Nikola Ilic

A moment of disbelief! A little more than a year ago, when I started writing a book about #MicrosoftFabric, I couldn't have imagined that the day would come when I would have a physical copy in my hands...

Dust is still settling after #FabCon Europe, but the next @FABConSQLCon in Atlanta is already kicking off the tires! Super excited to join my great friend and a common "partner in crime," @shbwatson.bsky.social, for our full-day workshop on Fabric Apps! fabriccon.com/program/work...

Inspired by Josue “Josh” Bogran's animated infographic about the compute options in Databricks, I've decided to create one for #MicrosoftFabric. 5 engines -> 5 different workloads -> 5 different sets of use cases!

NEW BLOG POST! In this blog post, you'll learn how two minutes of SQL database in Fabric activity can mean 17 minutes of compute billing. And when a CPU chart doesn't tell the whole story. data-mozart.com/the-query-fi...

Almost there! More than a year after @shbwatson.bsky.social and I started writing our "Analytics Engineering with Microsoft Fabric and Power BI" book for @oreilly.bsky.social, we are a few weeks from finally seeing the book released! You can already order it on Amazon www.amazon.com/Analytics-En...

AI-Native Data Engineering with Microsoft Fabric On September 7th, I'll be running a live, 4-hour virtual workshop for all data engineers who want to level up their game in the era of AI. courses.data-mozart.com

NEW BLOG POST! Recently, I went down this rabbit hole twice within a week:) If you’ve tried to check how much storage your #MicrosoftFabric warehouse tables consume, you’ve probably discovered that the usual SQL Server approaches don’t work. data-mozart.com/how-to-check...

NEW ARTICLE! The medallion design pattern is probably the most widely adopted pattern of the lakehouse era, and in almost every implementation I've seen, all three layers are physically materialized. But why exactly is the silver layer a set of tables? data-mozart.com/dont-stop-ma...

Are you considering becoming a certified #MicrosoftFabric Data Engineer? I'll be running one of my most popular live bootcamps at @oreilly.bsky.social on August 26th/27th. We cover every single skill measured in the DP-700 exam. www.oreilly.com/live-events/...

The most expensive code your data team ships this year won't be written by a human. It'll be generated by AI assistant. It'll look correct, but it'll quitely drop 14% of your rows because the join type was wrong. AI-assisted data engineering is here. courses.data-mozart.com

I'm thrilled to announce that my 26th course at Pluralsight has just been released! Enterprise data succeeds when it is managed as a shared business asset. This course will teach you to recognize common data challenges and recommend practical improvements. www.pluralsight.com/courses/ente...

Manuscript done, and we are now entering the final production stage! The "Analytics Engineering with #MicrosoftFabric and #PowerBI" book, that @shbwatson.bsky.social and I are writinh for @oreilly.bsky.social is already available for pre-ordering at Amazon: www.amazon.com/Analytics-En...

Humbled and honored to be recognized as Microsoft Data Platform MVP for the 6th consecutive year😊 Especially honored to receive the award in the Real-time Intelligence category for the first time! #MVPbuzz #MicrosoftFabric #CommunityRocks

Full day, hands-on: build a production-grade Fabric lakehouse end to end. Metadata-driven ingestion, medallion, Delta optimization, Direct Lake. Real invoice-to-cash scenario, 3 sources. FabCon Europe 2026, Barcelona. espc.tech/conference/f...

NEW BLOG POST! “AI will replace data engineers”… “Agents write better code than humans”… “If you’re not vibe coding, you’re already behind”… “Nikola, should we let AI write our pipelines?” Yes… but not the way you probably think. data-mozart.com/liar-liar-wh...

Flights booked for #SummitNA - Nashville, here I come! I'll be delivering two full-day academy classes: 📆 Oct 10th Building Agentic and Conversational Analytics with Fabric IQ 📆 Oct 11th Fabric Fast Track: From Data Foundation to AI Innovation summitna.com/academy/?se=...

NEW BLOG POST! Starting Aug 1st, Microsoft is changing how your Fabric Warehouse (and SQL EP of the lakehouse) workloads are metered within the capacity. I cover what's changing (and what stays the same) and how the new model compares to Snowflake and Databricks. data-mozart.com/one-minute-t...

"What if your entire medallion pipeline could be a few SELECT statements?" @datamozart.bsky.social explains what materialized lake views (MLVs) are, how they work, and where they fit (or don't) in your architecture.

