5 Take Aways from the Microsoft Fabric Community Conference 2024 Las Vegas

What does the future of data and AI look like in your organization? At the first Microsoft Fabric Community Conference, we got a sneak peek. HSO's Jasper Hillebrand and Jerrold Stolk share their experiences and key takeaways. What do they take away from Las Vegas?

1. Fabric is a platform for change

Jasper Hillebrand: "The flexible and integrated nature of Fabric allows organizations to focus more on creating business value. Fabric is more than just a set of tools and services; it is a platform for change. It enhances organizations' data and AI capabilities by managing and analyzing data across multiple sources in a unified and consistent way. This without imposing a specific direction."

Jasper Hillebrand: "When moving to Fabric, you have to consider governance from the beginning, since users will try to test everything out. Moving to Fabric is not only justified for reporting purposes; if you adopt it, you have to go all the way. Therefore, the importance of a strategic approach and thorough planning when implementing Fabric within an organization is essential."

3. HSO also needs to transform

Jasper Hillebrand: "Adopting Fabric means a fundamental shift in how we create value for our customers. This means that we at HSO must also reinvent our solutions and accelerators. We will invest in developing new tools, where possible AI-driven, to not only set up platforms but also to be able to deliver added value through the Fabric platform."

4. Data is the fuel for AI

Jerrold Stolk: "Fabric has a leading role in facilitating AI by being able to provide accessible and mature data. Every second session had a slide with the phrase: data is the fuel for AI. Fabric will help AI access this enterprise data and mature the data estate, which is necessary for a successful AI strategy."

Jerrold Stolk: "The implementation of AI-driven tools like the AI Skills and Microsoft Copilot is going to have a big impact on the role of data analysts and other data-related functions within organizations. The functionality is still in its early stages and has flaws, but ultimately this will transform the work of data analysts, engineers and administrators."