Strahinja Rodic

This session will guide you through the journey of evolving your DBA role from managing on-premises SQL Server databases to becoming Azure SQL DBA in the era of AI. You will learn which responsibilities to retain, which to share with Microsoft, and how to use the freed-up time to build cloud and AI skills. We will cover Azure SQL architecture across key areas such as high availability, BCDR, backup and restore, performance, connectivity, and map them directly to traditional SQL Server DBA responsibilities. You will also learn how to leverage Copilot and AI capabilities that can significantly boost DBA productivity. Meet the product team behind these solutions to ask questions, share feedback, and learn about the upcoming roadmap.

Learn best practices for Azure SQL Database backup configuration and ransomware protection. Explore PITR and LTR strategies, backup immutability, and deletion safeguards to ensure compliance and resilience. Gain actionable insights to secure data, prevent tampering, and maintain business continuity.

As we move from simple chatbots to autonomous Agentic Applications, the data requirements have shifted from static retrieval to dynamic interaction. Agents now need to read, write, and reason over data in real-time, blurring the lines between transactional (OLTP), real-time, and analytical (OLAP) workloads. In this session, we will demonstrate with a real application how Microsoft Fabric serves as the comprehensive "nervous system" for next-generation AI agents.

Discover the most developer-focused SQL Server release in a decade! Explore new capabilities like JSON and Vector data types, advanced functions and indexing, Change Event Streams, improvement to query optimizer, plus powerful string functions like regular expression and string similarity search. Better integrate compute with data for improved efficiency and scalability of your solutions.

Future applications will combine intuitive UI with powerful AI interactions, enabling AI agents to on our behalf for the best experience. At the heart of this transformation is AI Foundry. In this session, we’ll explore how to integrate AI Foundry with Azure SQL, from architecture deep dive through security considerations, to give you the best knowledge to bring your solutions to the next level.

This session will guide you through the journey of evolving your DBA role from managing on-premises SQL Server databases to becoming Azure SQL DBA in the era of AI. You will learn which responsibilities to retain, which to share with Microsoft, and how to use the freed-up time to build cloud and AI skills. We will cover Azure SQL architecture across key areas such as high availability, BCDR, backup and restore, performance, connectivity, and map them directly to traditional SQL Server DBA responsibilities. You will also learn how to leverage Copilot and AI capabilities that can significantly boost DBA productivity. Meet the product team behind these solutions to ask questions, share feedback, and learn about the upcoming roadmap.