FabCon 2026 Barcelona: Beyond the Announcements
Data Engineers in Toronto October 2026 Semimonthly Meeting Topic: FabCon 2026 Barcelona - Beyond the Announcements Abstract: What was it like to attend Microsoft's flagship Fabric conference in Barcelona? Which announcements generated the most excitement? And more importantly, which ones are likely to matter in real-world customer projects? Join me for an informal recap of FabCon 2026 as I share photos, conference highlights, conversations with Microsoft engineers and community members, and a curated selection of Fabric announcements that caught my attention. Speaker: Alexander Turlov, Principal Consultant at Alta Computing Speaker Profile: Alexander Turlov is a professional consultant, specializing in cloud data architecture and Microsoft Fabric solutions. He helps organizations design scalable data platforms and integrate modern tools like GitHub Copilot and VS Code to accelerate development workflows. Alexander is a certified Microsoft Fabric Data Engineer and an active community contributor, sharing practical insights through presentations and workshops on AI-assisted data engineering and analytics. The meeting is over Microsoft Teams, and the joining link is https://vip.dataengineersintoronto.org/webinar See you at the meeting!TFPUG Oct 2026 Event: FabCon Data Eng Updates, Osmos AI & Medallion Architecture
Please read the registration instructions very carefully to make sure you can attend the event: You must register on the event page: TFPUG Oct 2026 Event: FabCon Data Eng Updates, Osmos AI & Medallion Architecture | Microsoft Fabric Community Complete the mandatory registration form required by the event host: Toronto Fabric & Power BI User Group Oct 2026 Event Registration Form (Please note that seating is limited and priority will be given only to attendees who complete this additional registration form) Register only if you are confident you can attend, as no-shows may prevent others from participating and result in wasted catering and event resources. Please arrive on time. We will begin promptly at 5:30 PM sharp and have a full agenda planned for the evening. We are excited to have our Oct 2026 event sponsored by Protiviti Canada and hosted at Robert Half Toronto Office. Join our learning session and live demo focused on Fabric Data Engineering, Osmos AI and Medallion Architecture, where you’ll learn more about those topics. In this event we are privileged to have 2 main speakers and one demo from one of our user group community members. Agenda: 5:30 - Doors Open 5:45 - Welcome and Intro | Ashraf Ghonaim and Haniel Croitoru 6:00 - FabCon Data Engineering Updates and Osmos AI | Anuyogam Venkataraman 6:45 - Building Trusted Analytics with Microsoft Fabric: A Practical Guide to Medallion Architecture | Yashvardhan Vashistha 7:30 - Empowering Executive Decision-Making with Power BI Copilot | Sudhir Mehta 8:00 - Networking Snack 8:30 - Closing Anuyogam Venkataraman, Senior Program Manager - Microsoft | FabCon Data Engineering Updates and Osmos AI: A valuable session covering the latest FabCon Data Engineering updates and the innovative capabilities of Osmos AI. The discussion provided insights into emerging trends, new features, and practical applications that can help organizations enhance their data engineering strategies and accelerate AI-driven innovation. Yashvardhan Vashistha, Manager - Technology Consulting at Protiviti | Building Trusted Analytics with Microsoft Fabric: A Practical Guide to Medallion Architecture: Organizations often struggle with inconsistent data quality, duplicate transformations, and a lack of trust in reporting. Microsoft Fabric addresses these challenges through Medallion Architecture, a modern data design approach that organizes data into Bronze, Silver, and Gold layers. This presentation explores how raw source data is ingested into a Bronze Lakehouse, transformed and validated in the Silver layer, and ultimately modeled into business-ready Gold datasets that support reporting, analytics, and AI initiatives. Sudhir Mehta, Manager at Tredence, an active member of our user group community, demonstrates "Empowering Executive Decision-Making with Power BI Copilot." This session will showcase how Power BI Copilot transforms complex data into clear, actionable insights, enabling executives to identify trends, uncover opportunities, and make faster, more informed decisions through AI-powered analytics. Learn practical ways leaders can leverage Copilot to enhance strategic decision-making and drive better business outcomes. Looking forward to seeing you all there at 5:30 pm sharp. TFPUG Team Toronto Fabric & Power BI User Group | Microsoft Fabric Community Toronto Fabric & Power BI User Group | Meetup Toronto Fabric & Power BI User Group | LinkedInAI-assisted data engineering with Microsoft Fabric
