DATA & AI DAY BAKU 2026

Data & AI Day Baku 2026
Thursday, 8 October 2026 · 09:00–18:00 · Baku (venue announced shortly)
Six speakers. One day. Power BI, financial modelling in Excel, AI engineering and Microsoft certification — all of it from people who do this work daily, not from a slide deck someone else wrote.
Four international speakers travel to Baku for this, alongside two Azerbaijani experts. Between them they hold Microsoft MVP and MCT status, work inside Microsoft, and lead BI and analytics teams in Europe and Australia. Getting this group in one room normally means flying to a European conference.
This is not a product launch and not a sales event. Every session is built around techniques you can apply the following Monday.
WHO THIS IS FOR
You already build Power BI reports, work with data pipelines, or build serious Excel models, and you want to get from competent to strong. That means BI developers and report authors, data analysts, data engineers, data scientists, AI and software engineers, finance and operations professionals, and the team leads who set data strategy.
Prerequisites. You should already be comfortable with at least one of DAX, Power Query, SQL or Python, and understand basic data modelling. This is an intermediate to advanced day — complete beginners will not get value from it.
Language. All sessions are in English.
PROGRAMME
09:00 — Registration, badge collection and welcome coffee
09:30 — Opening and housekeeping, Azerbaijan Data & AI Meetup Group
09:45 — Power BI in Practice: Tips and Tricks That Actually Save Time
Ana Leticia Sampaio · MCT, Head of BI at Consenso · Brazil & Portugal
Modelling shortcuts that prevent rework, DAX patterns worth memorising and anti-patterns worth unlearning, field parameters and calculation groups in everyday reporting, and how to build reports someone else can maintain.
10:45 — Coffee break and networking
11:15 — Semantic Models, Power Query and Dataflows: Getting It Right
Chris Webb · Principal Program Manager, Microsoft · England
The layer where most Power BI performance problems are actually created. Diagnosing slow refreshes methodically instead of by trial and error, query folding and why it matters more than you think, when to use dataflows and when not to, and the real trade-offs between Import, DirectQuery and Direct Lake.
12:15 — Financial Modelling in Excel
Shahla Abdulla · Finance Director| ERP & Financial Systems Integrator | Founder of WeFinix · Azerbaijan
Building financial models that hold up to scrutiny — structure, assumptions, and the practices that separate a model you can hand over from one only its author understands.
13:15 — Lunch and networking
14:15 — Inventory Analysis in Power BI
Ilgar Zarbaliyev · Microsoft MVP, MCT, Senior Manager at SumProduct · Azerbaijan & Australia
Applied analytics on inventory data in Power BI, from data model to the measures and visuals that answer the questions operations and finance actually ask.
15:00 — AI Engineering: From Prototype to Production
Farida Aliyeva · Data Scientist · England
What it takes to move an AI solution from a working demo to something an organisation can rely on. Retrieval augmented generation and where it breaks down, evaluating non-deterministic systems, monitoring, cost and latency, and the operational work AI deployment actually requires.
16:00 — Coffee break and networking
16:30 — Cracking the Code: Mastering Microsoft AI Certifications Without Losing Your Mind
Alexandra Zakharova · Senior Partner Solution Architect, Microsoft · France
Which certification to start with for your role, realistic study plans for people with full-time jobs, exam-day tactics and the traps in scenario questions, and how to stay current without burning out. Drawn from passing multiple certifications while working full time at Microsoft.
17:30 — Closing panel: Ask the Experts, with all six speakers. Audience Q&A, prize draw, swag distribution and close.
18:00 — Finish
YOUR TICKET INCLUDES
- All six sessions and the closing panel
- Welcome coffee and two catered coffee breaks
- Full lunch
- Event swag pack
- Named certificate of attendance, suitable for professional development records and MCT or partner competency evidence
- Session materials where speakers permit sharing
- Access to the attendee networking channel before and after the event
Not included: travel to the venue, parking, accommodation.
PRICE AND REGISTRATION
177 AZN including tax (150 AZN net plus VAT).
Pay here: https://epoint.az/az/inv/p/9YznOSZvaO241635
Please RSVP on Meetup after you have paid, so we can keep the seat count accurate.
50 seats only. Registration closes on 1 October 2026 or when the seats are gone, whichever comes first. Name changes are free until 3 October if the original attendee cannot make it.
Sending a team? Organisations booking three or more places should contact us directly — we will reserve seats together and issue a single corporate invoice. We need the company name, tax identification number, legal address, and the names and job titles of attendees.
Questions, group bookings and invoicing: zarbalii@excelworld.org or +994 10 513 18 83
Organised by the Azerbaijan Data & AI Meetup Group. Programme subject to minor changes; registered attendees will be notified by email.