22-25 April 2026
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Bob Ward

cloudblogs.microsoft.com/sqlserver

Bob Ward is a Principal Architect for the Microsoft Azure Data team, which owns the development for Microsoft SQL ground to cloud to fabric. Bob has worked for Microsoft for 32 years on every version of SQL Server shipped from OS/2 1.1 to SQL Server 2025 including Azure SQL and SQL database in Fabric. Bob is a well-known speaker on SQL Server, Azure SQL, AI, and Microsoft Fabric often presenting talks on new releases, internals, and specialized topics at events such as SQLBits, Microsoft Build, Microsoft Ignite, PASS Summit, Fabric Community Conference, and VS Live. You can also learn Azure SQL from him on the popular series https://aka.ms/azuresql4beginners. You can follow him at @bobwardms or linkedin.com/in/bobwardms. Bob is the author of the books Pro SQL Server on Linux, SQL Server 2019 Revealed, Azure SQL Revealed, SQL Server 2022 Revealed, Azure SQL Revealed 2nd Edition, and SQL Server 2025 Unveiled available from Apress Media.

Sessions for 2026

An Inside look at how Microsoft builds SQL features
 

Come learn a behind the scenes look at how Microsoft builds features and capabilities for SQL. This session will go deep into how Microsoft uses AI technology from design to code to deployment including fun examples of how we debug our own product. This is an advanced session, but you will walk away with tips and techniques to apply to your use of SQL.

Inside SQL Server 2025 Part 1
 

Join Bob Ward and friends to learn every aspect of SQL Server 2025 including AI built-in, Developer features, all of the core engine, Azure Arc, Fabric Mirroring, and more.

Inside SQL Server 2025 Part 2
 

Join Bob Ward and friends to learn every aspect of SQL Server 2025 including AI built-in, Developer features, all of the core engine, Azure Arc, Fabric Mirroring, and more.

SQL and AI for the rest of us
 

Are you trying to keep up with the pace of AI today especially when it comes to working with your data in SQL, ground to cloud to fabric? In this session you will not only learn fundamentals like vectors, AI models, prompts, model hosting, and RAG. But you will also learn what are the latest innovations such as AI Agents, MCP Servers, and GitHub Copilots. We will have plenty of demos and we will show you how we built them using AI! You will walk away with a better sense of how you can use AI securely with your data in SQL

SQL and Fabric for the rest of us
 

Do you have to be experts like Bob Ward and Anna Hoffman to use SQL? What about Fabric?  Why not both? Come join our experts from Microsoft in this entertaining and educational session where the worlds of SQL and Fabric come to together in way you never knew existed

SQL Server Versioning Explained
 

Version store, Accelerated Database Recovery, Optimized Locking, and RSCI. What do these all have in common? Versioning. In this session the mysteries of SQL Server versioning will be unlocked.

What's new in the SQL core engine
 

With all the news about developer and AI features in SQL, you might wonder if we had any time to invest in the RDBMS core. We certainly did! If you are a DBA, a data engineer, or a developer interested in the new performance and reliability features in query processing and all the way down into the storage engine, join us to learn what's new. We guarantee you'll walk away with new ideas!

Previous Sessions

Introducing SQL Server 2022
SQL Server 2022 is here! In this session, I’ll go over all the new capabilities in SQL Server 2022 including how to connect with Azure for disaster recovery, near real-time analytics, and security. I will show you innovations in the database engine for security, performance, and availability including SQL Server Ledger and Intelligent Query Processing.
 
How to Build Secure, Scalable, and Highly Available Applications with Azure SQL Database
This session will show you how to develop your code with .Net and C# using the latest Microsoft tools to launch quickly in the cloud while ensuring you meet the requirements of security, performance, and availability of your application. You will learn how to ensure your application is optimized with Azure SQL Database including Serverless and Hyperscale tiers, Azure Active Directory, retry and error handling, connection abstraction, automated indexing, and Intelligent Query Processing.
 
SQL Server 2022: The hybrid data platform
SQL Server has included capabilities to connect to the cloud for years. SQL Server 2022 moves hybrid to the next level with features to connect you to Azure for disaster recovery, near real-time analytics, and security. Come take a deep dive in this session for all the existing and new hybrid capabilities of SQL Server. See how to easily setup a managed disaster recovery site in the cloud with Azure SQL Managed Instance.
 
AMA with the Microsoft Engineering team hosted by Bob Ward
Come get your questions answered live on stage by members of the Microsoft engineering team. This will be a fun and interactive session hosted by Bob Ward. We will take questions live from the audience plus those who are connected virtually.
 
SQL Server 2019: The Modern Data Platform
SQL Server 2019 represents the next evolution of the leading database platform in the industry. In this session, we will cover the complete set of features and capabilities in SQL Server 2019.
 
Inside SQL Server on Kubernetes
In this session, we will dive deep into the Kubernetes platform and how SQL Server containers can be deployed, managed, and configured. This session assumes a fundamental knowledge of both SQL Server and containers.
 
SQL Server to Azure SQL: Performance and Availability
Translate your existing SQL Server performance and availability skills and apply them to Azure SQL.
 
Inside SQL Server 2019
Come learn all the new capabilities of SQL Server 2019 directly from the Microsoft engineering team. This session will provide the strategy behind SQL Server 2019 as well as a deep dive into all the new features and how they can help you modernize your data estate with SQL Server.
 
Inside SQL Server Containers
Containers are the new virtual machines. They present a new way to deploy, manage, and run SQL Server never possible before. This session will present an internal view of how Docker containers work, how SQL Server runs in them, and how they work in environments such as Kubernetes
 
Inside SQL Server 2019 Polybase
SQL Server 2019 expands on the Polybase feature from SQL Server 2019 by providing a robust data virtualization solution to reduce the need for ETL and data movement. Come learn how new data connectors work with sources like Oracle, MongoDB, CosmosDB, Terradata, and HDFS.
 
Experience SQL Server on Linux and Containers
SQL Server 2017 is all about choice. Choice for developers to run on Windows, Linux, or Containers. In this session we will show you the experience of running SQL Server on Linux and Containers including a behind the scenes of how we built it.
 
Experience SQL Server 2017: The Modern Database Platform
Looking to upgrade your SQL Server? This session will discuss all the new features and capabilities of SQL Server 2017 including SQL Server on Linux, Docker Containers, Graph Database, Python, Adaptive Query Processing, Automatic Tuning, and HADR.
 
Adaptive query processing in SQL databases
Come learn about the new adaptive query processor in SQL Server 2017 and Azure SQL Database. We will discuss how this feature works, how it can benefit your application and queries, and the future of intelligent query processing.
 
SQL Server 2016 It Just Runs Faster
Come take a deep dive and behind the scenes look at why SQL Server 2016 "Just Runs Faster" with little or no application changes.
 
Keep Your Environment Always On with SQL Server 2016
The Microsoft Tiger team will showcase the environments that help you keep your environment Always On
 
Deploying SQL Server with Microsoft Azure Virtual Machine
Many customers are looking toward Cloud technologies to reduce operational and capital expenditures. A popular choices today for SQL Server customers is to deploy in the Microsoft Azure Virtual Machine environment. Come to this session and learn how
 
Windows Azure SQL Database Troubleshooting
While knowledge of SQL Server troubleshooting still applies to the Windows Azure SQL Database service, there are new and different features, methods, and tools that are unique to cloud database computing. Come learn about these new techniques.