The Simple Talk Podcast

Are engineering teams quietly accepting more risk? Redgate's 2026 State of the Database Landscape report reveals that people are increasingly willing to accept more risk to be more productive and take full advantage of AI's capabilities. Steve Jones, Kellyn Gorman, Grant Fritchey and Pat Wright share their thoughts on that in today's episode. They share stories from their own careers, debate on whether the decline of the DBA 'gatekeeper' role has weakened security practices, how AI is amplifying the problem - and much more. Read the 2026 State of the Database Landscape here: https://www.red-gate.com/solutions/state-of-database-landscape/2026/ Watch or listen to all episodes of the Simple Talk podcast at: https://www.red-gate.com/simple-talk/podcasts/

How do organizations protect sensitive data in test and development environments without slowing delivery? That's the question Kellyn Gorman and Microsoft MVP Hamish Watson discuss in this episode – exploring test data management (TDM), data masking, and governance in 2026. Topics include: why non‑production systems are a major security risk, the limitations of DIY and AI‑generated masking scripts, and how automated TDM helps teams stay compliant while supporting DevOps and CI/CD.  Learn more about Redgate Test Data Manager here.  Download Redgate's 2026 State of the Database Landscape report here. Listen or watch every episode of the Simple Talk podcast at https://www.red-gate.com/simple-talk/podcasts 

Steve visits Microsoft Data Platform MVP and data consultant Matt Gordon near his home in Lexington, KY. They discuss his love of making databases go faster, AI, the pros and cons of MS Fabric, data quality, community involvement, and much more. Plus, learn all about Matt's passion for motorsport and what he currently races on the track.  Want to see Matt's car and learn more about his racing adventure? Watch from 27 minutes in the video here. Check out Lean TECHniques at https://leantechniques.com/ Listen or watch every episode of the Simple Talk podcast at https://www.red-gate.com/simple-talk/podcasts   

Steve is joined by business intelligence architect and author Tim Mitchell. They discuss why SSIS will never die, the general pros of cons of integration services, the evolution from XML to JSON, how AI can help with coding, and taekwondo – among other topics! Recorded on-site at PASS Data Community Summit 2025. Visit Tim's website PASS Data Community Summit – join us in 2026! Watch or listen to all episodes of the Simple Talk podcast  

Steve is joined by Cindy Gross to discuss leadership coaching in the technology industry – what it is, how it works, and the many benefits it brings. Recorded on-site at PASS Data Community Summit 2025 in Seattle. Cindy is an executive coach and Adaptive Leadership Expert with 25 years in the US tech industry. As a former SQL Server Master (MCM) and expert in cross-organizational navigation at Microsoft, she transformed her focus from complex technical systems to empowering leaders within systemic chaos. Today, through Befriending Dragons, she guides indispensable Keystone Leaders struggling with burnout, equipping organizations with her Leadership Navigation System to befriend Leadership Friction and convert Leadership Debt into strategic leverage, thus ensuring critical talent retention. As a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and the Delaware Tribe of Indians, Cindy integrates the Cherokee principle of collective leadership, Gadugi, into her work. Cindy's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cindygross Learn more about Befriending Dragons: https://BefriendingDragons.com Befriending Dragons' schedule: https://befriendingdragons.com/meet Cindy's email: [email protected] Cindy's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/befriendingdragons Listen or watch every episode of the Simple Talk podcast at https://www.red-gate.com/simple-talk/podcasts    

Rollbacks act as an 'undo' for databases, but why are they important, what happens if you can't roll back, and how do you prevent even needing to in the first place? Steve, Kellyn, Grant & Pat try to answer these questions – and more.  Recorded on-site at Redgate HQ in Cambridge, UK.  Watch or listen to every episode of the Simple Talk podcast at: www.red-gate.com/simple-talk/podcasts 

Steve, Kellyn & Grant are joined by new Redgate Advocate, Pat Wright, for a wide-ranging discussion about what to expect in the database world in 2026 – from AI and when the bubble may burst, to community events (including the upcoming rebrand of SQL Saturday), the importance of connection, and much more… Recorded on-site at Redgate HQ in Cambridge, UK.  Watch or listen to every episode of the Simple Talk podcast at: www.red-gate.com/simple-talk/podcasts

