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.

Power BI Field Parameters vs Calculation Groups (Clear Comparison)

Video by: Reid Havens

In this video I walk through the Field Parameters vs Calculation Groups Guide from Analytic Endeavors and explain what these two powerful Power BI features actually do, how they differ, and when to use each one in your reports.

You’ll learn:

• What Field Parameters are and how they let your users choose what to show in visuals

• What Calculation Groups are and how they let you change how measures calculate dynamically

• The key decision points between using FP and CG

• How each feature affects report design, maintenance, and flexibility

This is a conceptual walkthrough, not a step-by-step build. The goal is to help you understand the behaviors and tradeoffs so you can pick the right tool for the problem you’re solving.

Vibe Coding a Desktop Tool with AI

Video by: Reid Havens

This project was built almost entirely using Claude Code through pure vibe coding. No detailed specs.

No formal architecture. Just me giving the LLM ideas, screenshots, and plain-English requests until a real desktop tool existed. In this video, I walk through the Desktop Widget Wall I built and focus on the art of the possible, not the implementation details. This is a non-technical walkthrough meant to show how far you can go when you treat an LLM like a creative collaborator instead of a code generator.

You’ll see how:

• An idea turns into a working desktop tool

• Screenshots and rough concepts become real UI

• AI can iterate on structure, layout, and behavior - “Vibe coding” can replace traditional dev workflows for small tools

• You can prototype software without writing much code yourself This isn’t a tutorial and it’s not a “how to prompt” video.

It’s a real example of what happens when you lean into AI-assisted building and let the tool do the heavy lifting. If you’re curious about rapid prototyping, personal tooling, or what modern LLMs can actually build, this should give you plenty of ideas.

RELATED CONTENT 🔗

Widget Wall Repo

SQLBits Unplugged: Inclusivity, Costumes & the Power of Community (with Simon Sabin)

DESCRIPTION 📄

What started as a small idea among data geeks became one of Europe’s most celebrated data conferences. In this episode, I chat with Simon Sabin, founder of SQLBits, about how the event grew from its humble beginnings into a cornerstone of the Microsoft data community.

We explore what makes SQLBits unique—from its deep commitment to inclusivity and diversity, to its legendary themed parties and creative venues that make learning feel like an adventure. Whether you’ve attended before or are considering joining next year, this conversation pulls back the curtain on what makes SQLBits unlike any other tech event.

🎉 Expect stories, laughs, and maybe a bit of costume talk.

GUEST BIO (Simon Sabin)👤

Simon runs a Data Consultancy Sabin.io enabling companies to make the most of the data they have by implementing a Dev Ops strategy.

He is passionate about the importance of the community and learning. He founded and continues to run SQLBits, the largest SQL Server Conference outside of North America, has been awarded as a Microsoft MVP since 2005 and was recently made a Microsoft Regional Director.

He has worked with data for all his career and worked with companies across all industry sectors including online retail, insurance, finance, motor sport.

RELATED CONTENT 🔗

SQLBits