Joshua Higginbotham is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP and Senior Data & AI Architect at QSIC, known for bridging the gap between deep technical execution and executive-level strategy. He has built and led data platforms across software engineering, database administration, business intelligence, and AI, with hands-on experience taking ideas from whiteboard to production.

Joshua has worked both as an individual contributor shipping real systems and as a leader guiding teams, roadmaps, and platform modernization efforts. A frequent speaker and Co-Chapter Leader of the Louisville Data Technology Group on Meetup, he’s passionate about helping data professionals build practical, scalable solutions that actually move the business forward.

Joshua Higginbotham is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP and Senior Data & AI Architect at QSIC, known for bridging the gap between deep technical execution and executive-level strategy. He has built and led data platforms across software engineering, da... Show more

Community lover and Ambassador of enthusiasm. In 2017 I began my journey within tech communities, becoming an active organizer of various communities such as Google Developers Group Turin and Trento, ngRome, Flutter EXP, Italian Community Managers Summmit and DInA Tech Hub. 

From a passion, community management has become my full-time job with GrUSP since 2020 in which I have organized around fifteen events a year on various programming languages ​​and coordinating the activities of 12 PUG communities at a national level.

I am currently Community Program Manager Europe in Codemotion and in my free time lead in GDG Bari, WTM Ambassador, lead of the TEDxCuneo partnership team and tourism councilor of the municipality of Cissone.

I love the world of conferences and public speaking, I always try to make everything I have learned in my journey available at the events in which I participate.

Diversity, community, growth and sharing are the values ​​on which I base my projects which I always carry forward with great enthusiasm and energy.

Here are more info about me: https://bit.ly/pantarei-mb

Community lover and Ambassador of enthusiasm. In 2017 I began my journey within tech communities, becoming an active organizer of various communities such as Google Developers Group Turin and Trento, ngRome, Flutter EXP, Italian Community Managers Su... Show more

Dr Booma Poolan Marikannan – Microsoft AI MVP, GenAI SME, Group Manager, Data & AI, Avanade, Charlotte, NC,USA
Dr Booma, a seasoned technologist with over a decade of extensive experience in the realms of technology and leadership, stands at the helm as the Microsoft AI MVP, AI Solution Architect, GenAI SME, Group Manager, Data & AI, Avanade, Charlotte, NC,USA. Her illustrious career has spanned more than 14 years, during which she has been a stalwart contributor to the conception and realization of groundbreaking GenAI solutions. With each endeavor, she adeptly illustrates the transformative potential of GenAI, casting a luminous spotlight on its profound implications for businesses.
Her contributions in this domain have earned her international acclaim, as she stands as a revered luminary in the field. Notably, she has been bestowed with the prestigious title of "Microsoft Most Valuable Professional in AI Platform(MVP-AI)", "Young Women Scientist" by the esteemed institution, HumCen, a testament to her unwavering dedication and exemplary work. Further enhancing her standing as a trailblazer, Dr Booma has been honored as an "Outstanding Researcher/Academician" by Women Icon, a tribute to her relentless pursuit of excellence.
Beyond her remarkable achievements, Dr Booma frequently imparts her profound wisdom and experience through the written word, sharing her erudition in the field of Artificial Intelligence through insightful articles and engaging tech discussions.
Notably, Dr Booma's dedication extends beyond her professional achievements. She is deeply committed to raising diversity and inclusivity within the world of technology. As a mentor to budding talent, she emphasizes the profound significance of inclusivity and equity, championing the cause of underrepresented voices and championing the principles of fairness and opportunity for all. Her indomitable spirit and achievements serve as an enduring inspiration to the world of technology and beyond.

