Hurry! Early-bird pricing for Using AI to be your Data Engineering Partner ends 31 Jan 2026! Join Stephen Leonard and me on 1 May 2026 for a full day of AI-Enhanced Data Engineering training - live and in-person - in Jacksonville Florida! Register today at www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticket.... #ai #data

Frank and I enjoyed an informative and awesome interview video with Jill Axline, Ph.D. on the Data Driven Podcast! Watch the full interview at www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXCs.... Listen to the podcast at datadriven.tv/episodes/syn... #ai #synthetic #populations #data

Heads up, Virginia Peeps. The forecast changed overnight from 0.25-0.50 in to 1-2 in of ice.

My latest newsletter is titled "Admerica" and is available at engineerofdata.substack.com/p/admerica. I welcome your thoughts. Enjoy! :{> #technology #business #ads

This morning's writing and coding anthem is the Mean Street album by Van Halen. www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4ak...

Daniel Beach and I recently had a conversation about data, data engineering, and how I got into it all. Check it out now at substack.com/home/post/p-...! :{> #dataengineeringcentral #podcast

On 8-Jan-26, I streamed Claude Code and I developing a Windows application. I blogged about it in a post titled "Video: One-Shotting an App with Claude Code – Jan 2026". You can view the post, which include the recording, at andyleonard.blog/claude-code-.... :{> #claudecode #ai

Claude Code has been updated. The platform keeps itself up to date, and you will likely see v2.1.1 when you next start Claude Code. If you don’t, you can manually execute an update from you CLI shell with the command “claude update”:

“What Am I Up To? Agents. I want to learn to build AI agents.” - From Tinkering with Claude Memory engineerofdata.substack.com/p/tinkering-...

I did not have overtly political conversations over the holidays. I had several technology-related conversations and many of them wandered into the politically-adjacent. When those parts of the discourse emerged, the most-asked question I heard was, "Why haven't I heard this perspective?"

My latest blog post is titled "Honored to Present Using AI To Be Your Data Engineering Partner at Day of Data Jax 2026" and is available at andyleonard.blog/jax-2026-ai-.... #DayofDataJax #SQLSatJax #Jax_Data #DayofData

My latest newsletter is titled "Tinkering with Claude Memory" and is now available at engineerofdata.substack.com/p/tinkering-.... #claude #aiagents

For a limited time, subscribe to my newsletter (Engineer of Data) and save 20%! Details at engineerofdata.substack.com/p/thank-you-.... #dataengineering #newsletter

I read this quote in a newsletter today: "A man whose reputation has already been demolished by years of relentless attacks is strangely free. Free to go where others will not. Free to speak without calculation. Free to risk being misunderstood."

Happy New Year! My latest newsletter - titled "A SQL Server Countdown Function" - is now available at open.substack.com/pub/engineer.... #newsletter #sqlserver #countdown

Paid subscriptions to Engineer of Data (engineerofdata.substack.com) include access to my latest playbook titled “AI-Assisted Data Engineering Development Playbook” (delmsuite.com/ai-data-e…) -a $49 value, 200+ page PDF subtitled How I set up a virtual server for modern data engineering development.

Today is the last day of 2025. Seize it.

I confess, it used to bug me when subscribers unsubscribed every time I posted a newsletter. And then it dawned on me: “Andy, you’re sending thousands of people an ‘Unsubscribe’ link every. single. time.”

AI, Data Engineering, and 2026 I recently crossed my 50th year working with computers. Most of that experience is useless. What is useful is recognizing early signals - the moments when something changes productivity enough that ignoring it becomes the risky choice.

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

My latest blog post is titled "Separating Concerns in SSIS" and is available at andyleonard.blog/2025/12/sepa.... #designpatterns #dataengineering #ssis

My latest blog post is titled "Install Durandal Memory MCP Server to Mitigate AI Context Fatigue" and is available at andyleonard.blog/2025/12/inst.... #ai #claudecode #durandal #mcpserver #local #memory

I confess: I really like SSMS v22. I feel the team at Microsoft delivered an outstanding product in this application. If you follow me on the socials, you know I do not hand out compliments on a whim – especially to Microsoft. When Microsoft drops the ball, I throw the flag. 1/

It’s a new month and the start of a new work week. I encourage you to pause and write down what you’d like to accomplish today. As you do those things, check them off. 1/2

I love the smell of a new virtual server in the morning. :{>

Praying for a speedy recovery and return to duty for the two National Guard soldiers who were wounded near the White House earlier today.