It is time for yet another meetup! We are happy to invite you to another chapter in our Fabric journey, this time exploring the realm of agentic development in Microsoft Fabric. For this we are honored to welcome Wolfgang Strasser to the mix! It is going to get agentic. Stay tuned! Event Details 📅 Date: Thursday, 15th of October 2026, 6 p.m. 📍 Location: Microsoft Office, Hamburg (Axel-Springer-Platz 3, Hamburg) 🍴 Food and Drinks Provided Agenda 18:00 – Arrive, grab a drink, and find your spot 18:15 - Warm up session Speaker: Maria Mohr - Data & AI Engineer @ Obungi GmbH, Niels Siepe - Data Analytics Engineer @ Obungi GmbH 18:30 – AI-assisted data engineering in Microsoft Fabric - From Code Gen to Column-Level Impact Analysis Data pipelines ship faster than teams can document, test, or trace them. A column rename quietly breaks three dashboards. A schema drift silently poisons a semantic model. Sound familiar? This session puts AI to work on the problems data engineers actually lose sleep over - demonstrated live inside Microsoft Fabric with real Lakehouse pipelines, notebooks, and OneLake artifacts: Code generation: Convert requirements into Fabric notebooks and pipeline JSON using natural-language prompts. See what works, what needs guardrails, and where human review is non-negotiable. Living documentation: Auto-generate and continuously sync technical documentation from actual pipeline and notebook code - so docs never again drift from reality. Proactive data quality: Let AI inspect Delta table schemas and data distributions to propose validation rules, detect anomalies, and generate test cases - catching drift before it hits production. Lineage & impact analysis: Answer "What breaks if I change this column?" by tracing column-level lineage across Fabric pipelines, Spark notebooks, OneLake tables, semantic models, and Power BI reports - and visualize the blast radius before the change ships. What you'll take home: A practical toolkit: which AI capabilities (inside and outside Microsoft Fabric) are production-ready today and which ones to watch. Repeatable patterns for AI-maintained documentation and automated data-quality checks. An honest evaluation framework: where AI accelerates data engineering versus where it introduces new risks (and more work). See what was announced at FabCon Barcelona and how these features help us to even use more AI-assistance for our data engineering work. Speaker: Wolfgang Strasser - Microsoft Data Platform MVP (11 yrs) | I turn Microsoft Fabric from a licence line-item into a platform your business actually trusts. Data Consultant @ ACP CUBIDO 19:45 – Discussion & Drinks Engage with our speakers and participants in discussions while enjoying some refreshments. Don't miss this opportunity to enhance your Microsoft Fabric expertise, exchange ideas, and network with the community. We look forward to seeing you there!PostFabCon Barcelona FUGE + ADN Fabric
La FabCon ha vuelto a dejarnos una avalancha de anuncios sobre Microsoft Fabric, y seguirlos todos es casi un trabajo a jornada completa. Así que nos juntamos con los amigos de ADN Fabric para hacerlo por ti. En esta sesión conjunta repasamos las novedades más relevantes de la FabCon, sin humo y con criterio: qué es lo que de verdad cambia tu día a día, qué está ya disponible, qué sigue en preview y qué conviene ir probando. Qué veremos: Los anuncios más importantes, explicados en claro Demos en directo de las novedades que más nos han gustado Qué significa cada cosa para quien trabaja con Fabric y Power BI Turno de preguntas y debate abierto Para quién es: cualquier persona que trabaje con datos en el ecosistema Microsoft. No hace falta un nivel avanzado; si no has podido seguir la FabCon, este es tu resumen. Evento gratuito, organizado por Fabric User Group ESP y ADN Fabric. Te esperamos.Fabric en Comunidad - Octubre 2025
Fabric en comunidad es un encuentro mensual online donde compartimos todo lo que está pasando en el ecosistema de Microsoft Fabric en España. Cada sesión incluye: Novedades de Fabric: repasamos las últimas actualizaciones, recursos y guías de aprendizaje. Voces de la comunidad: dudas, experiencias y aprendizajes compartidos por profesionales como tú. Eventos y comunidad: repasamos los encuentros recientes y damos voz a los organizadores e invitados de los próximos eventos. Camino a la FabConf: mantenemos viva la motivación con noticias, descuentos y novedades sobre la conferencia. Un espacio abierto, cercano y participativo para mantenerse al día, aprender y seguir construyendo juntos la comunidad de Fabric.The Integration Blueprint: Choosing the Right Path in Microsoft Fabric
