I’m a geek and proud to admit it! I’m also a rather large, talkative South African who plays drums, wears horrendous Hawaiian shirts and has an affinity for engaging in as many social gatherings as humanly possible, because, well….I want to experience as much as possible and connect with as many different people as I can! I am, unapologetically, Myself! This zest for interaction and collaboration has led to a fixation on community and an understanding that by bringing people together in the right environment, ANYTHING can be achieved.

I have an intense enthusiasm for technology. I am a terrific tinkerer, a passionate problem solver and a magical maker. As long as I am creating something, I feel fulfilled. Technology provides me with my creative outlet, especially in a digital format. My core focus is on the Microsoft Power Platform, a perfect consolidation of digital technology creating a symphony between both right and left brain hemispheres.

I love to explore the huge mountain of digital building bricks provided by Microsoft to create amazing solutions and solve real problems. I love to bring people together to talk about the amazing things that can be created and can be used to change the way organisations work. I enjoy watching as people, both inexperienced and seasoned, build things and then realise that technology and learning have no boundaries. The sense of digital inclusion within community is what I strive for.

I look forward to connecting with each and every one of you!

#BuildAwesomeThings

I’m a geek and proud to admit it! I’m also a rather large, talkative South African who plays drums, wears horrendous Hawaiian shirts and has an affinity for engaging in as many social gatherings as humanly possible, because, well….I want to experienc... Show more

Johan Ludvig Brattås is a director at Deloitte, and a dedicated community guy. He has worked with MS SQL server since late 1999, mostly with BI in one form or another. Since 2015, most of his work has been in the cloud working on data platform services such as Snowflake, Databricks and Synapse.

Combining his passion for MS SQL Server with his passion for sharing knowledge, he started speaking at various events in the SQL Community. This is also a way to give back to the community for all the things he has learned over the years. When not working, Johan Ludvig either spends his time with his kids, playing with new technology or teaching coeliacs how to bake glutenfree food.

Johan Ludvig Brattås is a director at Deloitte, and a dedicated community guy. He has worked with MS SQL server since late 1999, mostly with BI in one form or another. Since 2015, most of his work has been in the cloud working on data platform servic... Show more

Hi there! 👋 I’m a Dataviz & UX Consultant passionate about turning data into meaningful, user-friendly stories. My goal? To help businesses create reports that are not just visually stunning but also intuitive and accessible—because great design makes data easier (and more fun!) to use.

Through my blog MoonStory 🌙 and speaking at international conferences, I share my love for combining dataviz and UX Design to empower teams to see their data in a whole new way.

When I’m not working magic with data, I can be found exploring the world, picking up new languages, doing yoga, and immersing myself in great books.

Hi there! 👋 I’m a Dataviz & UX Consultant passionate about turning data into meaningful, user-friendly stories. My goal? To help businesses create reports that are not just visually stunning but also intuitive and accessible—because great design mak... Show more

Dedicated to the world of Microsoft solutions with focus on Power Platform and M365. Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador. Lover of technology, gaming and cats.

Dedicated to the world of Microsoft solutions with focus on Power Platform and M365. Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador. Lover of technology, gaming and cats. Show more

Raphael Manke is a full-stack developer many years of experience in developing serverless applications in the AWS cloud. AWS CDK changed his way of defining infrastructure as code dramatically and he likes to share his experiences and challenges along the way.

Raphael Manke is a full-stack developer many years of experience in developing serverless applications in the AWS cloud. AWS CDK changed his way of defining infrastructure as code dramatically and he likes to share his experiences and challenges alon... Show more

Driven by a zest for technology and fun in equal measure, I've navigated from hands-on coding across full-stack o steering technical leadership and architecture. Embracing change, I've evolved, always eager to push beyond the familiar. My experience spans a rich variety of domains, including remote device management and monitoring, payroll, healthcare, media, e-commerce, and software for municipalities, in both insourcing and outsourcing models.
Alongside my technical contributions, I've enriched my career by mentoring emerging talent and engaging audiences at conferences, sharing insights and fostering a community of learning and innovation.

