| Shades and Reflecting on SQLBits and the Bright Future of Data There is something magical about SQLBits. Whether it is the technical sessions, the sense of community and fun, or the relentless commitment to learning about the latest innovation, this event continues to serve as a pulse check for where data is today and where it’s going tomorrow. This year’s SQLBits at the ExCel in London was no exception. For me personally, sharing the Redgate keynote stage with the inimitable Grant Fritchey for Redgate’s “Our Future is So Bright, We Gotta Wear Shades” was not only a highlight, but it was also a reflection of how much optimism and momentum surrounds the data profession right now. Microsoft’s presence at SQLBits was packed with exciting announcements and forward-looking features. From enhancements to Fabric, to new transactional capabilities in Power BI, and impressive Microsoft’s AI stack, the message was loud and clear: the future of data isn’t just about scale and speed, it’s about democratized data access, intelligence, and responsible empowerment. Microsoft continues to invest in simplifying the data journey while enabling new AI-powered experiences that stretch across traditional transactional systems, real-time analytics, and exploratory data science workloads while reaching back to the transactional systems that feed it. But even with all the innovation, one theme continues to resonate with me - the enduring and evolving value of the data professional. Whether you're optimizing a mission-critical transactional workload, crafting beautiful semantic models in Power BI, or building ML pipelines to predict churn or fraud, you are not just enabling business, but are steering it. We are no longer “just the data people.” We are the architects of insight, the defenders of data integrity, and the navigators of the AI frontier. This is where my fascination lies more so than anywhere else - at the intersection of the democratization of data and the growing tension around data protection. As AI becomes a household tool, and every dashboard or chatbot can generate business-changing outputs in seconds, the question is no longer just what we can do, but how responsibly we’re doing it. With great power comes responsibility...yes, you guessed it: compliance, governance, and ethics. While we race to build bridges from data to AI, we must not forget to reinforce the rails that ensure that data remains secure, trusted, and used ethically. SQLBits reminded me once again how vibrant this profession is. The exhibitor area chats, the advanced sessions, and even the fun around the Redgate booth showed a community that’s not only surviving the AI wave, but surfing it. If anything, data professionals are more essential than ever. And our collective future? Well, it looks pretty bright. So yes, we wore shades on that keynote stage. And if you’re in the data world right now, you should too. Have a great week! DBAKevlar Join the debate, and respond to the editorial on the forums |
