Microsoft Fabric Community Conference 2025 Highlights: Community growth and innovation
The Microsoft Fabric Community Conference (FabCon) 2025 has officially wrapped! Hosted once again at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, this year’s conference brought together a global community of more than 6,200 attendees—double the number at the last FabCon in Stockholm and 50% more than at last year’s FabCon in Las Vegas. A big thank you to everyone for making this the best FabCon yet. With 220-plus sessions, 20 hands-on workshops, 70-plus sponsors, and an amazing keynote at the T-Mobile Arena, FabCon 2025 brought together data pros, industry leaders, Microsoft MVPs, partners, industry analysts, press, and customers for six unforgettable days of learning, connection, and inspiration.
Pre-Days: Workshops and Partner Day
The week began with pre-conference workshops on March 29th and 30th, offering deep dives into the latest advancements across Microsoft Fabric. Topics included analytics, data governance, databases, and AI. These interactive sessions equipped attendees with practical skills and insights they could immediately apply, including preparation for their Microsoft Fabric certification exams.
The Partner Day welcomed over 500 attendees representing GSIs (Global System Integrators), SIs (System Integrators), and Software Development Company partners. The goal was to strengthen connections between Microsoft and partner teams, deepen business relationships, and celebrate our partner community. Rajiv Phoughat, Principal—Advisory Digital at KPMG, joined me on stage to share KPMG’s data estate transformation journey. Rajiv highlighted how Fabric has helped KPMG Digital drive greater operational efficiency and deeper insights across their global organization. Partners also had the chance to engage directly with Fabric product leaders during an Ask Me Anything session, where they posed top-of-mind questions. Leaders from Microsoft’s partner teams were also on hand to share guidance and deepen relationships.
Monday keynote
Arun Ulagaratchagan, Corporate Vice President of Azure Data, kicked off the keynote at the T-Mobile Arena in front of a packed house, and shared his vision for an AI-powered data platform that brings together ingestion, analytics, databases, business intelligence, and real-time intelligence—all on a unified, open, and governed data lake built on Azure.
This vision set the stage for Amir Netz, Technical Fellow and CTO of Microsoft Fabric, and the Fabric team to unveil a series of exciting updates across the Fabric platform and workloads. Highlights included enhancements to OneLake Security, the introduction of Data Agents in Microsoft Fabric, expanded Copilot and AI capabilities across all Fabric SKUs, a streamlined migration experience for customers moving from Azure Synapse to Fabric, expanded integration between Fabric and Snowflake, and more.
Following Arun and Amir, I had a blast partnering with Marco Casalaina, VP of Azure AI and Futurist, to demonstrate how AI is driving real business transformation. Together, we showcased a series of language-based demos translating speech in real-time to multiple foreign languages and interacting with AI agents using speech, highlighting how customers can use Azure AI Foundry and Fabric to build AI agents that deliver transformative customer experiences. Finally, we were joined on stage by executives leading data and AI organizations including Philip Withey, Chief Architect, London Stock Exchange Group, Maureen Tan, Head of AI CoE, Global Units, NTT DATA, Inc. and John Maio, VP, Enterprise Data & Analytics, CSX, who shared insights on their data estate modernization journey and how they are now leveraging Microsoft Fabric and Microsoft AI Foundry to unify their data estates and accelerate AI projects.
A packed Fabric agenda: Sessions, community connections, ask the Experts, and more
The rest of Monday and all of Tuesday were packed with learning opportunities, with sessions led by MVPs, Microsoft engineering teams, and customers alike. Highlights included MVPs Reza Rad and Minni Walia’s session on Real-Time Intelligence for Power BI users, Microsoft product leaders Bogdan Crivat and Charles Webb discussing the future of Fabric Data Warehouse, and a great talk by Phil Witney and Rich Acosta on how LSEG and Prudential Group Insurance Management implemented Fabric.