Steve Jones, Kellyn Gorman and Grant Fritchey discuss what surprised them most in the database/tech world in 2025, ruminate on the good, bad and ugly of AI, and ponder where it goes next. Recorded on-site at PASS Summit 2025 in Seattle. Watch or listen to every episode of the Simple Talk podcast at: www.red-gate.com/simple-talk/podcasts Simple Talk is a free learning resource brought to you by Redgate Software, featuring thousands of articles covering databases, AI, Cloud, DevOps and much more: www.red-gate.com/simple-talk

Ed Pollack (Microsoft Data Platform MVP and community champion) sat down with Steve Jones at PASS Summit 2025 to discuss many topics including: Why change is good - but keeping on top of the fundamentals is still important Data modeling Recommended software/products to use SQL Server 2025, which was just launched into General Availability at the time of recording The process of testing & best practices The importance of community, and how to bring people together Running a marathon Plus, find out what Ed's baking specialism is – and try it for yourself at the Capital Area SQL Server User Group event in Albany, NY! Event information: https://www.meetup.com/capital-area-sql-server-user-group/ Ed's Simple Talk profile: https://www.red-gate.com/simple-talk/author/ed7alum-rpi-edu/ Ed's MVP profile: https://mvp.microsoft.com/en-US/mvp/profile/c7dc42d5-ff3e-ed11-bba3-000d3a197333 Ed on Sessionize: https://sessionize.com/edward-pollack/  

Steve Jones is joined by SQLBits founder Simon Sabin at Redgate's Cambridge HQ to discuss Simon's early days in the data world (and how the industry has evolved), the importance of context when working with AI, and what's ahead for SQLBits in 2026. They also dive into the nuances of conference speaking and, for a change of pace, Simon talks about his foray into UK motor racing.  SQLBits 2026 takes place 22-25 April 2026 at the ICC Wales: https://sqlbits.com/  Apply to speak at the event (deadline 21 December 2025): https://sqlbits.com/speak/ Sabin.io: https://sabin.io/ 

Steve chats with John Sterrett, CEO of ProcureSQL, about his true love for data from a young age, how SQL Saturday and community events inspired him to start his own company, ProcureSQL's use of AI to provide more value, and the impacts of work on relationships - plus much more! ProcureSQL: https://procuresql.com/  John's website: https://johnsterrett.com/  Marriage Masterpeace: https://marriagemasterpeace.com/  Check out more Simple Talk podcast episodes at https://rd.gt/3TJocZ9 

Steve sits down with Lee Brownhill, who by day helps clients optimize their SQL workloads in Azure and AWS at Cloud Rede, but is also a Redgate Ambassador, blogger and aspiring speaker. Lee talks about his interest in giving back to the SQL Server community through writing and speaking, having taken inspiration from others online and in-person at events, and naturally the conversation also touches upon AI, the cloud, and more. Lee's website: https://www.leebrownhill.com/  Check out more Simple Talk podcast episodes at https://rd.gt/3TJocZ9 

Join Redgate Advocates Steve, Kellyn & Grant as they seek to answer the question: who owns the database? Hear everything from stories of being on-call 24/7 as a DBA and why it's not sustainable, to how the cloud is changing things today.  Ultimately, the answer looks different everywhere. Tell us how it plays out in your world by joining the 2026 State of the Database Landscape Survey and be in with a chance to win new SQL Prompt with AI features: https://rd.gt/4pBCh9d  Check out more Simple Talk podcast episodes at https://rd.gt/3TJocZ9 

Steve Jones is at Redgate's Cambridge, UK headquarters once again, this time joined by Tom Hodgson, Innovation Lead on Redgate's Foundry team. Tom gives an overview of The Foundry, which is Redgate's innovation hub, offering some insight on what they do and what they're working on (spoiler: it involves AI)! Also, hear Tom's thoughts on AI & LLMs in general – including why sometimes just the basic version of a model is enough. Redgate Foundry: https://foundry.red-gate.com/  Check out more Simple Talk podcast episodes at https://rd.gt/3TJocZ9 