Dr Booma Poolan Marikannan – Microsoft AI MVP, GenAI SME, Group Manager, Data & AI, Avanade, Charlotte, NC,USA Dr Booma, a seasoned technologist with over a decade of extensive experience in the realms of technology and leadership, stands at the hel... Show more

My name is Adam, and I am an internationally recognized software architect, consultant, marketing and strategy engineer, and book writer with over 15 years of experience in software architecture and development across a range of domains. In my career, I worked with all layers of the software engineering and multiple types of applications, including logistics, e-commerce, machine learning, data analysis, and database management. I am always interested in digging deeper, exploring machine code, and going through implementation details to better understand the internals of the technologies I use every day. That's why I like debugging, decompiling and disassembling the code to understand memory models, concurrency problems and other details hidden deep inside. In my free time, I play ping-pong, watch Woody Allen's movies and blog stuff at http://blog.adamfurmanek.pl

My name is Adam, and I am an internationally recognized software architect, consultant, marketing and strategy engineer, and book writer with over 15 years of experience in software architecture and development across a range of domains. In my career... Show more

Elena is a highly-rated professional speaker with 20+ years of experience as a leadership coach, group facilitator and collegiate faculty member. Elena works with groups, individuals, and organizations to amplify their authenticity and empower them to become effective leaders. Elena is the President of and Lead Consultant with Marquetti Consulting.

Elena is a highly-rated professional speaker with 20+ years of experience as a leadership coach, group facilitator and collegiate faculty member. Elena works with groups, individuals, and organizations to amplify their authenticity and empower them t... Show more

Holly Bielawa is the head of Product Coaching and Consulting for Jeff Patton and Associates, where she and her team help companies put Product Thinking concepts into practice. As an international tech start-up founder, CPO, and transformational strategist, she brings a unique wealth of experience and industry knowledge to technology product development. She and her team work with organizational leaders and teams to help them evolve to a product-oriented culture that empowers the principles, practices and ways of working that are essential to deliver real business results.

Holly Bielawa is the head of Product Coaching and Consulting for Jeff Patton and Associates, where she and her team help companies put Product Thinking concepts into practice. As an international tech start-up founder, CPO, and transformational strat... Show more

Fabien Vauchelles is an Anti-Ban Expert. With over a decade of experience in Web Scraping, Fabien's passion for code and technology helps him to bypass protections. He is the creator of Scrapoxy, a mature free and open-source proxy waterfall tailored for the Web Scraping industry.

He had the opportunity of sharing his insights at many events including Devoxx conferences, Voxxed Days, API Days, PyCon, PyData and others.

Fabien Vauchelles is an Anti-Ban Expert. With over a decade of experience in Web Scraping, Fabien's passion for code and technology helps him to bypass protections. He is the creator of Scrapoxy, a mature free and open-source proxy waterfall tailored... Show more

Evgeny is a contributor to various open source projects, including OpenJDK, and a speaker at international conferences and JUGs. He is also one of the project leads of widely adopted code coverage library for Java and Kotlin - JaCoCo, and the award-winning EclEmma project at the Eclipse Foundation that integrates JaCoCo into Eclipse. In his day job at Sonar he develops SonarQube’s static source code analysis for languages such as Java, Kotlin, C, and C++.

Evgeny is a contributor to various open source projects, including OpenJDK, and a speaker at international conferences and JUGs. He is also one of the project leads of widely adopted code coverage library for Java and Kotlin - JaCoCo, and the award-w... Show more

I am currently a Senior Developer Productivity Specialist at Microsoft, dedicated to helping developers enhance their productivity in this new AI era.

I have over 15 years of experience as a .NET developer. I have had the honor of being recognized as a Microsoft MVP in 2014 & 2015. After spending three years at Microsoft as a technical expert specializing in Visual Studio products and .NET, I joined Amazon Web Services (AWS) in 2019. At AWS, I assisted .NET developers in efficiently and securely building, testing, and deploying applications on the AWS Cloud.

Now, I am back at Microsoft, focusing on their extensive developer tools ecosystem.

