A busy wild ride at FabCon Barcelona 2026!

Another year, another FabCon. After Vienna in 2025, it was time for Barcelona in 2026.

Time to head to FabCon and SQLCon! After last year's event in Vienna, this year's destination was the beautiful and sunny city of Barcelona.

This time, I left on Sunday afternoon. Well, "left" might be a bit generous. Although the drive to the airport went smoothly and security took only five minutes, my flight was already delayed before departure. At first, it was just five minutes, but it turned out to be the beginning of more delays to come.

Boarding was slower than expected and didn't go particularly smoothly either. What started as a 30-minute delay quickly grew into a full hour. Apparently, the skies above Barcelona were quite busy, as if every plane in Europe had decided to fly there that day!

Fortunately, once we were in the air, the rest of the flight went without any issues. After landing in Barcelona, we headed to the city center, checked into the hotel, and went out for dinner.

Dinner was excellent, and it was great to catch up with familiar faces, including Valerie and Alexander.

After dinner, the question was: what next? A karaoke bar with a seated audience didn't quite fit the mood, so we ended up at Opium nightclub instead. It turned into a surprisingly fun evening that eventually ended at a light techno party.

After a relatively short night, it was time to explore Barcelona at a more relaxed pace. The morning started with breakfast, followed by a quick workout and a refreshing dip in the pool. Then it was time to head into the city.

Barcelona is a wonderful city to explore on foot. After grabbing a coffee and a sandwich, we walked towards La Rambla, passing the Barcelona Cathedral and Parc de la Ciutadella along the way. Wandering through the Gothic Quarter was especially enjoyable, with its narrow streets, beautiful architecture, and lively atmosphere.

Lunch consisted of a delicious noodle dish, and afterwards we made our way back towards the hotel, strolling past local shops and the beach. Then it was time for a well-deserved siesta on the beach, followed by a few beers before dinner.

The evening ended with a fantastic paella dinner at a beachfront restaurant with the team. Great food, a glass of wine, good conversations, and a relaxed atmosphere made for the perfect ending to the day.

Now it was time to get some sleep. Tomorrow would be keynote day.

FabCon Day 1: Keynote Day

The next morning started with breakfast at the hotel before heading to the conference center for the FabCon keynote. Unfortunately, due to a combination of our own delays and the large crowds at the venue, we arrived a little later than planned. As a result, we had to follow the keynote from one of the overflow rooms via live stream.

Compared to last year, the event felt noticeably busier, while the main keynote hall seemed significantly smaller, which likely contributed to the capacity challenges.

Despite that, the keynote was packed with announcements. The overall message was clear: AI, agents, and governance are becoming increasingly central to Microsoft's data platform strategy. Several themes stood out:

• Context is key. AI becomes significantly more valuable when it understands business context.
• Microsoft shared its vision of a future with one billion AI agents assisting people and organizations.
• AI is being embedded across the entire data platform, from SQL Server and Azure SQL to Microsoft Fabric.

On the SQL side, Microsoft announced several updates, including SQL Server on Azure Local GA, Database Hub and Database Agents in Public Preview, Agent Mode in SSMS GA, and new developer agent skills. A highlight for me was the short session by Patrick LeBlanc and Anna Hoffman, who combined great demos with plenty of humor and energy. One simple feature that was demoed quickly in here was in my opinion: SQL formatting directly in SSMS.

Next up was Amir Netz, who showcased the latest Fabric innovations. One of the biggest announcements was the introduction of a unified Fabric Copilot, bringing AI experiences together across the platform.

Governance was another major theme. New deployment plans, drag-and-drop deployment management, and OneLake Catalog Policies are designed to help organizations scale Fabric adoption while maintaining control over production environments.

Other notable announcements included:

• Fabric F0 on-demand billing.
• SharePoint and OneDrive Shortcuts reaching GA.
• Fabric IQ sharing.
• Copy Job integration with Eventstreams.
• Agentic Data Engineering with Osmos (Public Preview).
• GPU-accelerated Warehouses.