Beyond the realm of coding, I am passionate about sharing insights, whether through thought-provoking articles or by distilling my experience into my book, "Software Architecture for Web Developers."

You can see my work in here:
https://medium.com/@ghidersa-mihaela
https://www.amazon.com/Software-Architecture-Web-Developers-professionals/dp/1803237910

Driven by a zest for technology and fun in equal measure, I've navigated from hands-on coding across full-stack o steering technical leadership and architecture. Embracing change, I've evolved, always eager to push beyond the familiar. My experience ... Show more

Surbhi is a data professional with over two decades of architectural/administration experience in the financial domain. Architecting the operationalization aspect in a client-facing role, delivering relational and advanced analytics solutions for large scale Operational and Data Warehouse implementations with focus on learning and innovation remained a constant part of her data journey. Currently she is leading enterprise scale cloud data migrations in SQL Server/Snowflake/Azure SQL/Managed Instance and involved with designing next generation Data Analytics solutions using Snowflake. Surbhi is board member of the New England SQL Server User Group, member of PASS, speaker in PAAS Summit/Snowflake User Group/Azure Data User Groups/Data Saturdays/SQLBits.

Surbhi is a data professional with over two decades of architectural/administration experience in the financial domain. Architecting the operationalization aspect in a client-facing role, delivering relational and advanced analytics solutions for lar... Show more

Liz Rice is Chief Open Source Officer at eBPF specialists Isovalent, creators of the Cilium project, and now part of Cisco. She is an award-winning speaker, and the author of O'Reilly books on "Container Security" and "Learning eBPF". She has held many roles with the CNCF, including as a governing board member, chair of the Technical Oversight Committee, and Co-Chair of KubeCon + CloudNativeCon. She was also previously on the board of OpenUK.

She has a wealth of software development, team, and product management experience from working on network protocols and distributed systems, and in digital technology sectors such as VOD, music, and VoIP. When not writing code, or talking about it, Liz loves riding bikes in places with better weather than her native London, competing in virtual races on Zwift, and making music under the pseudonym Insider Nine.

Liz Rice is Chief Open Source Officer at eBPF specialists Isovalent, creators of the Cilium project, and now part of Cisco. She is an award-winning speaker, and the author of O'Reilly books on "Container Security" and "Learning eBPF". She has held ma... Show more

Chris Ayers is a Senior Site Reliability Engineer on Microsoft’s AzRel Risk SRE team, drawing on years of experience in cloud architecture, software development, and DevOps practices. He’s passionate about continuous improvement, driving reliability, and sharing industry best practices. Outside of work, Chris is a devoted father, technology enthusiast, and avid gamer. Connect with him online to explore insights into cloud operations, agile methodologies, and more.

Chris Ayers is a Senior Site Reliability Engineer on Microsoft’s AzRel Risk SRE team, drawing on years of experience in cloud architecture, software development, and DevOps practices. He’s passionate about continuous improvement, driving reliability,... Show more

Parth Shukla is a dedicated Cybersecurity Analyst at Cequence Security with a strong passion for Web Application Security. He is an accomplished bug hunter, community builder, and cybersecurity enthusiast with a relentless drive to uncover vulnerabilities and share knowledge. Parth’s work focuses on securing modern web applications by addressing critical threats like those outlined in the OWASP API Top 10, including BOLA, SSRF, and Broken User Authentication.

In addition to his professional achievements, Parth has mentored over 600 aspiring cybersecurity professionals, empowering them with skills in ethical hacking, bug bounty hunting, and advanced web application testing. An advocate for continuous learning and collaboration, Parth is a frequent speaker at leading cybersecurity conferences worldwide. Guided by the principle that “security is a myth,” he strives to challenge assumptions and push the boundaries of what’s possible in cybersecurity.

