22-25 April 2026 
Andrew Pruski
dbafromthecold.com
SQL Server DBA originally from Wales but now exploring Ireland.
Blogging at dbafromthecold.com and has spoken at multiple events in Europe and the US.
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SQLBits 2026
New features in SQL Server 2025
With the release of SQL Server 2025, join Microsoft Data Platform MVP Andrew Pruski for a deep dive into ten exciting new features (that aren't AI) that will shape the way we work with the platform.
With the release of SQL Server 2025, join Microsoft Data Platform MVP Andrew Pruski for a deep dive into ten exciting new features (that aren't AI) that will shape the way we work with the platform.
We'll explore enhancements across multiple areas of the engine, including:
- Query execution: Optimized Locking, ABORT_QUERY_EXECUTION, and improvements to sp_executesql.
- TempDB: Space resource governance, accelerated recovery in TempDB, and support for tmpfs on Linux.
- Extended Events: Time-bound extended events to prevent events consuming resources and potentially generating a large amount of data
- Backups: Full and differential backups on secondary availability group replicas, plus the new ZSTD compression algorithm.
- Brand-new capability: Invoking external REST API endpoints directly from SQL Server.
This session is aimed at anyone working with SQL Server who wants to understand the new capabilities in 2025.
We'll explore enhancements across multiple areas of the engine, including:
- Query execution: Optimized Locking, ABORT_QUERY_EXECUTION, and improvements to sp_executesql.
- TempDB: Space resource governance, accelerated recovery in TempDB, and support for tmpfs on Linux.
- Extended Events: Time-bound extended events to prevent events consuming resources and potentially generating a large amount of data
- Backups: Full and differential backups on secondary availability group replicas, plus the new ZSTD compression algorithm.
- Brand-new capability: Invoking external REST API endpoints directly from SQL Server.
This session is aimed at anyone working with SQL Server who wants to understand the new capabilities in 2025.