Let's take a look at what you can expect to see this year!
Microsoft is excited to be back as the Sapphire Sponsor for this year’s PASS Data Community Summit, together with AMD. Together, we’re helping data professionals and DBAs modernize their environments for greater performance, efficiency, and AI readiness. It’ll be a week packed with keynotes, learning pathways, sessions, breakfast, giveaways and more!
Our experts and engineers will be there and ready to share all things SQL Server 2025, cover the latest from Azure SQL, Microsoft Fabric and more—delivered on a foundation of AMD-powered innovation. Whether your goals are modernizing for performance and AI readiness or building intelligent apps and agents, we’ll have you covered.
We hope you’ll join us to “Connect, Share and Learn” alongside the rest of your peers at the PASS community. CVP of Azure Databases, Shireesh Thota, is back as the keynote speaker, and will be joined by leaders across Microsoft Data including Priya Sathy and Bob Ward—highlighting how Microsoft and AMD are shaping the future of data together. Join us on Day 2, Thursday, November 20th.
Come back and check as new sessions are added:
Learning Pathways:
Becoming Azure SQL DBA – High Availability and BCDR
Dr. Dani Ljepava, Bob Ward, John Morehouse
Learn how to evolve your Azure SQL DBA skills in the domain of High Availability (HA), Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR) from the perspective of on-premises DBA’s.
Becoming Azure SQL DBA – Security, Compliance, Threats, Connectivity
Pam Lahoud, Joey Dantoni
Evolve your Azure SQL DBA skills in the domain of security, compliance, authentication and connectivity, from the perspective of an on-premises DBA now supporting databases in Azure.
Becoming Azure SQL DBA – Performance Monitoring, Tuning, and Alerting
Erin Stellato, Pam Lahoud, Monica Morehouse (Rathbun)
Extend your Azure SQL DBA skills in the domain of performance monitoring, tuning, and alerting from the perspective of on-premises DBA.
Becoming Azure SQL DBA – Copilot and AI
Davide Mauri, Erin Stellato
Unlock the future of data productivity with a hands-on exploration of AI-powered Copilots! We’ll dive into Copilot in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), Microsoft Copilot in Azure with NL2SQL and SQL, and Copilot for SQL Databases in Microsoft Fabric.
Becoming an Azure SQL DBA - New Opportunities for DBAs in Azure
Bob Ward, Dr. Dani Ljepava, Erin Stellato, Pam Lahoud
Explore new skill development opportunities as an Azure SQL DBA. Many traditional SQL Server DBA tasks have been partially or fully delegated to Microsoft, and this shift in responsibilities provides a great opportunity to invest in developing new cloud skills that will help you excel as an Azure SQL DBA champion.
General Sessions
Breakfast with the Microsoft Data Leadership Team JUST ADDED!
Shireesh Thota, Priya Sathy, Bob Ward, Erin Stellato
Get your day started early at PASS Data Community Summit with a free breakfast and a Q&A session with a panel of leaders across Microsoft hosted by Bob Ward. Tell us what is top of mind for you across SQL Server, Azure SQL, Microsoft Fabric and topics like AI. This is always one of the most popular sessions at the PASS Data Community Summit, so you won’t want to miss it!
Bob Ward
Join Bob Ward and friends to go deep into the next major release of SQL Server, SQL Server 2025, the Enterprise AI-ready database. You will learn the fundamentals and a deep dive of all the new capabilities in the release so you can plan and make key decisions on when and how to upgrade.
SQL Database in Fabric: The Unified Database for AI Apps and Analytics JUST ADDED!
Amar Digamber Patil, Yo-Lei Chen, Basudep Sarkar
Discover how SQL in Fabric brings transactional and analytical workloads together in one cloud-native database. In this session, we’ll show how developers and data teams can simplify AI-driven application development with near real-time insights and built-in AI, seamless OneLake integration, and end-to-end analytics—all in a single, unified experience.
Building Scalable, Secure AI Apps with Azure SQL Hyperscale
Build AI apps that run securely and scale with your needs with Azure SQL Database Hyperscale. We’ll cover native vector indexes for semantic search, read scale‑out for low‑latency RAG, using the model of your choice, from T‑SQL. We will show how to build modern AI Agents using all the tools you need with databases and MCP Servers. Modernize your AI application using the power of Azure SQL Database Hyperscale
Ecosystem sessions
Smarter GitHub Copilot + SSMS 22
Erin Stellato
Discover how GitHub Copilot is transforming the way you write T-SQL and optimize your SQL databases inside SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) 22. In this session, we’ll showcase the newest SSMS 22 features alongside real-world demos of GitHub Copilot, highlighting how AI assistance can speed up query writing, reduce errors, and boost productivity. You’ll learn best practices for getting the most out of Copilot in your daily workflow and see firsthand how SSMS 22 + GitHub Copilot can take your efficiency to the next level.
Can’t wait until the event?
Get an early preview of the sessions at PASS Summit! Watch this free webinar hosted by Redgate’s Kellyn Gorman and Bob Ward, happening October 28th at 9am PT. Don’t miss this opportunity for a first look into the topics we’ll be covering, register today!
--Exclusive Offer for PASS Attendees--
As a special offer from Microsoft, use the code AZURE150 to receive $150 off your 3-day conference pass. Don’t miss this opportunity to connect, grow, and learn with the community. Register today
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