Parth Shukla is a dedicated Cybersecurity Analyst at Cequence Security with a strong passion for Web Application Security. He is an accomplished bug hunter, community builder, and cybersecurity enthusiast with a relentless drive to uncover vulnerabil... Show more

Magnus Mårtensson is an entrepreneur, a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for Azure since the start of the cloud, and a Microsoft Regional Director (RD). He is a consultant, architect, product development lead, and he runs his own company Loftysoft. As an international speaker Magnus travels the world to teach, network, learn, and experience. His passions include connecting with audiences and organizing conferences such as CloudBurst and GlobalAzure. He is of course also into good food, wine, and great company. Topping it all is mind-sharing, so when you see him at a conference, come over and say hi!

Magnus Mårtensson is an entrepreneur, a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) for Azure since the start of the cloud, and a Microsoft Regional Director (RD). He is a consultant, architect, product development lead, and he runs his own company Lo... Show more

Adele is a Software Engineer and Consultant at Trifork Amsterdam where she is working on systems for the educational sector. Most of her work day is spent in the JVM/Spring and React ecosystems, although increasingly she plays a pivotal role as trusted advisor to Trifork’s customers.

Adele is an experienced international speaker, having spoken at multiple editions of NDC, goto, Devoxx and JavaZone. As a speaker, she uses her exposure to real-world customer projects, experiences outside of tech and passion for story-telling to distill complex ideas into their essential parts. All with an air of good humour.

When she’s not at her computer or on stage, you can find her in the gym pumping some serious iron as she pursues the sport of powerlifting.

Adele is a Software Engineer and Consultant at Trifork Amsterdam where she is working on systems for the educational sector. Most of her work day is spent in the JVM/Spring and React ecosystems, although increasingly she plays a pivotal role as trust... Show more

Meet Gerald Versluis, software engineer at Microsoft, who wields the power of .NET MAUI to conquer any project that comes his way. With a career spanning over a decade, he's tackled it all, from frontend to backend and everything in between, using Azure, ASP.NET, and all the other .NET goodies.

But it wasn't until he discovered the magic of Xamarin that he truly fell in love with mobile and cross-platform development, becoming an active community member and sharing his knowledge through writing, tweeting, and presentations. When he's not saving the world of software, you can find him on Twitter @jfversluis, blogging at https://blog.verslu.is, or making videos on his YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/GeraldVersluis.

Meet Gerald Versluis, software engineer at Microsoft, who wields the power of .NET MAUI to conquer any project that comes his way. With a career spanning over a decade, he's tackled it all, from frontend to backend and everything in between, using Az... Show more

Mark is Director of the Microsoft Practice at Protiviti and a 10-year Microsoft MVP with more than 25 years of experience designing and developing software solutions. Mark’s daily responsibilities include forging the direction of solution architecture and development projects for clients while providing the best solutions for clients' unique problems. Mark has a unique ability to breakdown complicated technical topics in a way that are easily consumable by a non-technical audience and engages his audience with humor and real-world stories. As a globally recognized M365 geek, Mark is an active blogger, presenter, author (and bacon aficionado) who is eager to lend his real-world knowledge of SharePoint to all who need it.

In addition to speaking at various SharePoint & Office 365 conferences around the world, Mark is the organizer of The North American Collaboration Summit (www.collabsummit.org) in Branson, Missouri

Mark is Director of the Microsoft Practice at Protiviti and a 10-year Microsoft MVP with more than 25 years of experience designing and developing software solutions. Mark’s daily responsibilities include forging the direction of solution architectur... Show more

Igniting the African Growth Story: Harnessing Data, AI, and ML to Empower Industries, Markets, and Lives.

As an Intrepreneur/Entrepreneur, I am fuelled by a burning passion for propelling business growth through effective processes and structures. However, my vision extends far beyond that. I firmly believe that the power of Data Insights, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning will serve as the catalysts propelling Africa into a realm of double-figure growth in sectors such as Agriculture, Financial Inclusion, Insurance Penetration, and more.