You, me, Fabric Data Factory. 10 Dec 2025. Live. Online. On sale! Register today at entdna.com/a-day-of-fab.... :{> #fabric #datafactory #training

The latest release of Fabric Navigator has cool features. It surfaces Fabric SQL databases, supports copying artifact names and id’s, masks - and remembers the previous - tenant and client id’s. Best of all? Fabric Navigator is free! Download it today at delmsuite.com/fabric-navigator :{>

Happy Birthday @brento.bsky.social! <:{>

I posted this as a comment on a different platform, but perhaps it deserves a wider audience: 1/

My friend and brother from another mother, @buckwoodymsft.bsky.social, shares an insight this Monday morning regarding data literacy (www.linkedin.com/posts/buckwo...). When I deliver training, I often mention the book "How To Lie With Statistics." 1/2

This morning's coding anthem is "Start a Fire" by Aaron Rench to kick off the first coding anthem of #noquarternovember :{> www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jat...

My latest blog post is titled "Join me 17 Dec 2025 for A Day of Azure Data Factory Live, 1-Day Training" and includes a coupon code to save 10%! Read more at andyleonard.blog/2025/10/join.... #adf #live #training

Stephen Leonard and I are planning an exclusive, Substack-only livestream at 12:00 PM EDT on Wednesday, 29 Oct 2025! To be notified, subscribe (for free!) to my newsletter, Engineer of Data, at engineerofdata.substack.com. The stream link is open.substack.com/live-stream/... #adf #framework #stream

My latest newsletter is available. It's titled "SSIS is Dead. Long Live SSIS!" Read it at engineerofdata.substack.com/p/ssis-is-de.... #ssis #notdead #SQLServer2025

My latest blog post is titled "Create a SQL Server 2025 SSIS Catalog Using SSMS v22" and is available at andyleonard.blog/2025/10/crea.... #ssis #catalog #sqlserver2025 #ssmsv22

My latest blog post is titled "One Way to Install SQL Server 2025" and is available at andyleonard.blog/2025/10/one-.... #sqlserver2025 #installation

"One Way to Install SSMS v22 (Preview 3)" is my latest blog post. It's available at andyleonard.blog/2025/10/one-.... #SSMS

"It’s cool to see SSIS support continues for the many Microsoft customers still using the platform for data integration." - from my latest blog post titled "Add the SSIS Extension to Visual Studio 2026 Insiders." Read more at andyleonard.blog/2025/10/add-.... #SSIS #VS2026

This morning's coding anthem: Let the Day Begin by @TheCallBand www.youtube.com/watch?v=wham...

"It is a good day to vote early." - Klingon proverb (paraphrased). Learn more about same-day voter registration in Virginia here: www.elections.virginia.gov/registration/

Join me today at 12:00 PM EST for Data Engineering Friday! Today, we vibe code an application to manage the metadata for the Azure Data Factory metadata-driven execution orchestration framework we’ve been building since January.

"We’ll be vibe coding an application to manage the Azure Data Factory execution orchestration framework we’ve been building since early 2025." - from "Vibe Coding an Orchestration Framework App," my latest newsletter available from open.substack.com/pub/engineer.... #claudecode #ai #adf #framework

"Stephen was independently and inherently understanding the power of AI agents - so much so that he was reproducing the work of a professional AI company within days of them releasing said work." - from my latest newsletter available at engineerofdata.substack.com/p/announcing... #ai #mcpserver

Celebrating the proposal of the US Bill of Rights 236 years ago today. :{>

We are immersed in a mainstream media-driven culture, and MSM would have reported the death of Christ beneath the fold on page 11 in a blurb titled "Controversial Preacher Dies Suddenly".

This afternoon's coding anthem is set to loop: "The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead" by XTC www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYup...

Lord willing, I've decided on my 2026 Bible reading plan. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...

I've seen a few misspellings of the organization Charlie Kirk founded. It is "Turning Point USA." You can learn more about the organization at tpusa.com. You can make a donation to help support Charlie's widow and their children, if you are so inclined. I just did.

Today's coding anthem: "I Won't Back Down," by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvlT...