Azure

Discovery Day Sofia 2026

D

iscovery Day Sofia 2026 is the sixth edition of Bulgaria’s leading data community event, organized by local Microsoft Data Platform user groups. The conference brings together data professionals, engineers, architects, managers, and business leaders to discuss and explore the latest in data and AI technologies. Featuring top international speakers, hands-on…

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20Voices
34Underwriters
0Exhibitors
29On the bill · sessions
37Companies · in total
§I

The Voices

Programmed at Discovery, in alphabetical order.
Alessandro Gherardi
Freelance Consultant, Community Leader
Ben Weissman
Microsoft Data Platform MVP
Bogdan Gavrilovic
Senior Product Manager, Azure SQL · Microsoft
Borko Novakovic
Principal Group Product Manager, SQL Team, Azure Data · Microsoft
Brian Bønk
Data Platform MVP, Microsoft Recognized Fasttrack Solution Architect
Dhyan Rathore
Enablement Lead
Dr. Dani Ljepava
Senior Product Manager, Microsoft SQL Data Team · Microsoft
Emilie Rønning
Managing Data Engineer
Frank Geisler
Owner and CEO, GDS Business Intelligence GmbH · GDS Business Intelligence GmbH
Gabi Münster
Principal Program Manager, Azure Data Customer Advisory Team at Microsoft · Microsoft
Gregor Prohaska
Ioannis Philippides
Johan Ludvig Brattås
Leads Data & AI Solutions at Tower NewCo · Tower NewCo (now Enora)
Julia Førde
Marcel Franke
Senior Data & AI Tech Lead · Microsoft
Margarita Naumova
CEO at Inspirit LTD and Inspirit AS · Inspirit LTD, Inspirit AS
Mladen Prajdic
Data Platform MVP
Ola Hallengren
Microsoft Data Platform MVP
Rune Ovlien Rakeie
Principal Cloud Architect at Vivicta · Vivicta
Uros Milanovic
Senior Product Manager, Azure SQL Managed Instance · Microsoft
§II

Underwritten By

The houses behind the program. Tiers as disclosed.
A1Partner
A1 BulgariaPartner
ALSOPartner
ALSO BulgariaPartner
Bettr FoodFood and Drinks Partner
CrayonPartner
DEV.BGMedia Partner
DevinFood and Drinks Partner
DevStyleRMedia Partner
Divna.techMedia Partner
DraftKings (formerly SBTech)Partner
DraftKings (SBTech)Partner
eDynamixPartner
EscomPartner
Gelateria DianaFood and Drinks Partner
GeneraliPartner
Hotel Expo SofiaHospitality Partner
InaEssentialsWellness Partner
InspiritHost and Main Community Event Sponsor
Kanap FoodsFood and Drinks Partner
KimboFood and Drinks Partner
Lider.bgMedia Partner
Moto-PfohePartner
Office 1Partner
Papa John'sFood and Drinks Partner
Papa John's BulgariaFood and Drinks Partner
PirinhillWellness Partner
Pirin HillWellness Partner
PolyCompPartner
Pulse FitnessWellness Partner
Pulse Fitness & SpaWellness Partner
Software GroupPartner
Visit SofiaHospitality Partner
Zone4TechMedia Partner
§III

The Programme

Selected from 29 sessions on the bill.
  • 09:30 - 11:00

    KEYNOTE - Inspire. Build. Lead. WITH DATA Microsoft Data Platform Unplugged

    Discovery Day Sofia opens with a high-energy keynote bringing together five well-known names from across the Microsoft Data Platform ecosystem for a live, interactive, demo-driven …

  • 09:30 - 11:00

    KEYNOTE - To be Announced

  • 11:20 - 12:10

    Accelerate SQL Server Migration with Azure Arc and Copilot to Next-Gen Azure SQL Managed Instance

    Discover how Azure Arc accelerates SQL Server modernization and migration to Azure SQL Managed Instance with a seamless, Microsoft Copilot-assisted experience. Explore benefits of …

    Track A – SQL
  • 11:20 - 12:10

    Become the Fabric pipeline guru in your organization

    You have just begun your Fabric journey and want to create your first pipeline and ETL-process in your new insights and analysis data platform. This session will take you through …

    Track B – Data Engineering & Fabric
  • 11:20 - 12:10

    Stop defining the same data twice - getting started with Fabric IQ

    Every organisation has the same problem. Business terms are defined differently across teams, semantic models duplicate the same definitions, and your AI agents have no clue what t…

    Track C – Power BI, Analytics & AI
  • 11:20 - 12:10

    The Latest Performance Improvements in Azure SQL Database, Managed Instance, and SQL Server 2025

    In this cutting-edge session, we will explore the latest performance improvements in Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, and SQL Server 2025. We’ll dive into advanceme…

    Track A – SQL
  • 12:20 – 12:30

    Chat talks: How to approach a Power BI refactoring project

  • 12:20 - 13:00

    Ask Me Anything: Migrating On-Prem SQL Server to Azure SQL – Real-World Experience

    Planning to migrate SQL Server to Azure SQL and not sure where to start? Join this Ask Me Anything session with Microsoft SQL experts for open, candid discussion and direct answers…

  • 12:20 - 13:00

    The anatomy of a data product

    Data Products are not just a part of the data mesh paradigm, even if this is the first place many hear about the concept. But what exactly IS a data product? There are surprisingl…

Intermission
Part the Second · For the Buyer

An audience of 37 companies, parsed from the program.

37 companies in attendance.

The numbers below are derived from the speakers, sponsors, and exhibitors on this page — cross-referenced into one ledger. They are the only thing here that 10times.com cannot tell you.

01Fig. 01 — Composition of the House
0All threespeak · spons · exh
32Sponsoringsponsor only
0Exhibitingexhibitor only
5Speakingspeaker only
02Fig. 02 — The Voices, by Seniority

10% of the speakers carry senior titles — C-suite, Founder, VP, or Director-level.

  • C-suite210%
  • Manager / Lead420%
  • Product420%
  • Engineer · IC315%
  • Other roles735%

Of 20 on the bill · classified by free-text title

03Fig. 03 — The Heaviest in the Room
  1. 01Microsoft6V
  2. 02A1Sp·P
  3. 03A1 BulgariaSp·P
  4. 04AlsoSp·P
  5. 05ALSO BulgariaSp·P
  6. 06Bettr FoodSp·F
  7. 07CrayonSp·P
  8. 08DEV.BGSp·M
  9. 09DevinSp·F
  10. 10DevStyleRSp·M
  11. 11Divna.techSp·M
  12. 12DraftKings (formerly SBTech)Sp·P
  13. 13DraftKings (SBTech)Sp·P
  14. 14eDynamixSp·P
04Fig. 04 — By Tier
food and drinks partner7
21% of 34
hospitality partner2
6% of 34
host and main community event sponsor1
3% of 34
media partner5
15% of 34
partner14
41% of 34
wellness partner5
15% of 34