Alexander Arvidsson

Learn how to design reports that matter and turn insights into action. This PreCon covers understanding your audience, creating impactful reports, and using storytelling and communication techniques to ensure long-term impact.

Large Language Models have become ubiquitous in our workflows with remarkable speed, already embedded in every application from Outlook to notepad. But just as sugar transformed from luxury to infrastructure before we understood its metabolic impact, AI is reshaping human cognition faster than we can measure the consequences. This session strips away the marketing hype to reveal what LLMs actually are: sophisticated pattern-matching engines that cannot distinguish between instructions and data. We'll examine hard evidence from recent studies showing measurable cognitive decline after just four months of regular use, and explore why developers consistently believe they're 20% faster while objective measurements show they're 19% slower. You'll learn about the fundamental architectural flaw that allowed journalists to bankrupt an AI-powered vending machine in three weeks, why every document in your knowledge base is a potential security risk, and what's happening to the generation of junior developers whose employment has dropped 20% since 2022. Most importantly, you'll leave with a practical framework for using these tools without outsourcing your ability to think. Unlike sugar, which affects our bodies, AI affects something far more fundamental: our minds. And we only get one shot at this.

Microsoft Fabric's "fixed pricing" is just the start - optimizing capacity units across workloads is key. This session covers CU concepts, workload efficiency, and the bigger picture beyond technology costs.

Microsoft Fabric is a SaaS analytics platform that needs external components. Learn to architect secure, scalable solutions with proper networking, identity management, and Azure service integration.

Spark in Microsoft Fabric differs fundamentally from SQL Server in execution and architecture. Explore Python vs SQL, SparkSQL use cases, common antipatterns, and strategies to optimize your Spark solutions.

Data reveals insights only when we ask the right questions - answers may not exist in our dataset. This session explores cognitive, temporal, and structural challenges: how biases emerge, timing impacts results, and complexity hides dangers. Learn when to question conclusions and why humility matters in analysis.

Knee-Deep in Tech is back! We're doing a live episode at SQL Bits, discussing success factors for implementing AI workloads. Come join the conversation!

Power BI and Fabric promise easy analytics, but without proper business process modeling, BI projects fail. This session covers the fundamentals of effective modeling - cutting through hype to deliver essentials.

Body language conveys 55% of emotional content. Learn five tips to improve your posture and presence on stage, in meetings, and beyond - making your message more effective.