Forever a Mentee and student of life, I have amassed 9 years of invaluable experience as a dedicated and detail-oriented Project Lead/Owner. My journey has taken me through diverse environments, honing my skills in monitoring, maintaining, and surpassing client satisfaction goals and growth objectives through data-driven teams.

I hold a special interest in capturing the millennial market and leveraging Modelling Artificial Intelligence systems to unlock exponential growth opportunities in the African Market. To complement my expertise, I am currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Actuarial Science at the esteemed University of Nairobi.

Beyond my educational background and industry experience, I have founded two successful startups that showcase my commitment to driving technological advancements and intrinsic value in the world:

1. BimaSmart: An Insurance Evaluation platform revolutionizing risk assessment and pricing of micro-insurance. I successfully sold the concept to https://jetsure-agritech.com/ in 2016-2017.

2. Tose Technologies LTD: A groundbreaking Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning think tank focused on implementing AI in Agriculture Value Chains to mitigate risk associated with financial instruments. Though currently at the ideation stage, we are poised to embark on a proof of concept journey in October 2022.

Igniting the African Growth Story: Harnessing Data, AI, and ML to Empower Industries, Markets, and Lives. As an Intrepreneur/Entrepreneur, I am fuelled by a burning passion for propelling business growth through effective processes and structures.... Show more

With 20+ years in data and analytics, I bring deep experience from consulting to product.

I’m passionate about building scalable, developer-friendly data solutions - and turning customer needs into powerful features. Today, I’m living the dream helping shape Power BI within Microsoft Fabric.

As a seasoned speaker, I love sharing insights and continuously learning from the Microsoft data community.

With 20+ years in data and analytics, I bring deep experience from consulting to product. I’m passionate about building scalable, developer-friendly data solutions - and turning customer needs into powerful features. Today, I’m living the dream h... Show more

Hugo is the world's laziest developer. He will always look for the easiest way to solve a problem.

He is also a member of the Microsoft 365 Patterns and Practices (PnP) team.

As a Microsoft MVP and former McKinsey & Company consultant, Hugo combines his love of technology and his management consulting experience to help organizations solve business problems quickly using enabling Microsoft technologies.

Hugo worked in Canada, the United States, Germany, Finland, Singapore, Hungary, France, and the United Kingdom, where he consumed vast amounts of coffee.

Hugo is the world's laziest developer. He will always look for the easiest way to solve a problem. He is also a member of the Microsoft 365 Patterns and Practices (PnP) team. As a Microsoft MVP and former McKinsey & Company consultant, Hugo c... Show more

Co-Author of 'Coaching for Learning; the Art and Practice' and 'Create Your Dojo; Upskilling Your Organization for Digital Evolution,' Joel helps organizations evolve through learning. This combines a blend of XP, agile, lean, devops and product thinking practices all to embrace learning in the context of work.
With deep experience in architecture modernization, blending product discovery with delivery and architecture, and systems thinking, Joel helps organizations make it easier for their teams to do great work.

Co-Author of 'Coaching for Learning; the Art and Practice' and 'Create Your Dojo; Upskilling Your Organization for Digital Evolution,' Joel helps organizations evolve through learning. This combines a blend of XP, agile, lean, devops and product thi... Show more

Jan Vidar Elven is a Senior Cloud Platform & Security Architect working at Microsoft Partner Evidi AS in Norway. He is a Microsoft MVP in Security, an active speaker and blogger, and has more than 25 years’ experience inside IT infrastructure management and architecting solutions, working with Cloud & Datacenter, specializing in Azure, Microsoft Entra, Active Directory, Enterprise Mobility, Identity & Access Management, Identity Governance, Service Management, Operations Management and Automation cross On-Premise and Azure environments.

