Precon: AI Bulletproof DBA: Thriving with SQL Performance in the AI Era

*****Register here: https://bit.ly/dayofdataprecon2026-1 *****

SQL Server performance tuning looks big from a distance, but once you work with real examples it becomes much easier. This workshop is fully hands on. You will learn tuning by fixing real problems step by step, the same way you would in real projects.

This is workshop with zero (0) slides and 100% demos. Everything you learn happens directly in SQL Server, in real time. You will tune slow queries, build smarter indexes, understand locking behavior, read wait stats, and handle parallelism surprises right in front of your eyes. Every concept comes with an action that you will try yourself.

You will also hear a short and honest note about AI. The goal is to give you the skills that help you survive the AI transformation. We skip skills that AI can do for you. We focus only on the parts that are real and essential and will keep you valuable in any database team.

The workshop includes
• Four hours of fast paced demos with real scenarios
• Two hours of guided practice where you solve tasks
• Thirty minutes of AMA time for your burning questions
It is lively, engaging, and built to make you confident.

You will work on tasks such as
• Create the right index for a slow query
• Rewrite a poorly performing query
• Investigate blocking and reduce lock waits using GenAI
• Choose indexes that avoid unnecessary locks
• Read basic wait stats and spot the top bottleneck
• Understand simple parallelism issues and tune them

By the end, you will know how to find slow spots, tune common queries, and use core tools like execution plans, indexes, waits, and parallelism with confidence. You will also understand which skills matter most in a world where AI is becoming normal.

Goals
Learn the fundamentals of SQL Server performance tuning with real hands on tasks

Understand how indexing, query patterns, locking, waits, and parallelism affect performance

Build essential tuning skills that stay valuable even during the AI shift
Prerequisites

Participants should know basic SQL. No performance tuning experience is needed. Basic SQL Server knowledge helps but is not required.