I was also pleased to see continued investments in ontologies. The new Ontology Agent can update an ontology using PDF or RDF sources and includes version history, helping organizations move closer to a true AI-ready source of truth.

To round things off, Microsoft announced a modernized Report Builder experience, Fabric Apps for application development, and yes... improved Excel export capabilities.......

And finally, perhaps the best announcement for Dutch attendees:

FabCon is coming to Amsterdam next year!

After that, I visited the Community Lounge for the first time. Naturally, that meant collecting a few stickers and exploring all the booths. Along the way, I chatted with several MVPs and Microsoft employees, and even managed to score a pair of Fabric socks.

Later, I met up with Valerie, my colleague from Wortell, and we grabbed a coffee at the Microsoft stand. Without a doubt, the best coffee at the entire event! We spent some time walking around the expo area and had the opportunity to talk with Elena Drakulevska. Not long after, Injea Park joined us as well. It was great hearing Injea's thoughts, especially as the "Fabric Apps guy" behind many of the recent announcements. I also enjoyed talking with Elena about her move to Microsoft and her perspective on the latest Fabric /Power BI developments. Both were incredibly approachable and genuine people to speak with.

Next, we headed over to the Microsoft booth to participate in one of the games. Let's just say I wasn't anywhere near winning! While there, I had a quick chat with Yael from Microsoft. Afterwards, I ran into a few Dutch colleagues before unexpectedly meeting Juliana Smith. Most importantly, I finally received her sticker as part of the Barcelona sticker challenge. 

Unfortunately, my own sticker submission didn't make the final selection, but that's okay. As my T-shirt proudly stated: "I am still deploying in Barcelona." 😉

Last year this gathering was already a great success, but this year the turnout was even bigger, with roughly 100 attendees. Seeing the Fabric community continue to grow like this was truly impressive. It was fantastic to reconnect with so many familiar faces and meet plenty of new ones along the way.

Around midnight, I decided it was time to head back to the hotel. Since arriving in Barcelona, I had been dealing with a sore throat. During the night I started feeling a bit worse and woke up feeling feverish and exhausted. Rather than pushing through, I decided to take it easy the next morning and enjoy a slower start to the day.

FabCon Day 2: Power Hour

After taking it easy that morning with a good breakfast, some extra rest, and a couple of paracetamol, I was ready to ease back into conference mode around lunchtime.

My first stop was the Community Lounge, where I watched an interview with Paulo, the former Power BI Data Visualization Champion. After the session, I had the chance to meet this year's finalist, Jerome. To my surprise, he recognized me from LinkedIn, which immediately led to a great conversation. I really enjoyed his enthusiasm and honesty. We chatted for a while, took a picture together, and afterwards I also managed to grab a photo with Paulo. Conferences like this truly remind you how easy it is to connect with people from all over the world.

After that, it was time for lunch with Valerie, Alexander, Injea, Vincent, and Daan.

Did I spend the entire day attending sessions? Not really.

One lesson I learned from previous conferences is that constantly rushing from session to session, grabbing a quick slice of pizza, and hunting for a drink during every break can become exhausting. This year, I decided to take a more relaxed approach and simply go with the flow, focusing more on conversations and experiences than on checking every session off my list.

That said, there was one session I definitely wanted to attend: Ontologies and Agents by Microsoft's Will Thompson. I was curious to see where Microsoft is heading with ontologies and how they fit into the broader AI story. The session provided a great introduction and showcased several interesting examples. While I enjoyed it, I have to admit I was hoping for a deeper dive into what's coming next.

Afterwards, a coffee break was well deserved. I then joined the Game Hour activities in the Community Lounge, where the atmosphere was fun and relaxed. Before I knew it, it was almost time for one of the most famous traditions of the conference: Power Hour.

Before heading there, I ran into a few familiar faces, including Arun Ulag Azure data VP, Patrick LeBlanc master of Guy in the Cube, and Data LinkedIn influencer Jess Ramos. Honestly, that's one of the best parts of events like FabCon. The sessions are great, but the opportunity to meet passionate people from across the community or further, is what makes the experience truly memorable.

