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SQLServerCentral Editorial

The Double-Edged Sword of AI and Data Democratization

Agentic AI is often hailed as a game-changer by organizations, bringing autonomous decision-making, intelligent automation, and powerful predictive capabilities. However, as organizations rush to leverage these technologies, those dealing with critical data in relational databases, documents and datasets, especially personally identifiable information (PII) face a harsh reality: moving AI projects from proof-of-concept to production is […]

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2025-08-06

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SQLServerCentral Editorial

When DBAs Should Consider Using SQL Server to Store Vector Data and If It Makes Sense

As we continue to build more applications using AI embedded solutions, database professionals are increasingly being asked to support workloads that would have seemed outside their charter just a few years ago. One of the most significant shifts has been the rise of vector data (i.e. high-dimensional numerical representations of content like text, images, and […]

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2025-07-26

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SQLServerCentral Editorial

Why Podcasts Matter for the Technical Professional

In a world of always-on learning and the relentless march of tech evolution, podcasts emerged as a quiet revolution in how I consume information.  I’ve been part of several podcasts this year, including recording one earlier today with Ed Roske for the Oracle community. As a data professional and technical specialist, for me they’re more […]

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2025-07-24

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The Decoded Value

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Question of the Day

The Decoded Value

In SQL Server 2025, what is returned from this code:

DECLARE @message VARCHAR(50) = 'Hello SQL Server 2025!';
DECLARE @encoded VARCHAR(MAX);

SET @encoded = BASE64_ENCODE(CAST(@message AS VARBINARY(1000)));
SELECT BASE64_DECODE(@encoded) 

See possible answers