Of course, sessions weren’t the only way to learn. The Community Lounge was buzzing with 1:1 conversations, live group chats, and impromptu meetups with community celebrities like Patrick LeBlanc and Adam Saxton of Guy In a Cube fame.
Attendees also explored the expo hall, connected with sponsors, visited the Ask the Experts booths to meet the Microsoft teams building Fabric, and stopped by the Microsoft booth for a unique hands-on experience. There, Fabric came to life on the Forza Motorsport track, where drivers competed for top times, bragging rights, and fun prizes. With 545 players and 1,065 races, the experience generated over 1.4 billion rows of data, which were ingested for instant visualizations and insights by Fabric Real-Time Intelligence and Power BI. Kudos to all our racers and winners—we hope you’re rocking your new Fabric shoes!
The rest of the conference was packed with learning and fun. Highlights included the inaugural Data Viz World Championship, the much-anticipated return of Power Hour After Dark, an unforgettable attendee party by the pool, and numerous events hosted by our amazing partners and sponsors.
Wednesday keynote
In Wednesday’s keynote, Dipti Borkar, VP of Microsoft OneLake and Fabric ISVs, shared how Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) are using Fabric to accelerate AI innovation and enhance customer experiences. The keynote unveiled the new Workload Hub—a centralized platform to explore and leverage various workloads—and featured a panel of ISVs showcasing real-world integrations and their impact on customers. The panel included Sudhir Hasbe, Chief Product Officer at Neo4j, Shadi Shahin, VP of Product Strategy at SAS Institute, and Rob Elkins, Director of Product Management at ESRI. Each shared insights on how their organizations are building on Fabric to drive transformative outcomes.
Maithili Dandige, GM of Microsoft Purview, then set attendees up for their final day of sessions by spotlighting our latest advancements in data security and governance. Key announcements included new features for Copilot in Power BI, new data loss prevention capabilities, and expanded insider risk management tools—underscoring Microsoft’s ongoing commitment to innovation in data protection, security, and compliance.
About those sneakers…
To help celebrate the first anniversary of the GA of Microsoft Fabric, we created a small number of customized Microsoft Fabric sneakers as a token of thanks for the launch team. However, we also wanted to use the opportunity to say thank you to some of the supporters from the broader Fabric community across MVPs and the customer community. Without their tireless support and advocacy, Fabric and FabCon 2025 would not have been the success that it is. We’re thrilled at the reception that it’s received online and during the event. We will be sure to incorporate more ways to surprise and delight the community in the future.
Looking ahead with Fabric
I hope all FabCon attendees left feeling inspired, equipped with fresh insights, new connections, and a renewed sense of excitement for the future of Microsoft Fabric. We’re excited to see how the ideas and innovations shared will shape the future of data and AI.
Next up is Microsoft Build, taking place in Seattle from May 19 to 22, 2025. As one of our biggest events of the year, it’s a great opportunity to explore the latest Fabric innovations and stay ahead of what’s next. Register today and be part of the momentum.
If you missed the Microsoft Fabric Community Conference, don’t worry—there’s another chance to be part of the experience. Join us this September 15 to 18 in Vienna, Austria, for the European Fabric Community Conference. Reconnect with the community from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa and enjoy a full week of sessions, insights, and networking. I’m looking forward to seeing you there!
Explore additional resources for Microsoft Fabric
- If you do nothing else, download and reference the Fabric one-pager.
- Sign up for the Fabric free trial.
- View the updated Fabric Roadmap.
- Visit the Fabric website.
- Join the Fabric community.
- Register for the Fabric Ask the Experts series and join us for our monthly Q and As.
- Read other in-depth, technical blogs on the Microsoft Fabric Updates Blog.
- See how the Microsoft IDEAS team is building on Fabric.
- Explore the Fabric technical documentation.
- Check out the newly launched Fabric Tech Talk Fridays (F²T²), which is the go-to show for Fabric MVPs, users, and fans. Join us for live demos, real use cases, and expert insights. Watch the latest episodes here.