Data Engineers in Toronto November 2026 Semimonthly Meeting Topic: The Integration Blueprint: Choosing the Right Path in Microsoft Fabric Abstract: In a world of multiple tools and endless data sources, how do you design the right integration strategy in Microsoft Fabric? Join Javier and Gaston, two Microsoft MVPs in Data Platform for a live demo-driven session that breaks down the real-world patterns, use cases, and best practices for landing, transforming, and orchestrating data in Microsoft Fabric. Whether you’re working with a Lakehouse, Data Warehouse, Eventhouse, or SQL Database, this session gives you the playbook to select and combine the right tools for the job. We’ll walk through: • Landing data using Data Pipelines, OneLake shortcuts, and external connections • Transforming and cleaning data using Notebooks (Spark) for scale and flexibility • Business logic and last-mile transformation using Dataflows Gen2 • How to orchestrate it all using Fabric Data Pipelines for repeatable, maintainable workflows • When and why to land your data into Lakehouses, Data Warehouses, Eventhouses, or SQL endpoints. You’ll walk away with: • A clear understanding of which tools to use when across the Fabric integration stack • A working knowledge of how to combine multiple integration techniques in one solution • Architecture patterns and decision criteria for building scalable data landing zones • Live demos you can replicate to accelerate your own Fabric journey Speaker: Javier Villegas, IT Director & Microsoft MVP Data Platform Speaker Profile: Javier Villegas is IT Director (DBA & BI Services) at Mediterranean Shipping Company with 30 years of experience working with SQL Server, Including Azure SQL. His specialization is Administration, Performance Tuning, High Availability and Disaster Recovery. Javier is a Microsoft MVP Data Platform since 2016 and MCT He is a frequent speaker in technical conferences and events such as SQL Saturdays, PASS Virtual Groups, PASS Marathons, 24 Hours SQL PASS , vOpen , GroupBy , Data Saturdays and Azure Global Bootcamps. He is one of the group leaders of SQL Argentina Community and former Microsoft Azure Data Advisory Board Member. The meeting is over Microsoft Teams, and the joining link is https://vip.dataengineersintoronto.org/webinar See you at the meeting!Deep Dive into Scalable, AI-Ready Spark in Microsoft Fabric
Data Engineers in Toronto November 2026 Semimonthly Meeting Topic: Deep Dive into Scalable, AI-Ready Spark in Microsoft Fabric Abstract: In this session, we’ll take a practical deep dive into Spark-based data engineering in Microsoft Fabric. We’ll walk through proven techniques and repeatable patterns for solving common and advanced data engineering challenges, covering advanced Spark SQL functions, effective approaches to semi-structured data, and strategies for building reliable, maintainable pipelines. We will be focusing on Fabric-specific aspects of Spark Notebooks, including table optimization. AI-related capabilities in Fabric Spark will also be covered, including built-in and integrated functions that support text processing, enrichment, classification, and feature engineering directly within Spark workloads, along with guidance on where these functions fit. Speaker: Iurii Iurchenko, Sr Data Engineer at Life Line Screening Speaker Profile: Iuril is an Azure advocate, Fabcon speaker, Senior Data Engineer & Tech Lead with 13 years of deep, hands-on expertise in Data Analytics, Microsoft Fabric, and the Azure data ecosystem. 2x certified in Microsoft Fabric, with 6+ successfully delivered complex projects leveraging Microsoft Fabric. Two-time SQL Saturday speaker in San Diego, Top-1% ADPList mentor, former entrepreneur, and active OHDSI CDM contributor with 7 years in consulting and 6 years in product engineering. He brings a highly practical, frontier-level skillset at the intersection of Fabric, AI, and healthcare analytics. He is currently innovating at Life Line Screening, bringing the best of Microsoft Fabric to its modern data analytics platform. The meeting is over Microsoft Teams, and the joining link is https://vip.dataengineersintoronto.org/webinar See you at the meeting!Introduction to the data build tool (dbt)