Now, back to Power Hour.

The lines started forming almost an hour before the session. By the time it began, the room was completely packed with people eager to witness the madness. It's probably one of the few conference sessions where you don't actually learn anything... but that's not the point. The combination of excitement, challenges, giveaways, and pure chaos is what makes it so popular.

This year's Taskmaster Flow Power Hour had it all:

• Lots of goodies
• Music and sing-alongs
• Funny challenges
• And of course, Alexander Arvidsson playing the role of the ever-demanding business stakeholder, haha

The energy in the room was incredible, and everyone was having a great time. I eventually walked away with a pair of laces and a T-shirt, so I definitely can't complain.

Before I knew it, the conference day was already coming to an end. It had been another day filled with great conversations, new connections, and fresh insights.

After that, it was time to head back to the hotel, freshen up, and get ready for the next event of the evening:

FabCon Party Night. 🎉

The evening's destination was Sutton Club Barcelona, the venue for the official FabCon party.

With great food, plenty of drinks, and an amazing setting, it was the perfect way to unwind after a busy conference day. One of the highlights was running into the Fabric Partner Community team and grabbing a picture together. Thanks Stephanie Chimeziri and Nikolina Kvesic. Maybe this picture will reward me the Fabric shoes?! :D

At the party, I also had the chance to meet Gregor Prohaska from NSOD #10 in person, which was great after previously only knowing each other through the community.

As the evening progressed, the music got louder, the dance floor filled up, and the event turned into a proper party. It was a fantastic opportunity to catch up with familiar faces, meet new people, and celebrate another successful day at FabCon.

Shortly after midnight, the party came to an end, and it was time to head back to the hotel for some well-earned sleep before the next day of conference adventures.

FabCon Day 3: Power BI Data Viz Championship

Before I knew it, the final day of the conference had arrived.

I started the morning in the Community Lounge with Game Hour and, of course, another attempt to win a pair of Fabric shoes. Unfortunately, luck was still not on my side. No shoes for me this year,.. yet.

One of the highlights of the day was attending the Power BI Data Viz Championship. Thanks to Jerome, who kindly gave me a VIP ticket, I ended up with a front-row seat. The challenge was simple in theory: build a compelling Power BI report in just 20 minutes. In practice, that's a completely different story.

In the end, Marius Helle took the win, and in my opinion, he was the deserved champion overall. That said, Aanor and Mariia also delivered outstanding performances, each bringing their own strengths and unique approach to data storytelling. Jerome also shared a great dashboard with a personal human story, which clearly resonated with the audience. I saw more than a few people getting emotional.

Afterwards, I ran into Alexander, Valerie, and Fabian. Later, Jeroen ter Heerdt from Tabular Editor joined us. We had a relaxed and enjoyable conversation, during which Jeroen talked about his move from Microsoft to Tabular Editor and his experiences so far.

Then something unexpected happened. Alexander, Valerie, and I stepped outside, and before I knew it, I was recording a podcast. There wasn't much preparation involved. One moment we were talking, and the next moment the microphones were on. It turned out to be a great experience, even if I had no idea what to expect going in. The show is called Knee Deep in Tech, and I'm definitely looking forward to hearing the final result once the episode is released!

After that, it was time for lunch and what I thought would be another session afterwards. However, as often happens at FabCon, the people turned out to be more interesting than the agenda.

I ended up chatting with several some familiar and new faces, including the Data Viz Champion, Shannon Lindsay from the Fabric Community team, and Teemu from Fabric Forge. Nice to finally have met them! Really cool!

Before I knew it, the Community Lounge was closing and the conference was officially coming to an end.

That meant it was time to say my goodbyes and begin the journey home. Late that night, after a combination of taxis, buses, flights, and cars, I finally arrived back home. The journey was long and included some delays, but it also came with a pleasant surprise: a great conversation on the plane with a fellow Dutch community member.

As we flew over Paris, the sky was crystal clear. Looking out of the window, you could even spot the Eiffel Tower illuminated in the distance. A pretty special way to end the trip. Can you spot it in the picture below?