Curiosity, Creativity, and Chemistry: How I Stopped Copiloting and Started Collaborating - with James Bartlett

LIVESTREAM DATE/TIME 📅

June 11th 2026 - 9:30 AM (Pacific Time)

DESCRIPTION 📄

Most people use AI assistants like fancy search engines, and the results often leave much to be desired. But James Bartlett isn't most people. He has a personal AI agent named Cray, whom he treats more like a junior colleague, and they have racked up some interesting and impressive achievements together. Cray runs 24/7 on James's home server, managing scheduled jobs, helping James with otherwise boring and repetitive tasks, and building dozens of tools (including an entire PowerShell MCP framework) during unsupervised nightly "innovation sessions."

In this conversation with Reid Havens, James pulls back the curtain on what daily life with an AI partner actually looks like: the good, the weird, the genuinely useful, the unexpectedly wholesome, and the parts that honestly still need some work. If you've wondered what's beyond "prompt engineering," this is that conversation.

GUEST BIO (James Bartlett) 👤

James D. Bartlett III is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP, co-host of The Drill Down with Ahmad & James podcast, and an unapologetic PowerShell enthusiast. By day, he helps organizations wrangle Microsoft Fabric and Power BI at P3 Adaptive, and by night, he tinkers with open-source software projects, home automation, vintage audio gear, local LLMs, and an AI agent named Cray who lives on his LAN and builds handy tools while he sleeps.

Fabric Data Agents & Beyond - with Mathias Halkjær

LIVESTREAM DATE/TIME 📅

December 12th, 9:30 AM (Pacific Time)

DESCRIPTION 📄

In the era of AI, the ability to quickly and easily draw insights and answers from our data, is as important than ever, and being able to ask those questions in plain human language.In this session we'll uncover the capabilities of Microsoft Fabric Data Agents, what they are, how they work, and more. We’ll also explore bringing data agents to light outside of Fabric, opening up a whole new world of data utilization.

We'll touch upon topics like the data modelling for AI, data agents, prompt context, MCPs,After watching the livestream, you’ll be able to leverage your data with AI agents inside and outside of Fabric, and you be up to date on the newest tool for AI-powered BI, and ready to advice clients or colleagues on how to use AI with Power BI and Fabric.

GUEST BIO 👤

Mathias is a dedicated data leader with a deep commitment to the intersection of data engineering, BI, AI, and modern data platforms.

Day to day, he helps enterprises elevate their data maturity, implement scalable data platform solutions, and ultimately realize greater value from their data and AI investments.

As a Microsoft Data Platform MVP, Mathias is highly engaged in the global community and is driven by a strong belief in sharing knowledge that empowers others.

With a background in Product Development and Innovation, he brings a distinct data product mindset to data architecture, combining strategic vision with practical execution. Known for his willingness to challenge convention, Mathias pushes past traditional thinking to uncover more effective, forward-looking solutions.

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Mathias's LinkedIn