I am currently a Senior Developer Productivity Specialist at Microsoft, dedicated to helping developers enhance their productivity in this new AI era. I have over 15 years of experience as a .NET developer. I have had the honor of being recognized... Show more

Faster! has been Bill's prime directive for over 40 years. Since version 6.5 Bill has explored how to make SQL Server perform - from application architecture and design, through development and testing, to support and administration. His career has spanned opportunities from programmer to IT Director, consultant to Enterprise Data Architect, and many roles in between. His skills have been applied to several industry-leading relational databases He also holds the world record for most SQL Cruises as a student – 10 for SQL Server (and 2 for Oracle).

Faster! has been Bill's prime directive for over 40 years. Since version 6.5 Bill has explored how to make SQL Server perform - from application architecture and design, through development and testing, to support and administration. His career has s... Show more

My name is Marco and I have an incredible passion for technology which I had the privilege to turn into a job. I’ve been working with .NET since the first beta, focusing on ASP.NET and, more generally, anything that is web related. I’ve been an early adopter of Microsoft Azure – who remembers the portal in Silverlight? :) – and, since its introduction, Cloud technologies have represented the core of my professional interest.

Today I work in the beautiful London, where I’m playing my part in saving the planet being the CTO at Mondra. Getting involved in the .NET and Azure community is also a key aspect of my profession: I’m convinced that knowledge sharing is one of the best ways to improve our professional skills, and therefore I try to dedicate as much time as I can to activities such as writing articles or speaking at conferences and meetups. Thanks to that, I’ve been awarded as a Microsoft MVP for the last 15 years in a row.

My name is Marco and I have an incredible passion for technology which I had the privilege to turn into a job. I’ve been working with .NET since the first beta, focusing on ASP.NET and, more generally, anything that is web related. I’ve been an early... Show more

As a Principal Product Manager within the Microsoft Fabric and Power BI team and as a Global Black Belt for Microsoft Dynamics 365, I've seen firsthand how valuable the data in Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Apps built on Dataverse can be for the decision-makers. I've also worked through the challenges that are commonly faced by makers when bringing Power BI to Dataverse or vice versa.
I'm passionate about how valuable Dynamics 365 and The Microsoft Fabric data platform are when used together and I'm always excited to share and learn with other makers on the Power Platform to help them bring their data to life.

As a Principal Product Manager within the Microsoft Fabric and Power BI team and as a Global Black Belt for Microsoft Dynamics 365, I've seen firsthand how valuable the data in Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Apps built on Dataverse can be for the d... Show more

Angela is a Senior Architect, living in High Point, NC and loves what she does. She's worked with all versions of SQL Server & worn all the hats that come with dealing with SQL Server throughout the years: developer, administrator, data architect and BI developer. She has her MSCE in Data and Analytics (f.k.a., Business Intelligence), is a Data Platform MVP, and a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT). She is the former chapter leader for the PASS Triad SQL User Group in Greensboro, NC. In her spare time you can probably find her in or at the pool, she's an avid US Masters Swimmer, Coach and Instructor.

Angela is a Senior Architect, living in High Point, NC and loves what she does. She's worked with all versions of SQL Server & worn all the hats that come with dealing with SQL Server throughout the years: developer, administrator, data architect and... Show more

Hubert Dulay is an O'Reilly author of “Streaming Data Mesh” and "Streaming Databases". He is currently writing "Building Real-Time AI Applications." He is a veteran engineer with over 20 years of experience in big and fast data. Hubert has compiled his experiences with data from his time while consulting for many financial institutions, healthcare organizations, and telecommunications companies, providing simple solutions that solved many data problems.

Hubert Dulay is an O'Reilly author of “Streaming Data Mesh” and "Streaming Databases". He is currently writing "Building Real-Time AI Applications." He is a veteran engineer with over 20 years of experience in big and fast data. Hubert has compiled h... Show more

Winner of three AI awards, I’ve been working in AI and machine learning for 25 years, designing and developing AI and computer graphic algorithms.