This Thursday, I'll be talking at the Microsoft Fabric UK User Group, about transitioning from data analyst to data engineer and upgrading your skills from Dataflows Gen2 to notebooks. It's free and it's online, so RSVP: www.meetup.com/microsoft-po...

My latest article at @towardsdatascience.com has just been published! This is a deep dive on Materialized Lake Views in #MicrosoftFabric. towardsdatascience.com/materialized...

NEW COURSE ALERT! I'm thrilled to announce that my 24th course at @pluralsight.bsky.social, Managing Enterprise Data for Analytics and AI, has just been published! www.pluralsight.com/courses/ente...

The last dance! Today and tomorrow, I'll be running the DP-600 #MicrosoftFabric Analytics Engineer Bootcamp for the last time at @oreilly.bsky.social. After 2+ years and 1000+ learners, this live training goes into well (un)deserved retirement. learning.oreilly.com/live-events/...

NEW SUBSTACK ARTICLE! ICYMI, I'm writing a series about Logical Data Management. In part 3, we follow Sara "the analyst" through a single Tuesday, starting with a 9:14 message and a confident "this will take 20 minutes." It does not take 20 minutes... datamozart.substack.com/p/logical-da...

Still getting your head around #MicrosoftFabric? Not sure if you should take lakehouse or warehouse path? What changes in #PowerBI workloads? Next Monday, I'll be running live online training at @oreilly.bsky.social to help you get started with the Fabric. www.oreilly.com/live-events/...

NEW SUBSTACK ARTICLE! The story I wasn't ready to tell two years ago and how AI changed that... My first article in Logical data management series is live. Why the reports became fast, while the answers are slow? And why AI made the old problem louder? datamozart.substack.com/p/logical-da...

NEW BLOG POST! Quick question for Fabric Warehouse folks: If clustering reduces CPU by 40% and I/O by 69%, but elapsed time stays the same, is it working? Yes. And the explanation is more interesting than the answer. 100M-row demo with real numbers: data-mozart.com/cluster-by-i...

When should you process data in real time, and when does batch processing make the most sense? @datamozart.bsky.social shares a clear and thorough tutorial for current (and aspiring) data engineers.

NEW BLOG POST! Two policies, three storage states, one rule connecting them. A newcomer's guide to caching, retention, and tiered storage in #MicrosoftFabric Eventhouse. data-mozart.com/hot-cold-gon...

NEW SUBSTACK ARTICLE! If I had a euro every time someone asked me “should I use Warehouse or Lakehouse in #MicrosoftFabric?” - I’d have enough to fund an F64 for a month:) And, my answer has been the same for a while now: you’re asking the wrong question! datamozart.substack.com/p/same-lake-...

NEW BLOG POST! Five surfaces collapsed into one declarative layer. Here's the full story of Materialized Lake Views in #MicrosoftFabric - from syntax to the new GA capabilities announced last month at #FabCon Atlanta. data-mozart.com/materialized...

My 24th course at @pluralsight.bsky.social is live! "Analyze Data in Power BI with Copilot" The real skill isn't finding the Copilot button. It's knowing HOW to ask and how to verify the answer. From structured prompts to DAX queries to narrative validation. www.pluralsight.com/courses/powe...

In need of a thorough and accessible primer on data modeling? @datamozart.bsky.social presents a one-stop resource for analytics engineers.

NEW VIDEO ALERT! The honest Warehouse vs. Lakehouse comparison for your #MicrosoftFabric Silver layer, based on real client engagements, not vendor marketing. Three questions that actually decide it, plus where Materialized Lake Views change the picture. youtu.be/QfBU0FYWOmU

All ready and set for my #MicrosoftFabric Data Engineer Bootcamp (DP-700) live training at @oreilly.bsky.social! Skills measured for the exam will be updated next Monday, but you are already covered, as the Bootcamp includes the fresh curriculum and all the topics. See you soon!

NEW SUBSTACK ARTICLE! You’ve probably spent last year hearing about Lakehouses and Warehouses until your ears are ringing. If a Lakehouse is a massive library and a Warehouse is a high-end bank vault, the Eventhouse is a 24-hour Air Traffic Control Tower. datamozart.substack.com/p/the-new-ho...

Are you preparing to take the DP-700 (Fabric Data Engineer) exam soon? Next Monday and Tuesday, I'll be running the popular Fabric Data Engineer (DP-700) Bootcamp at @oreilly.bsky.social, where we cover each and every topic tested in the exam. Book your spot: learning.oreilly.com/live-events/...