Data Engineers in Toronto October 2026 Semimonthly Meeting Topic: Introduction to the data build tool (dbt) Abstract: Many people learn from the Jaffle Shop sample dbt project. However, the complexity of the project is quite simple. What I really wanted is a project that goes over the following dbt concepts: • Seed raw data tables • Transform raw data using views • Support multiple databases with macros • Capture slowly changing dimensions type • Incremental loading of large data • Use ephemeral tables as a place holder • Use dbt utils package to make a date dimension • Create a dimensional model for reporting • Save pre-canned queries in analyses directory • Test data quality using property/schema files • Output custom data quality exceptions to a table • Create documentation based on model design In the end, I created my own sample dbt project using the Chinook database schema as the foundation. I must thank Luis Rocha for the OLTP database design and sample data. This open source project was built using an Fabric SQL Database as the target. However, it can be built on any supported database using the correct dbt adapter and ODBC driver. At the end of this presentation, a data engineer will be ready to model data for any given database or warehouse. Speaker: John Miner, Senior Data Architect at Insight Digital Innovation Speaker Profile: 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. The meeting is over Microsoft Teams, and the joining link is https://vip.dataengineersintoronto.org/webinar See you at the meeting!Beyond the Prompt: Tuning Fabric Data Agents for Flawless Results
Data Engineers in Toronto August 2026 Semimonthly Meeting Topic: Beyond the Prompt - Tuning Fabric Data Agents for Flawless Results Abstract: As organizations race to deploy AI Agents, it quickly becomes clear that standard prompt engineering isn't enough. To achieve production-grade accuracy, you have to go beyond the prompt and fundamentally change how you feed your data layers to the AI. In Microsoft Fabric, your choice of data artifact directly dictates your agent's reasoning style and native language. In this session, we will deep-dive into how Fabric Data Agents interact with four distinct data paradigms: Semantic Models, Ontology, Data Warehouses, and Lakehouses. Moving past high-level theory, we will practically map the three pillars of data agent optimization across the data paradigms: Agent Instructions (System Prompts) Data Source Descriptions (Grounding) Example Queries (Few-Shot Prompting) You will walk away with an actionable blueprint showing you exactly how to write context rules, embed semantic metadata, and supply technical query examples to ensure your Fabric Data Agents deliver flawless, trusted results every time. Speaker: Thimantha Vidanagamage, Data Engineer at OMERS, Canada Speaker Profile: Thimantha has over 8 years of experience in Data and AI. He currently works as a Senior Data Engineer at OMERS in Canada, where he plays an active role in the organization’s adoption of Microsoft Fabric. He holds multiple Microsoft certifications, including Microsoft Certified: AI Transformation Leader and Fabric Data/Analytics Engineer Associate. Thimantha is also a co-organizer of the Toronto Data Professionals Community. The meeting is over Microsoft Teams, and the joining link is https://vip.dataengineersintoronto.org/webinar See you at the meeting!
NYC Fabric Community – Featured Speaker: Jean Joseph | Vibe Coding in Microsoft
Vibe Coding in Microsoft Fabric: Transform Data Faster with Natural Language Join us for a hands-on look at Vibe Coding in Microsoft Fabric, where natural language and AI help you transform, validate, and visualize data in minutes. Learn how Fabric Copilot can generate code, fix data quality issues, explain transformations, and accelerate analytics workflows, all through simple prompts. We'll explore how to: -- Clean and standardize messy data with simple prompts -- Detect and fix data quality issues in minutes -- Generate and understand Spark code automatically -- Accelerate data preparation and analysis workflows -- Create insights and visualizations without deep coding expertise -- Move from raw CSVs to decision-ready data faster than ever Whether you're a business analyst, data engineer, architect, developer, or data leader, this session will showcase how AI-driven data experiences can remove bottlenecks, speed up delivery, and empower teams to focus on insights instead of plumbing. Let's learn, connect with the Fabric community, share experiences, and discover how Vibe Coding is redefining what's possible with data in Microsoft Fabric.
