingestion pipelines.

Gustaw Dudek

Founder of Data Forge & Data Vis Forge Community, Head of Business Intelligence

Gustaw Dudek

Founder of Data Forge & Data Vis Forge Community, Head of Business Intelligence

Transforming Standard Visuals into Powerful Insights in Power BI

This session showcases advanced, fully native Power BI visualizations built using DAX, field parameters, and Visual Calculations - without custom visuals or third-party tools. We’ll cover practical examples such as: segmentation (TOPN, Pareto, quadrant logic). variance and structure analysis (comparison tables, waterfalls, heat-maps and others). time-series breakdowns using time intelligence. dynamic views with field parameters. The goal is to show how to build reports that are insightful, dynamic, and aligned with analytical goals.

About Gustaw Dudek

I'm a data professional with over 7 years of experience in data analytics, specializing in advanced data visualization and report front-end development using Power BI. I'm the founder of Data Forge and Data Vis Forge communities. I currently work as a freelance Power BI specialist and as a Head of Business Intelligence (B2B). I'm also an IBCS Certified Data Analyst, former Enterprise DNA Expert in the area of data visualization, and a content creator with over 500 published solutions related to Power BI front-end and reporting techniques. In my work, I support companies in: ✅improving existing Power BI reports – transforming standard reports into more functional tools, with stronger visual structure, clearer storytelling, and improved report usability ✅ building new reports – including report concept creation, mockup design, report flow/storyline development, and implementation of advanced visual components ✅ implementing reports aligned with corporate branding – including building branded report templates and full layout systems adapted to company identity ✅ developing non-standard Power BI reports for commercial or marketing purposes – projects that require exceptional UI/UX and high-end design execution ✅ supervising internal reporting projects – acting as a front-end Power BI consultant with focus on usability, design consistency, and report functionality

Hao Zhang

Technology Specialist at Microsoft

Hao Zhang

Technology Specialist at Microsoft

Zero to Hero: Scaling AI with Fabric

We explore how to go from foundational AI concepts to enterprise-scale deployment using Microsoft Fabric. This session will walk through real-world scenarios, architecture patterns, and performance strategies that empower teams to build, scale, and operationalize AI solutions efficiently. Whether you're just starting out or looking to optimize your AI pipelines, this talk will equip you with practical insights to accelerate your journey from zero to hero.

About Hao Zhang

Hao is a Technology Specialist at Microsoft, passionate about Analytics and AI. With years of experience in data analytics and generative AI, he helps clients advance their Data & AI journey on Azure. Lately, he’s embraced the role of a self-proclaimed “GenAI Demo Guy.

Sameer Ankalgi

Solution Engineer - AI

Sameer Ankalgi

Solution Engineer - AI

Zero to Hero: Scaling AI with Fabric

About Sameer Ankalgi

Sameer is a Technology Specialist at Microsoft. He has more than a decade of experience in software development and specializes in Distributed systems. Currently at Microsoft he is handling AI infra, GPU benchmarking, model fine tuning, NoSQL topics. He helps customers scale their solutions. In his free time he loves to read, travel and is a fan of rock music, his favourite band is Rammstein. His long term dream is to adopt a village in India and support them with basic facilities like education, sanitation and other medical facilities.

Ginger Grant

Principal and Founder of Desert Isle Group

Ginger Grant

Principal and Founder of Desert Isle Group

Understanding and Using AI for the Data Professional

Jump start your understanding of AI with this crash course in everything you need to know to start using AI every day for many different purposes.. Data professionals need this information and this session was designed for you, not for an app developer. Here you will receive explanations of the important parts of AI in order to implement AI in many different aspects of your job from writing emails to developing ETL or Power BI reports. You will learn all about generative AI, prompt engineering, Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) and Vector Databases. The demonstrations will show you how to implement the skills so you will leave knowing how to b use AI. The best part is you will learn how to improve your productivity with AI without any compute costs. This session will also provide an understanding the basics of Azure AI and the many Microsoft Copilots, particularly the ones integrated with Fabric and Power BI.

About Ginger Grant

Ginger Grant shines as a Data Platform MVP, offering top-notch consulting in the realms of advanced analytics, machine learning, and AI, data warehousing, and the intricacies of Microsoft Fabric. Not just a consultant, Ginger is a prolific writer, sharing her insights through articles as a columnist for Pure AI, books, and on her blog, DesertIsleSQL.com. Her mastery doesn’t stop there; as a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT), she imparts wisdom in various data platform areas, including Microsoft Fabric, Azure Synapse Analytics, Python, and Azure Machine Learning. Ginger’s blend of expertise and educational contributions makes her a beacon in the data community.

Carlos Juan

Fabric Data Engineer

Carlos Juan

Fabric Data Engineer

Fabric Warehouse + dbt: Demo of a robust and scalable Data Solution

This session will present a proven Fabric-Warehouse-Solution using dbt. The session is particularly interesting for people with T-SQL knowhow and an interest in increasing efficiency when working with Fabric Warehouse. The agenda is defined as follows: Introduction to dbt and Fabric and the benefits of the solution. Presentation of the Fabric target architecture (workspaces, layers, and Fabric artifacts). Live demo: Creating dimensions and fact tables. Live demo: CICD process and solution support

About Carlos Juan

+7 years experience as Data Engineer and Data Scientist

Giuseppe Di Crisci

Data Engineer, ALTYCA

Giuseppe Di Crisci

Data Engineer, ALTYCA

Fabric Warehouse + dbt: Demo of a robust and scalable Data Solution

About Giuseppe Di Crisci

Giuseppe is a skilled Data Engineer with deep expertise in cloud data platforms, data modeling, and business intelligence. He collaborates with clients in industries such as financial services and insurances to design and implement high-performance data solutions. Giuseppe’s experience spans the entire data lifecycle—from requirements gathering, architecture and data pipeline design to development, optimization, and deployment. Known for his teamwork and client-focused approach, he partners with interdisciplinary teams to build scalable, sustainable solutions that drive informed decision-making.

