22-25 April 2026
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Hugo Kornelis

sqlserverfast.com/blog

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.

Proposed Sessions for 2026

Approximate functions: How do they work?
 

In this session, we will look at the internals of how the "approximate processing" functions in SQL Server 2019 and 2022 are implemented, and what their benefits and drawbacks are.

Execution plans ... where do I start?
 

Execution plans can tell you exactly why a query is slow. But how? In this session you will learn how to obtain execution plans, and how to start reading and understanding them.

Execution plans explained
 

Whether you've never seen an execution plan before, or whether you already have experience with execution plans, this workshop will teach you how to look at an execution plan and then KNOW why your query is slow ... and what you can do to fix that!

Execution Plans in Depth
 

Take your understanding of execution plans to the next level. We'll look in-depth at almost every operator, and how they operators with and affect each other. If you want to learn to get the most out of them, then this pre-con is for you!

Five stages of grief - internals of a hash spill
 

In this deep-dive internals session, you will learn exactly what happens when the Hash Match operator spills to disk.

Here’s the execution plan … now what?
 

This session bridges the gap between simple, clean classroom examples and the messy, complex code of real applications. Based on a realistic and moderately complex scenario, you'll see how to use execution plans and other tools to fix bad performance

Normalization beyond Third Normal Form
 

If you take database design seriously, you cannot miss this session. You will get a clear and easy to understand overview of all the higher Normal Forms: what they are, how to check if they are met, and what consequences their violations can have.

Normalization beyond Third Normal Form, part 2
 

If you take database design seriously, you cannot miss this session. You will get a clear and easy to understand overview of all the higher Normal Forms: what they are, how to check if they are met, and what consequences their violations can have.

Performance and execution plan improvements in SQL Server 2025
 

SQL Server 2025 was officially released in November 2025. Join execution plan expert Hugo Kornelis as he takes an in-depth look at some of the new features that affect query performance and execution plans.

Performance and execution plan improvements in SQL Server 2025 (part 2)
 

SQL Server 2025 was officially released in November 2025. Join execution plan expert Hugo Kornelis as he takes an in-depth look at some of the new features that affect query performance and execution plans.

Previous Sessions

Here’s the execution plan … now what?
This session is for those who have learned about execution plans, but notice that the theory lessons have not prepared them for the messy reality of real production code and execution plans. Using more complex examples than typical for conference sessions, I will guide you through a few examples, to show how execution plans can be used to pinpoint isues and fix them
 
Parameter Sensitive Plan Optimization in SQL 2022 ... As Cool as it Sounds?
We'll provide a balance perspective of the benefits and limitations of the new Parameter Sensitive Plan Optimization feature in SQL 2022 to help you decide if it's right for your environment.
 
Here’s the execution plan … now what?
You know where to find an execution plan. You have taken your first steps reading them. But how are you going to apply this knowlledge to real world problems?
 
Fast Focus: Scalar User-defined Functions in SQL Server 2019
SQL Server 2019 introduces FROID, a framework to inline user-defined functions, promising much better performance. What problem does it solve? And how does it work?
 
Execution plans ... where do I start?
Execution plans are key to understanding bad query performance. But they can be overwhelming to the new user. Where to start? This session will show the basics!
 
From adaptive to intelligent: query procesing in SQL 2019
SQL Server 2019 includes new query processing features such as batch mode on rowstore, memory grant feedback, approximate query processing, and more. How do these work? Are they as good as Microsoft wants us to believe?
 
Normalization Beyond Third Normal Form
Many people think that normalization stops at Third Normal Form. But there are lots of higher normal forms. And they are not as complex or as irrelevant as often claimed. If you want to design better databases, then come attend this session!
 
Everything you always wanted to know about MERGE
In this demo-rich session, Hugo Kornelis shows how the full syntax of MERGE enables more than just synchronizing data. You'll get an overview of all the available options, plus a few surprising pitfalls you may not be aware of.
 
SQL Server 2012: Column store indexes
This session will present you with a fascinating behind-the-scenes deep-dive view of the new column store index feature. How do column store indexes work? How are they built? And how can they yield such enormous performance boosts to some workloads?