Here’s what we covered:

• 00:00 Start
• 00:52 chris: After your time at SQLBits you’d posted about the number of SQL Server consultants who were very opposed to AI. What was the feedback you were getting on why folks are against this technology?
• 03:50 DBAInAction: Hi Brent, what’s your recommended rollback policy for SQL upgrades while maintaining same compatibility? how do you address the data gap that may occur after the go-live and if we need to rollback ? If Leadership requests a formal strategy, how do you structure your response?
• 05:43 Michael J Swart: You linked to a Tested Q&A: The number of times I’ve shown a client a gray spray painted piece And I’ve said this is not for color it’s only for form Then the first thing the client says is yeah I just don’t like the color What questions like that do you hear too often?
• 10:35 Niktrs: Hi Bent. Thank you for the spring training. Because time zone difference, I would appreciate it, if you could leave the video recordings available for one day. Thanks in advance
• 11:30 Hany: Hello Brent, In your website (the Anniversary Sale page) I noticed Google is one of your customers, just wondering, Google doesn`t have a professional database team to fix their issues themselves?
• 14:04 TipsyManager: Hola Brent! You do a good amount of traveling; any local food (and booze!) that you’ve particularly enjoyed? Or particularly hated?
• 16:05 Will: I know you’ve stated in the past that you dont like current microsoft SQL certifications, such as the dp-300. Are there any non-microsoft SQL certifications that are respected by employers and actually help certify your knowledge vs just being a marketing gimmick?
• 17:35 benlinuxguy: Hi Brent. Are you planning to do any Day of Data (former SQL Saturday) at any point in the future, or was last year the last time you did these?
• 20:42 Luca Carraro (DBA – Doing Business As): Hi Brent, have you ever experienced any performance issues related to the proliferation of DB objects, especially Stored Procedures?

Well, guess what: that’s coming up this July!

I wonder how many of the original bloggers are still even active in the community, and I’m curious to see how everyone’s predictions went. I’ll jump in and go first, since I have no shame, hahaha. Here were my original predictions, and let’s talk about how I did.

2018 Prediction: In 2026, DBAs will still be a thing. Back then, I came under ridicule because some people thought there was no way database admins would still be necessary or around. Well, whaddya know: we’re still here! Score: 1 point out of a possible 1. However, making a prediction like that for 2028-2030 becomes a little tricky: all kinds of tech jobs are in wild flux right now with this AI thing.

2018 Prediction: The data safety business will look like the car safety business. I said that countries would have their own different data protection and residency regulations, and that our work would be harder for that lack of standard. Boy, did this one come true: the US government forced TikTok’s sale to keep the US data & algorithm inside the US, a whole slew of new data laws went into effect on Jan 1, and data localization laws by country are a bewildering mess. I truly pity anybody who has to make a living dealing with this bureaucracy. Score: 1 of 1.

2018 Prediction: <= 5% of SQL Servers will run on Linux. Back then, the Windows Core crowd was super-excited about SQL Server on Linux because it’d get by with even less surface area and less memory requirements. For companies, this prediction is clearly true: the adoption rate is wildly low. If Microsoft ran Azure SQL DB atop Linux, you could argue that >= 5% of databases run on Linux, but that’s not what the prediction was about. Score: 1 of 1.

2018 Prediction: Your developers will have several projects built with serverless architectures. I honestly don’t know what the overall population’s results are for this, but at least for the majority of the clients I work with, this is true. For example, if you’re using Microsoft Fabric, you’re using serverless. Still, though, I don’t really give this one high marks because I said several projects, and I’m not sure that’s the case for most companies. I’m gonna give myself a low score here. Score: 0 out of 1.

2018 Prediction: Your default new database will be in a cloud PaaS. I didn’t make this one as measurable as I should have, given that I wanted to be able to go back and measure my accuracy rate. In the 2026 Data Professional Salary Survey, the majority of responders are using the cloud in one way or another, but the primary database for most responders is definitely not Azure SQL DB. Score: 0 of 1.

2018 Prediction: 2 big clouds will offer an MSSQL-compatible serverless database. This one already came true several years ago with the advent of Azure SQL DB Serverless and AWS Aurora Babelfish. Score: 1 of 1.

2018 Prediction: Microsoft will fix the “String or binary data would be truncated” error. Fixed, amazingly. Score: 1 of 1.

Overall score: 5 of 7. I’m happy with that, but hoooweee, I would not wanna try to predict what the database business is going to be like another 100 months from now! Next, check out Adam’s 2018 roundup of blogger predictions, and have a few laughs about where our minds were at back in 2018. It’s amusing to note that some of the predictions could have been written last week – some things always seem like they’re going to happen real soon now™.

If your company is hiring, leave a comment. The rules:

• Your comment must include the job title, and either a link to the full job description, or the text of it.
• An email address to send resumes, or a link to the application process – if I were you, I’d put an email address because you may want to know that applicants are readers here, because they might be more qualified than the applicants you regularly get.
• Please state the location and include REMOTE and/or VISA when that sort of candidate is welcome. When remote work is not an option, include ONSITE.
• Please only post if you personally are part of the hiring company—no recruiting firms or job boards. Only one post per company. If it isn’t a household name, please explain what your company does.
• It has to be a data-related job.

If your comment isn’t relevant or smells fishy, I’ll delete it. If you have questions about why your comment got deleted, or how to maximize the effectiveness of your comment, contact me.

Each month, I publish a new post in the Who’s Hiring category here so y’all can get the latest opportunities.