James Serra

James works at Microsoft as a big data and data warehousing solution architect where he has been for most of the last nine years. He is a thought leader in the use and application of Big Data and advanced analytics, including data architectures such as the modern data warehouse, data lakehouse, data fabric, and data mesh. Previously he was an independent consultant working as a Data Warehouse/Business Intelligence architect and developer. He is a prior SQL Server MVP with over 35 years of IT experience. He started his career as a software developer, then was a DBA for 12 years, and for the last twelve years he has been working extensively with business intelligence and data warehousing using numerous Microsoft technologies and tools. He has been at times a permanent employee, consultant, contractor, and owner of his own business. All these experiences along with continuous learning have helped him to develop many successful data warehouse and BI projects. He is a popular blogger and speaker, having presented at dozens of major events including SQLBits, PASS Summit, Data Summit and the Enterprise Data World conference.