I’m very passionate about AI, focusing on Audio, Image and Natural Language Processing, and predictive analysis as well.
I received several national and international awards that recognize my work and contributions in these areas.

Microsoft MVP for Artificial Intelligence Category, I have the pleasure of being a guest speaker in national and international events.

Winner of three AI awards, I’ve been working in AI and machine learning for 25 years, designing and developing AI and computer graphic algorithms. I’m very passionate about AI, focusing on Audio, Image and Natural Language Processing, and predicti... Show more

Sam Basu is a technologist, author, speaker, Microsoft MVP and Lead Developer Advocate for Uno Platform. With a long developer background, he now spends much of his time advocating modern development platforms & AI tools for cross-platform technology stacks. His spare times call for travel, fast cars, cricket and culinary adventures. You can find him on the internet.

Sam Basu is a technologist, author, speaker, Microsoft MVP and Lead Developer Advocate for Uno Platform. With a long developer background, he now spends much of his time advocating modern development platforms & AI tools for cross-platform technology... Show more

Reza Rad is a Microsoft Regional Director, an Author, Trainer, Speaker, and Consultant. He has a BSc in Computer engineering; he has more than 20 years of experience in data analysis, BI, databases, programming, and development mostly on Microsoft technologies. He is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP for 14 continuous years (from 2011 till now) for his dedication to Microsoft BI. Reza is an active blogger and co-founder of RADACAD. Reza is also co-founder and co-organizer of the Difinity conference in New Zealand, the Power BI & Fabric Summit (the biggest Power BI & Fabric conference), and Data Insight Summit (Chicago, USA)

CEO at RADACAD
Director at Power BI & Fabric Summit
Director at Difinity conference (Since 2017)
Microsoft Regional Director (Since 2018)
Microsoft Data Platform MVP (Since 2011)
Leader of Data, Insights, and Power BI user group in Auckland, New Zealand (Since 2013)
Microsoft Fast Track Recognized Solution Architect – Power Platform
Power BI All-Star award winner
Dynamic Communities Emerald award winner
Best-selling author of more than 13 books on BI, analytics, and Power BI
Speaker at many conferences such as Ignite, Microsoft Business Applications Summit, PASS, etc.
Blogger, and content creator
Consultant, and trainer
Microsoft Certified trainer
Microsoft Certified professional
His articles on different aspects of technologies, especially on BI, can be found on his blog: https://radacad.com/blog.

He wrote some books on Microsoft BI and also is writing some others, He was also an active member on online technical forums such as MSDN and Experts-Exchange, and was a moderator of MSDN SQL Server forums, and is an MCP, MCSE, and MCITP of BI. He is the leader of the New Zealand Business Intelligence users group. He is also the author of very popular book Power BI from Rookie to Rock Star, which is free with more than 1700 pages of content and the Power BI Pro Architecture published by Apress.

He is an International Speaker in Microsoft Ignite, Microsoft Business Applications Summit, Data Insight Summit, PASS Summit, SQL Saturday and user groups. And He is a Microsoft Certified Trainer.

Reza Rad is a Microsoft Regional Director, an Author, Trainer, Speaker, and Consultant. He has a BSc in Computer engineering; he has more than 20 years of experience in data analysis, BI, databases, programming, and development mostly on Microsoft te... Show more

https://ferrandiz.pe/about

https://ferrandiz.pe/about Show more

Software craftsman, husband, father, ex-sportsman and inquiring reader. Since I was young I have loved taking apart and reassembling things to understand how they work. Now, this passion has become my job: the step from Lego® to software development was small.
Finding the best possible solution so that a complex system can work at its best and making it run smoothly are the goals of my work. C# and Azure make up my survival toolkit and help me cruise through distributed systems and enterprise solutions, with ease.
Be it a command or an event, I try to do my best in contributing to the life of the communities that have adopted me, trying to “give back” at least a part of what I have received over these years.

Software craftsman, husband, father, ex-sportsman and inquiring reader. Since I was young I have loved taking apart and reassembling things to understand how they work. Now, this passion has become my job: the step from Lego® to software development ... Show more

Abby is a Principal Engineer at Syntasso delivering Kratix, the open-source cloud-native framework for providing the execution later for your internal platforms. Her keen interest in supporting internal development comes from over a decade of experience in consulting and product delivery roles across platform, site reliability, and quality engineering.

Abby is a CNCF Ambassador, Team Topologies Advocate, emeritus CNCF Platforms Working Group lead, and co-host of the #CoffeeOps London meetup.

Abby is a Principal Engineer at Syntasso delivering Kratix, the open-source cloud-native framework for providing the execution later for your internal platforms. Her keen interest in supporting internal development comes from over a decade of experie... Show more

Lin is the Head of Open Source at Solo.io and serves as Co-chair of KubeCon + CloudNativeCon 2026 and 2027. She is an active contributor to AAIF and CNCF projects, including agentgateway, kagent, Istio, and kgateway. She is the author of Sidecar-less Istio Explained and AI Agents in Kubernetes, a frequent speaker at industry conferences, and holds more than 200 patents.

Lin is the Head of Open Source at Solo.io and serves as Co-chair of KubeCon + CloudNativeCon 2026 and 2027. She is an active contributor to AAIF and CNCF projects, including agentgateway, kagent, Istio, and kgateway. She is the author of Sidecar-less... Show more

Talia Kohan (Talia Nassi) is a Staff Developer Advocate at Postman, helping developers build, test, and scale APIs and AI-powered applications. A global keynote speaker, she works closely with the developer community to share best practices in modern software development and foster innovation through practical education and collaboration.

Talia Kohan (Talia Nassi) is a Staff Developer Advocate at Postman, helping developers build, test, and scale APIs and AI-powered applications. A global keynote speaker, she works closely with the developer community to share best practices in modern... Show more

Niels is a forward-thinking Software/AI Architect at Derivco, spearheading the development of innovative, AI-driven products that push the boundaries of iGaming technology. A pivotal figure in Derivco's AI initiatives, he played a key role in architecting and designing the company's first AI-driven promotion system, Arena+, setting new standards for performance and user engagement in the industry.

As a Microsoft AI MVP, Niels combines technical expertise with visionary leadership to explore the potential of AI in creating groundbreaking solutions. With a track record of designing and scaling high-performance iGaming systems, Niels is passionate about leveraging technology to redefine the gaming experience.

Niels is a sought-after presenter at technology conferences and has presented at, amongst others: Tech-ED, SQL PASS, DevWeek, SQL Bits, SQL Saturday, etc.

Niels is a forward-thinking Software/AI Architect at Derivco, spearheading the development of innovative, AI-driven products that push the boundaries of iGaming technology. A pivotal figure in Derivco's AI initiatives, he played a key role in archite... Show more

Vukasin is a digital nomad and Microsoft Azure MVP, currently working as a Senior Cloud Architect, with a specialization in Microsoft Azure and Hyper-Converged Infrastructures. Father, rescue scuba diver, and public speaker.

Vukasin is a digital nomad and Microsoft Azure MVP, currently working as a Senior Cloud Architect, with a specialization in Microsoft Azure and Hyper-Converged Infrastructures. Father, rescue scuba diver, and public speaker. Show more

Full time power platform enthusiast @Microsoft

Full time power platform enthusiast @Microsoft Show more

I’m passionate about technology since childhood, from consumer electronics to enterprise hardware/software and everything in between.

Following this passion, I pursued an education focused on scientific and technical fields, becoming an IT Engineer at the end of my academic career.
I often spend my free time trying to learn something new and be up to date on the topics in my interest, allowing me to maintain and develop my skillset.

Thanks to study and international experiences with customers and employers (in USA, Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, etc..) and mentors, I’ve developed a transversal knowledge that involves both the elements of an architecture and how to exploit it in order to give to the business the value that needs.

