Formatting Dates and Times: The SQL Dialect Divide

If you’ve ever had to format dates and times in SQL, you’ve probably come across one of the most jarring realities of working across platforms: every major RDBMS does it differently and sometimes confusingly.  What’s a TO_CHAR() in Oracle becomes FORMAT() or CONVERT() in SQL Server, and its sort of the same in PostgreSQL… but […]

Query Plan Regressions --

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In Praise of Simplicity or The Power of Plain Language in a Buzzword World

There’s a moment I experience all too often in tech meetings, presentations, or vendor demos where someone starts talking, and instead of clarity, I get hit with a tidal wave of jargon: “synergizing AI-driven orchestration pipelines for real-time actionable insights using cloud-native microservices and agentic AI to serve as a digital twin.” And somewhere in […]

The Mindset of a Database Administrator: A Love Letter to Risk Aversion

Sometimes, while working on something as foundational as SQL Server Central, (which is a temporary responsibility for Grant, John and I while Steve is on sabbatical) I catch myself falling into an old, familiar loop double-checking my choices, second-guessing even the most minor decisions, as is the norm for anyone who’s a database administrator (or […]

Shades and Reflecting on SQLBits and the Bright Future of Data

There is something magical about SQLBits. Whether it is the technical sessions, the sense of community and fun, or the relentless commitment to learning about the latest innovation, this event continues to serve as a pulse check for where data is today and where it’s going tomorrow. This year’s SQLBits at the ExCel in London […]

Shining a Light on Shadow AI - Responsible Data Protection When AI is Everywhere

As someone who has had the honor of delivering keynotes at both Oracle and SQL Saturday data events, I’ve spent time with professionals on both sides of the database world.  I’ve held the title of database administrator, developer, engineer and architect for structured, transactional giants and the analytics-heavy ecosystems of eight different database platforms, (not […]

Two Events, Two Worlds: A Week in the Life of a Technologist

Last week, I had the chance to speak at two very different events, and the contrast between them really stuck with me. The first was all a traditional vendor conference-  enterprise-level, built around a well-established product with over 40 years of vendor-driven development. Think polished sponsor tables, polished shoes, and more than a few suits […]

Shadow AI Data Leak Risk or “From the Desk of I saw that Coming”

CSO recently published an article based on a report from Harmonic about generative AI data leaks, and the findings were eye-opening. According to the report, over 8% of employee prompts to public large language models (LLMs) contained sensitive data, ranging from security and compliance issues to privacy and legal vulnerabilities. This wasn’t just a handful […]

Throwing Iron at the Cloud and AI

As organizations move to the cloud, the once essential role of the Database Administrator (DBA) as the guardian of system optimization, has been overshadowed, often viewed as a bottleneck to innovation. Yet, as technology evolves, the one thing I know is history repeats itself, and optimization skills are once again emerging as a critical necessity. […]