Build an Enterprise Data API, then take the rest of the day off.

Data owners are exposing more and more data through Data API endpoints. The business result is interoperability, but the engineering result is a growing list of requirements like performance, scalability, observability, caching, and security—all of which bloat the codebase with resolvers, controllers, repository code, unit tests, and a slower CI/CD pipeline. What if there was a better way? Microsoft’s Data API builder is an open-source Data API engine that runs in a stateless container. It delivers GraphQL and REST endpoints over Azure SQL, PostgreSQL, Cosmos DB, and MySQL with all the industry-standard security and endpoint features, but none of the extra code. It integrates with any architecture and doesn’t require your team to adopt any particular language or framework. Be the 10x developer by focusing on code that brings real business value, not just CRUD operations. Make Data API endpoints a no-compromise commodity with Data API builder over Azure SQL.

Modern Architecture 101 for New Engineers & Forgetful Architects

I've been a Microsoft field engineer for fourteen years—learn from my experience and mistakes. Today’s landscape of architectural choices for enterprise solutions is vast, with real problems to solve and real issues that come with those solutions. Big enterprises or small, problems are problems. There are plenty of tools and frameworks, but what really sets enterprise solutions apart from one-off applications are the fundamental patterns. In this session, we’ll break down a typical enterprise architecture piece by piece, focusing on the decisions engineers and architects make when tackling common problems and requirements. We’ll dive into areas like scalability, security, integration, and maintainability, giving you practical insights whether you’re new to the field or just need a refresher.

This is theory. Come ready to absorb a lot of important information.

Workflows of Highly Functional App & Data Engineering Teams

How does a highly functional development team manage enterprise data engineering? They focus on the core principles of Schema Management, Standards Enforcement, Database Testing, and Automated Incremental Deployment. Microsoft brings an agonizing menu of choices to architects and engineers; they can be a challenge to wade through. This session can help. Let’s review how some of the world’s largest and most critical app & data engineering teams handle change management, observability, and quality at enterprise scale.

Goals: • Understand how enterprise teams manage schema control, including versioning, migrations, and updates, to ensure data consistency across all environments. • Explore how enterprise teams ensure engineering quality through automated testing, code reviews, and standards enforcement. • Learn how enterprise teams automate reliable delivery through continuous integration and deployment, reducing errors and improving efficiency.

Spec-Driven Development: The Fast Track to 10x?

Spec-Driven Development (SDD) is the brave new world in AI coding we all knew was inevitable. More like a revolution than an evolution of software delivery, SDD produces solutions as artifacts of a structured specification. This specification is the contract for code behavior and the single source of truth guiding developers, tools, and AI agents to generate, test, and validate results. It is software engineering through prompt precision.

You’ll see a walkthrough of Spec-Driven Development (SDD) in action with GitHub Spec Kit. I’ll show how the Specify CLI kicks off a project by generating spec templates, plans, tasks, and even a “constitution” doc. You’ll see how the templates are structured, how the slash commands (/specify, /plan, /tasks) actually work, and how AI agents use them.

You’ll see trade-offs and design alternatives play out in real time, comparing libraries, infrastructure, and approaches, directly from the spec. And you’ll see how this cuts down rework, keeps teams aligned, surfaces the “why” early, and helps AI agents deliver results you can trust.