My strong suite is architecting data solutions, from relational DBs to AI applications: I like to know my tech stack from top to bottom, you can't ignore the hardware in the same way you can't ignore the business requirements.

On the job I usually find myself being the go-to guy that both senior and junior employees approach to tackle particularly tricky issues or asking for advice
I appreciate whenever this happens as I’m stimulated by new problems to solve and I enjoy sharing my knowledge to empower others

I’m passionate about technology since childhood, from consumer electronics to enterprise hardware/software and everything in between. Following this passion, I pursued an education focused on scientific and technical fields, becoming an IT Enginee... Show more

Leonard Lobel (Microsoft MVP, Data Platform) is the chief technology officer and co-founder of Sleek Technologies, Inc., a New York-based development shop with an early adopter philosophy toward new technologies. He is also a Microsoft consultant at Ernst & Young.

Programming since 1979, Lenni specializes in Microsoft-based solutions, with experience that spans a variety of business domains, including publishing, financial, wholesale/retail, health care, and e-commerce. Lenni has served as chief architect and lead developer for various organizations, ranging from small shops to high-profile clients. He is also a consultant, trainer, and frequent speaker at local usergroup meetings, VSLive, SQL Bits, and other industry conferences.

Lenni has also authored several MS Press books and Pluralsight courses on SQL Server and Azure Cosmos DB programming.

Leonard Lobel (Microsoft MVP, Data Platform) is the chief technology officer and co-founder of Sleek Technologies, Inc., a New York-based development shop with an early adopter philosophy toward new technologies. He is also a Microsoft consultant at ... Show more

Eric “waldo” Wauters

Eric is one of the founding partners of iFacto Business Solutions and Dynex bv.

With his 21 years of technical expertise, he is an everyday inspiration to its development teams.  As development manager he continually acts upon the technical readiness of iFacto and Dynex.
   
Apart from that, Eric is also very active in BC community, where he tries to solve technical issues and shares his knowledge with other Dynamics enthusiasts. Surely, a lot amongst you will have read some of Eric’s posts, which he invariably signs with “waldo”.

Lots of people have been using and even contributing to tools he shares for free on github.

His proven track record entitled him to be awarded since 2007 as MVP (Microsoft Most Valuable Professional).

Eric “waldo” Wauters Eric is one of the founding partners of iFacto Business Solutions and Dynex bv. With his 21 years of technical expertise, he is an everyday inspiration to its development teams.  As development manager he continually act... Show more

John Miner is a Senior Data Architect at Insight Digital Innovation helping corporations solve their business needs with various data platform solutions.

He has over thirty years of data processing experience, and his architecture expertise encompasses all phases of the software project life cycle, including design, development, implementation, and maintenance of systems.

His credentials include undergraduate and graduate degrees in Computer Science from the University of Rhode Island. Also, he has earned certificates from Microsoft for Database Administration (MCDBA), System Administration (MCSA), Data Management & Analytics (MCSE) and Data Science (MPP).

John has been recognized with the Microsoft MVP award ten times for his outstanding contributions to the Data Platform community.

When he is not busy talking to local user groups or writing blog entries on new technology, he spends time with his wife and daughter enjoying outdoor activities. Some of John’s hobbies include wood working projects, crafting a good beer and playing a game of chess.

John Miner is a Senior Data Architect at Insight Digital Innovation helping corporations solve their business needs with various data platform solutions. He has over thirty years of data processing experience, and his architecture expertise encomp... Show more

I have an extensive (20+ years) background as an engineer, entrepreneur, consultant, and international speaker in various technical and business domains. As a Senior Solutions Architect at AxonIQ, I help organizations succeed with building mission-critical, event-sourced systems.

I have an extensive (20+ years) background as an engineer, entrepreneur, consultant, and international speaker in various technical and business domains. As a Senior Solutions Architect at AxonIQ, I help organizations succeed with building mission-cr... Show more