Vlad Mihanta

Co-Founder of Embedsy

Vlad Mihanta

Co-Founder of Embedsy

Getting Bluey to look at your Power BI Reports with Power BI Embedded

We'll dive into the technical aspects of Power BI Embedded. Looking at what's needed to embed your first report. Examples of what you can do to an embedded report. Examples of what you can do from an embedded report. During the session, we'll look at code, Power BI reports, pretty charts, and the lovable and inexhaustible Bluey

About Vlad Mihanta

I've been working with data for 10 years, leading teams and projects for SMEs, helping companies make sense of their data and deliver more value through it. Father of the 2 most energetic and lovable girls there are. Sometimes writing. Most of the time, making data flow and things work - somehow

Pascal Kiefer

Co-Founder of Embedsy

Pascal Kiefer

Co-Founder of Embedsy

Getting Bluey to look at your Power BI Reports with Power BI Embedded

About Pascal Kiefer

Founder of BI Samurai and Co-Founder of Embedsy, two Switzerland-based Data & BI companies. At BI Samurai, we specialize in all things Microsoft Fabric, with a strong focus on Power BI. Our mission is to help clients unlock the full potential of their data through innovative and effective BI solutions. At Embedsy, we develop cutting-edge Embedded Analytics solutions using Power BI Embedded technology. After over 8 years with BI Samurai, I co-founded this software development company to take my passion for BI to the next level. I enjoy presenting Power BI hacks—the kind of tricks and solutions that people wouldn’t believe are possible with Power BI—and showcasing some of the coolest Power BI Embedded innovations.

Hugo Kornelis

I make SQL Server fast (.com)

Hugo Kornelis

I make SQL Server fast (.com)

Performance and execution plan improvements in SQL Server 2025

SQL Server 2025 was announced in November 2024, and will probably be in preview, or perhaps already released, at the time of this conference. Join execution plan expert Hugo Kornelis as he takes an in-depth look at all the new features that affect query performance and execution plans.

About Hugo Kornelis

Hugo Kornelis is an established SQL Server community expert who spends a lot of time at various conferences. He is also a blogger, technical editor of a variety of books, and Pluralsight author. He was awarded SQL Server MVP and Data Platform MVP 17 times (2006 - 2016 / 2019 - now). When not working for the community, he is busy at his day job: freelance database developer/consultant. Hugo has over 25 years of SQL Server experience in various roles. Starting from a strong database design background, he has spent the last ten years specializing in execution plans and query performance tuning.

Lino Tadros

Technical Fellow and Distinguished Executive

Lino Tadros

Technical Fellow and Distinguished Executive

Delta Parquet, Fabric, AI and LLMs, oh my!

Collecting Delta parquet files at real time in Fabric for AI consumption and utilizing Azure AI Foundry with Semantic Kernel to use Natural Language for retrieving insights using Agents and MCP servers. In this session, we will use a Content Management system that produces parquet files on a daily intervals that contain valuable data about client journeys, touchpoints and conversions from a website, mobile app and social media in order at the end for a marketing team to ask deep questions about the pattern of usability for the Digital Experience offering.

About Lino Tadros

Distinguished executive leader and renowned technical expert in AI, Machine Learning, and IoT. Leads cross-functional architectural teams to award-winning performance by developing strategic roadmaps and powering enterprise-wide projects. Serves as board member and advisor for multiple corporations delivering strategic guidance on product line developments and business solutions. Industry influencer and mastermind of strategic programs and innovations leading modernization efforts to alter the global IT landscape as Microsoft Regional Director. HIGHLIGHTS •Partnered with Microsoft to consult major corporations on Azure integrations; trained over 1K global employees and architects across US, Canada, Europe, Middle East, and Australia. •Invited into elite Microsoft Regional Director program as Top 1% of global SMEs...Maintains direct line of communication to Microsoft executive leaders and Office of the President for Technical and Business Influence. •Inspired $200M marketing push for Microsoft Teams platform and led strategy for MS Azure Synapse design and release; catapulted competitive advantage over Zoom and AWS. •Piloted multi-million-dollar architecture projects for organizations in US, Europe, and Australia to include DoD, NASA, Disney, HP, Johnson & Johnson, and international banking institutions. •Authored 150-page IoT playbook for Microsoft; over 750K downloads across global audience.

Data Conference 2025

Event Highlights

Speakers and Sessions

Injae Park

Brian Bønk

Kevin Thomas

Gellert Gintli

Martin Gutmann

Marc Lelijveld

Iqbal Khan

Eva-Maria Kopf

Gianna Neeser

Gerhard Brueckl

Nick Gushchin

Siro Bühlmann

Guilherme Joaquim

Kristian Bubalo

Meinrad Weiss

Gustaw Dudek

Hao Zhang

Sameer Ankalgi

Ginger Grant

Carlos Juan

Giuseppe Di Crisci

Vlad Mihanta

Pascal Kiefer

Hugo Kornelis

Lino Tadros

Our Sponsors

Gold Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

Media Partners

Raffle Sponsors