Jan Vidar Elven is a Senior Cloud Platform & Security Architect working at Microsoft Partner Evidi AS in Norway. He is a Microsoft MVP in Security, an active speaker and blogger, and has more than 25 years’ experience inside IT infrastructure managem... Show more

Bob Ward is a Principal Architect for the Microsoft Azure Data team, which owns the development for Microsoft SQL ground to cloud to fabric. Bob has worked for Microsoft for 31+ years on every version of SQL Server shipped from OS/2 1.1 to SQL Server 2025 including Azure SQL and SQL database in Fabric. Bob is a well-known speaker on SQL Server, Azure SQL, AI, and Microsoft Fabric often presenting talks on new releases, internals, and specialized topics at events such as SQLBits, Microsoft Build, Microsoft Ignite, PASS Summit, Fabric Community Conference, and VS Live. You can also learn Azure SQL from him on the popular series https://aka.ms/azuresql4beginners. You can follow him at @bobwardms or linkedin.com/in/bobwardms. Bob is the author of the books Pro SQL Server on Linux, SQL Server 2019 Revealed, Azure SQL Revealed, SQL Server 2022 Revealed, and Azure SQL Revealed 2nd Edition available from Apress Media.

Bob Ward is a Principal Architect for the Microsoft Azure Data team, which owns the development for Microsoft SQL ground to cloud to fabric. Bob has worked for Microsoft for 31+ years on every version of SQL Server shipped from OS/2 1.1 to SQL Server... Show more

Dr. Nico Jacobs started his career as a data mining researcher at the university of Leuven, Belgium. He joined U2U in 2004 as an instructor, author and technology strategist. His current technical expertise focuses on Power BI and Data Engineering/Data Science on Microsoft Azure. As a passionate trainer, Nico likes to inspire his students to gain a thorough knowledge on the subject. Nico regularly speaks at local and international conferences. You can see what he’s up to by following @SqlWaldorf on Twitter .

Dr. Nico Jacobs started his career as a data mining researcher at the university of Leuven, Belgium. He joined U2U in 2004 as an instructor, author and technology strategist. His current technical expertise focuses on Power BI and Data Engineering/Da... Show more

Ben Ferry is a Senior Analytics Consultant at Solita Germany with over seven years of experience delivering Power BI solutions across a range of industries. His work spans end-to-end report development, enterprise rollouts, training programs, and the implementation of data governance frameworks.

Ben is particularly known for his expertise in Power BI’s semantic model, data visualization, DAX, and advanced custom visuals using Deneb and Vega-Lite. He regularly speaks at conferences and facilitates workshops, where he focuses on helping others build more transparent, effective, and user-friendly reporting solutions.

Ben Ferry is a Senior Analytics Consultant at Solita Germany with over seven years of experience delivering Power BI solutions across a range of industries. His work spans end-to-end report development, enterprise rollouts, training programs, and the... Show more

I believe in collaborative software design where *‘every voice shapes the software’*. Leveraging a domain-driven design approach with Team Topologies, I facilitate clearer communication between stakeholders and software creators by collaborative modelling and deep democracy, decoding complexities, resolving conflicts and ensuring software remains agile to business demands.

As an independent software consultant and trainer, I specialise in technical leadership, software architecture, and sociotechnical system design. I work with organisations and teams to design and build sustainable and resilient software architecture.

I believe in collaborative software design where *‘every voice shapes the software’*. Leveraging a domain-driven design approach with Team Topologies, I facilitate clearer communication between stakeholders and software creators by collaborative mod... Show more

Clemens Vasters is Lead Architect in Microsoft’s Azure Messaging team that builds and operates a fleet of hyper-scale messaging services, including Event Grid, Service Bus, Event Hubs, Stream Analytics and Microsoft Fabric Eventstreams. Clemens represents Microsoft in messaging standardisation in OASIS (AMQP, MQTT) and CNCF (CloudEvents, xRegistry) and writes too much code for being an "Architect". He looks back at nearly 30 years in professional software development and has seen the same fashion come and go a few times.

