Rethinking (AI) databases... let's go serverless all the way!

For years we have accepted the position of databases in your infrastructure / cloud landscape: our big solid but expensive heart of our precious application. While the economy started to cool down, some interesting happened... We started to look at our bill again How can it make sense that my high traffic (serverless) application runs for 5 euros a month and my databases costs me 1200 euros? Can't we do this cheaper?

The database vendors responded and many innovations are hitting the market currently. Let us look at infinite scaling options, branch schema's, new data storage patterns and optimized compute. As a bonus, let's look how this all positively affects the AI use-cases.

Depending on the audience and the conference, this talk can be delivered showcasing other cloud+database-vendors / implementation technologies.

Hacking Together a Serverless Database: Lessons in Azure and .NET

Join Alex on a whirlwind adventure to handcraft a serverless database engine in under 60 minutes! This live coding session will unpack key serverless concepts like storage offloading, freshness layers, and API gateways, using modern Azure services and .NET. Expect practical examples, laughter, and a fair share of inefficiency as I illustrate serverless patterns in action—and their unexpected pitfalls.

This is a very informative practical session (lots hands-on coding) which does require a stable internet connection!

Building Practical Zero Trust APIs with .NET 9 and Azure

In a world of increasing security threats, Zero Trust has become the gold standard for API security. But how do you implement it practically? This session explores building Zero Trust APIs with .NET 9 on Azure, leveraging AOT compilation, managed identity, and ingress/egress control. Learn how to protect your APIs with minimal overhead, integrate Azure-native security tools, and maintain both performance and developer efficiency through real-world examples and live demos.

Responsible AI in Practice: Merging Privacy, Security, and Ethics

Responsible AI isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a skillset your team needs to thrive in today’s data-driven world. In this session, we’ll explore practical ways to embed responsibility into your AI and data architecture. From understanding and addressing bias to implementing privacy-first practices and Zero Trust principles, you’ll gain actionable insights to make your systems more ethical and secure. With simple examples, patterns, and guidance, you’ll learn how to build responsible AI solutions while empowering your team to navigate the challenges of privacy, security, and ethics in a fast-evolving landscape.