James McGillivray
Director of Content Creation and Customer Delivery, Cobalt Analytics
Johannesburg, South Africa
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James McGillivray, Data Management and Analytics MCSE, has been working in Business Intelligence for over a decade. He spends his working hours building solutions that allow people to make informed decisions. quickly and accurately. He is a Director at South African Data Consultancy, Cobalt Analytics.
Before his career in data, James was an avid musical theatre student and musician. This love for performance has developed into a passion for developing and delivering presentations that are informative and enjoyable. James speaks frequently at Data Community Events, and has presented at some of the most well-known Data Events around the globe, including PASS Summit, SQL Bits and the Power BI World Tour.
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Seconds to Save Lives: Real World Real-Time Intelligence with Fabric
Every second counts when lives are at stake. Based on a real world scenario, this session explores how Microsoft Fabric’s real-time architecture, powered by streaming dataflows, event processing, and Real Time Reporting, can transform critical scenarios such as emergency room triage by turning raw data into rapid, accurate, life-saving decisions.
DAX Essentials for Better Insights
Loading data into Power BI is easier than ever thanks to Microsoft Fabric. But without DAX, your reports stay basic. Totals and averages are fine for summaries, but creating interactive metrics that allow users to derive real insights from the data requires DAX. This session introduces DAX fundamentals and evaluation context to help you deliver real business value to your users.
Lean on Your Data Tribe: Thriving Amidst Constant Change
In an era of relentless technological advancements, the data landscape is evolving at an unprecedented pace. Staying ahead requires more than just individual effort—it demands the collective wisdom, support, and innovation found within a strong community.
In this session, we will delve into the transformative power of the Microsoft Fabric community in navigating the complexities of modern data environments. We will explore the crucial role that the community plays in fostering continuous learning, problem-solving, and career growth. We will discuss how engaging with a community can provide invaluable resources, mentorship, and support, enabling individuals to adapt swiftly and effectively to new technologies and methodologies. Through real-world examples, attendees will learn how to leverage their data tribe to not only keep pace with change but to thrive and excel in their professional growth.
Join us to discover how leaning on your data tribe can empower you to overcome challenges, seize opportunities, and achieve sustained success in a rapidly evolving data world.
A picture is worth 1000 words: The visual learner's guide to DAX
Unlock the power of Data Analysis Expressions (DAX) like never before! Join me for an enlightening session that will revolutionize the way you understand and utilize DAX, all through the lens of visual learning. If you've ever found DAX to be a bit daunting or perplexing, this is the session you can't afford to miss.
In this session I will take you on an immersive journey into the world of DAX, breaking down complex concepts into simple, visually intuitive explanations. DAX is the backbone of Power BI, and understanding it is vital for anyone working with data in the modern age.
This session will encompass a series of critical concepts and practical applications, all presented in a way that caters to visual learners:
Contextual Clarity: DAX is all about context, and we'll demystify the nuances of row context, filter context, and evaluation context through engaging visual examples. Say goodbye to confusion and hello to clarity!
Measure Mastery: Creating powerful measures is key to DAX success. Our session will teach you how to design and optimize measures, and we'll use visual models to make these principles crystal clear.
After attending this session, you'll leave with a newfound confidence in your ability to work with DAX effectively. Whether you're a data analyst, business intelligence professional, or anyone looking to harness the full potential of your data, this session is tailored to enrich your skillset.
Prepare to be engaged, enlightened, and empowered as we embark on this visual journey through DAX.
Working with complicated data models in DAX
Have you ever watched a demo of DAX functionality, and marvelled at how simple the language is, but yet, when you work on your own data model, it just doesn't work as expected?
In this session, we'll look at 4 common problems which occur when you're using more complicated data modelling techniques, and design and implement a simple solution to overcome these complications.
From role-playing dimensions and bi-directional filters to advanced filter context and overriding the default blank behaviour, we'll learn to solve a variety of problems and add value to our data models.
The Fundamentals of DAX Contexts
DAX is an extremely versatile and powerful language, but once we move beyond simple measures it is imperative to understand the idea of CONTEXT to take our skills to the next level. In this session we will understand the different contexts in DAX and how each one is resolved. We will use practical demonstrations to see how various DAX functions affect context and how to ensure that our DAX is doing what we mean it to.
Getting to grips with Windowing Functions
If you write SELECT statements in SQL Server, you need to know about Windowing Functions. Whether you are an application developer, a data analyst, a DBA, or an ETL developer, Windowing Functions can help make your queries faster, cleaner, and more valuable to both you and your end-users.
In this session, we will UNDERSTAND the theory, VISUALISE the process, and DEMONSTRATE the output. From simple ROW_NUMBER and RANKing functions through to LEAD and LAG, we'll move quickly through the gears to make you a Windowing Functions Pro.
Attend this session, and learn how to add totals, sub-totals, variances, rolling moving averages, and other useful skills to your toolbelt.
So whether it’s tracking a value against the previous row, creating running totals, or a rolling sum, when you walk out of this session, you’ll be able to write a windowing function to make it happen.
4 Useful DAX Solutions for Business Problems
You’ve built a perfect Star Schema, and your data models are performing amazingly… but now you’re starting to run into business questions that the model isn’t designed to answer. How do you create measures for metrics that don’t fit into a star schema? How do you join on a range? What are non-numeric measures, and how can you create them? In this session, we will look at different scenarios which require these types of solutions, and how to create measures that implement them without compromising on a well-designed data model.
5 Things You Can Do to build better looking reports
Power BI Design is a lot like an art form, a mythical beast to many IT professionals. We’re generally inclined to think very analytically about our jobs, and creativity does not always come naturally. Thankfully, there are some patterns we can apply to design reports which are clean, uncluttered, and user friendly. Learn the science behind design, and a series of logical steps to follow to ensure that your reports always meet the mark.
Data and AI Community Day October 2025 Sessionize Event
SQLBits 2025 - General Sessions Sessionize Event
Data and AI Community Day May 2025 Sessionize Event
Microsoft Fabric Community Conference Sessionize Event
Johannesburg Data Platform User Group 2025 User group Sessionize Event
Data and AI Community Day August 2024 Sessionize Event
Data and AI Community Day Sessionize Event
SQLBits 2024 - General Sessions Sessionize Event
Data Saturday Cape Town 2023 Sessionize Event
Data Saturday Durban 2023 Sessionize Event
Data Saturday Johannesburg 2023 Sessionize Event
SQLBits 2023 - General Sessions Sessionize Event
SQL Saturday Oregon/SW Washington Sessionize Event
SQLBits 2022 Sessionize Event
PASS Data Community Summit 2021 Sessionize Event
Power BI Days 2018 Sessionize Event
James McGillivray
Director of Content Creation and Customer Delivery, Cobalt Analytics
Johannesburg, South Africa
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