Clemens Vasters is Lead Architect in Microsoft’s Azure Messaging team that builds and operates a fleet of hyper-scale messaging services, including Event Grid, Service Bus, Event Hubs, Stream Analytics and Microsoft Fabric Eventstreams. Clemens repre... Show more

Nicolas Fränkel is a technologist focusing on cloud-native technologies, DevOps, CI/CD pipelines, and system observability. His focus revolves around creating technical content, delivering talks, and engaging with developer communities to promote the adoption of modern software practices. With a strong background in software, he has worked extensively with the JVM, applying his expertise across various industries. In addition to his technical work, he is the author of several books and regularly shares insights through his blog and open-source contributions.

Nicolas Fränkel is a technologist focusing on cloud-native technologies, DevOps, CI/CD pipelines, and system observability. His focus revolves around creating technical content, delivering talks, and engaging with developer communities to promote the... Show more

Scott McAllister is a Developer Advocate for LoftLabs. He has been building web applications in several industries for over a decade. Now he's helping others learn about a wide range of web and infrastructure technologies. When he's not coding, writing or speaking he enjoys long walks with his wife, skipping rocks with his kids, and is happy whenever Real Salt Lake, Seattle Sounders FC, Manchester City, St. Louis Cardinals, Seattle Mariners, Chicago Bulls, Seattle Storm, Seattle Seahawks, Seattle Reign FC, St. Louis Blues, Seattle Kraken, Barcelona, Fiorentina, Borussia Dortmund or Mainz 05 can manage a win.

Scott McAllister is a Developer Advocate for LoftLabs. He has been building web applications in several industries for over a decade. Now he's helping others learn about a wide range of web and infrastructure technologies. When he's not coding, writi... Show more

Gabriel is an engineering executive with extensive experience in security and developer platforms. Over the years, I have worked as a technical leader and principal engineer at large corporations such as Cisco and Palo Alto Networks and a few startups.
For the last couple of years, Gabriel has mainly focused on fine-grained authorization. As the VP of developer relations at Permit.io, he advocates for and creates content around security and permissions, guiding engineers in this journey.
In my spare time, I'm an avid writer, kitchen enthusiast, and adventurous traveler.

Gabriel is an engineering executive with extensive experience in security and developer platforms. Over the years, I have worked as a technical leader and principal engineer at large corporations such as Cisco and Palo Alto Networks and a few startup... Show more

Johan Persson has worked as a consultant for more than 20 years and is at the moment employed as a Senior Technical Specialist at Engage Group. He is co-hosting three Swedish podcasts: ”En Liten Podd om IT”, "Dynamicspodden" and ”The Nerd Herd”. His main area of expertise is infrastructure but also works a lot with Microsoft Dynamics.

Johan Persson has worked as a consultant for more than 20 years and is at the moment employed as a Senior Technical Specialist at Engage Group. He is co-hosting three Swedish podcasts: ”En Liten Podd om IT”, "Dynamicspodden" and ”The Nerd Herd”. His ... Show more

Charles is a technical speaker and low-code advocate with a pro-code background, specializing in transforming business data architecture. With a passion for innovation, he shares his expertise to solve complex business problems and guide organizations in reimagining their legacy processes, advancing automation initiatives, streamlining operations, and reducing infrastructure costs.

| Software Engineer Plus Ultra | Middle-child | Soufside

Charles is a technical speaker and low-code advocate with a pro-code background, specializing in transforming business data architecture. With a passion for innovation, he shares his expertise to solve complex business problems and guide organization... Show more

Pamela Paterson, MS, CBAP, PMP, is a best-selling author and senior IT consultant specializing in business analysis and project management. With a strong background in systems engineering and experience working with over 100 organizations, Pamela has delivered workshops, webinars, and presentations worldwide and authored 10 books, including two international best-sellers: Creating Requirements for Software Projects and Get the Job. Pamela has also taught project management for over ten years in Toronto, Canada. In 2023 and 2024, she stands out as one of the most active speakers on Sessionize. For more details, visit her LinkedIn profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamelapaterson/.

Pamela Paterson, MS, CBAP, PMP, is a best-selling author and senior IT consultant specializing in business analysis and project management. With a strong background in systems engineering and experience working with over 100 organizations, Pamela has... Show more