The Long Arc of Data and AI with Reza Rad
Reza Rad has watched every Microsoft data platform turn since SQL Server. 15-time MVP. Founder of RADACAD. Author of seven books. 10 million YouTube views. In this episode he tells Dave Goyal exactly which workforce AI is replacing, why your Copilot output is only as good as your star schema, and what a 22-year-old should spend the next two years learning if they want to survive the next decade.
In this episode:
00:00 Cold open: Who AI is actually replacing
00:34 Welcome and intro
01:48 What has actually changed and what has not in the AI era
07:52 Why Copilot in Power BI fails on a bad data model
10:39 The CFO who got the right Q3 number from stale data
14:59 Why AI is replacing juniors, not seniors
16:02 Real Fabric and AI customer outcomes
20:39 Governance, F-SKUs, and the iceberg under every AI investment
24:49 Mindset, energy, and surviving 20 years of platform turns
29:36 What Reza would tell a 22-year-old today
34:18 Power BI and Fabric Summit and why virtual beats in-person
37:55 Music, pattern, and improvising inside structure
42:13 What kept the content engine running for a decade
44:01 One thing AI-curious, AI-enthusiast, and AI-skeptic should each learn this quarter
47:02 New Zealand vs US adoption curves
49:22 Closing word
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🔗 Links and Resources
RADACAD Academy: https://radacad.com
Reza on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rezarad/
Reza's books on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3QOdC4I
Power BI and Fabric Summit: https://globalpowerbisummit.com/
Think AI Podcast: https://bit.ly/ThinkAIPodcast
#PowerBI #MicrosoftFabric #DataAndAI #Copilot #RADACAD
