Attending a Level 400 training at Microsoft.

This week, I was invited to the Microsoft office in London. The reason was a Level 400 training for Microsoft partners on Real-Time Intelligence. As I've been working with RTI on a large project for the last year, it felt natural to join this training. My objectives were not listed, but I wanted to see … Continue reading Attending a Level 400 training at Microsoft.

SSMS 22.6: Custom Copilot instructions

When you start using SSMS with GitHub Copilot, there is no default set of instructions in place. The agent will just sort of do what it thinks is best. But you can make sure the agent has more knowledge of your local environment (yes, it can be a cloud database as well), how it should … Continue reading SSMS 22.6: Custom Copilot instructions

DP-800: First Microsoft Learn experiences

The DP-800 training is new and was released to GA a few weeks ago. It now sits in the same family as DP-600 (Data Analytics using Microsoft Fabric), 700 (Data Engineering using Microsoft Fabric) and 750 (Data Engineering using Databricks). The full name of this training is "Develop AI-Enabled Database Solutions". This one sparked my … Continue reading DP-800: First Microsoft Learn experiences

SSMS 22.5 and Copilot: generate code in the query window

A lot of you may probably know that I like the GitHub Copilot sidecar chat in SSMS, and that it can really help develop code faster. Even though you have to be aware of how the integration now handles your prompts, it remains a great help to quickly generate code. But did you know that … Continue reading SSMS 22.5 and Copilot: generate code in the query window

SQL and MCP, the local edition

In the previous blog posts, I've written about installing MCP and how it works, followed by how to use it with an Azure SQL Database through an Azure Container Instance and Microsoft Foundry. But, you can also use your favourite local database (SQL Server ;)) and Visual Studio Code. The reason Visual Studio Code is … Continue reading SQL and MCP, the local edition

SQL and MCP, Azure SQL Edition

In part one, I covered the basics of your Data API Builder setup. Now, it's time to get into the real stuff :). For the demo, I'm using the Stack Overflow 2013 database on an Azure SQL General Purpose Serverless 8-core database. It's not a very large dataset (making it less expensive to host on … Continue reading SQL and MCP, Azure SQL Edition

SQL, Azure SQL and MCP, the Introduction

This three-part series of blog posts will take you along my first experiments, trials and errors using the MCP Service for SQL. This first blog will focus on the technology behind it; part 2 will focus on Azure SQL options; and the last part will dig a bit deeper into running this on your local … Continue reading SQL, Azure SQL and MCP, the Introduction

Exploring SSMS 22 Preview 3: New GitHub Copilot Features

A few minutes ago, I came across a post on LinkedIn by Erin Stellato, highlighting the post from Makena Barickman on the release of SSMS 22, preview 3. If you've been following my blogs, you've read that I'm a keen follower of the latest editions of SSMS, especially now that Copilot is integrated. From very … Continue reading Exploring SSMS 22 Preview 3: New GitHub Copilot Features

My top features of SQL Server 2025 for Business Intelligence

Some time ago, Microsoft announced the release of a new version of SQL Server. This made me happy, mainly because in the storm of everything Fabric, Copilot, and cloud, sturdy technology still has a place, and Microsoft hasn't forgotten that. Companies still rely on on-premises systems that require databases. And running everything on-premises is still … Continue reading My top features of SQL Server 2025 for Business Intelligence

How to set the Copilot default execution mode in SSMS 21

This is going to be a short blog post, as it serves to highlight a new setting found in SSMS 21.4.12. Tell me more! Well, if you go to the Tools menu in SSMS and click on Options, you will see, unsurprisingly, the options. Locate your Copilot option and click on the Azure OpenAI settings. … Continue reading How to set the Copilot default execution mode in SSMS 21