Steve Jones sits down for a chat with Jeff Foster, Redgate's Director of Technology & Innovation, at the company's Cambridge, UK headquarters. The main subject covered is hugely topical – AI – with Jeff explaining how he feels about AI today and how it might impact us, and our jobs, in the future. You'll also learn a bit more about Jeff's background and Redgate's ways of working.  Jeff's recommended read is 'The Unaccountability Machine' by Dan Davies.  Check out more Simple Talk podcast episodes at https://rd.gt/3TJocZ9 

To kick off Season 3, host Steve Jones is joined by Mike Bowers, Chief Architect at data technology company FairCom. The conversation includes an overview of Mike's background, the work he does at FairCom, plenty of SQL talk, and advice on getting into the industry.  FairCom: https://www.faircom.com/  Check out more Simple Talks podcast episodes at https://rd.gt/3TJocZ9

Steve, Kellyn and Ryan sit down to discuss searching for a job in 2025. It was Ryan's last show that he recorded with the advocates before changing jobs which, interestingly enough, was not why the subject was chosen. Ryan Booz: https://www.softwareandbooz.com/ Steve Jones: https://voiceofthedba.com/ Kellyn Gorman: https://dbakevlar.com/ Check out more Simple Talks podcast episodes at https://rd.gt/3TJocZ9

Carlos Chacon of Marathon Consulting joins Louis for a lively chat about topics far and wide, from the community and podcasts to security and laundromats. Carlos has his own longstanding podcast and, as they came to the end of the interview, he turned the tables on Louis and made him answer some of his own questions too! SQL Data Partners: https://marathonus.com/about/podcast/  Follow Carlos on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carloslchacon/  Aaron Bertrand Podcast: https://www.red-gate.com/simple-talk/podcasts/coffee-chat-with-aaron-bertrand/  2025 State of the Database Landscape: www.red-gate.com/solutions/state-of-database-landscape/2025/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mc-202501-t1-navigating-the-database-landscape-in-2025-report-gc-all  PostgreSQL Book: https://rd.gt/3EsLdef  Robert Treat: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robtreat/  Check out other Simple Talks episodes at https://rd.gt/3TJocZ9 

Steve Jones, Grant Fritchey and Ryan Booz discuss moving your code from one database platform to another, highlighting some of the real benefits and concerns that you need to be aware of.  Download Redgate's 2025 State of the Database Landscape report at www.red-gate.com/solutions/state-of-database-landscape/2025/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mc-202501-t1-navigating-the-database-landscape-in-2025-report-gc-all  Having a Part-time Database Administrator Can Help Improve your Bottom Line (Denny Cherry): https://www.dcac.com/2025/02/06/having-a-part-time-database-administrator-can-help-improve-your-bottom-line/  Check out other Simple Talks episodes at https://rd.gt/3TJocZ9 

In this special solo episode, host Louis Davidson stays 'full screen' for the entire show and answers the very questions he asks of others! Where it all started, what tech he loves, the one obvious thing he loves to do outside of working with databases (which has been mentioned before)...it's all covered here! Check out other Simple Talks episodes at https://rd.gt/3TJocZ9  Download Redgate's 2025 State of the Database Landscape report at www.red-gate.com/solutions/state-of-database-landscape/2025/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mc-202501-t1-navigating-the-database-landscape-in-2025-report-gc-all  Find Louis on: X: https://x.com/drsql  Web: https://drsql.org  Visit Simple Talk at https://www.simple-talk.com 

The Redgate Advocates (Kellyn Gorman, Ryan Booz, Steve Jones, and Grant Fritchey) sat down at the PASS Summit last year and spent some time telling how they went from working directly in tech, to helping others work with tech - both inside and outside of Redgate and their products. Check out other Simple Talks episodes at https://rd.gt/3TJocZ9  Connect with the hosts:  Kellyn Gorman Web: https://dbakevlar.com  BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/dbakevlar.bsky.social   Grant Fritchey Web: https://scarydba.com  X: https://x.com/GFritchey   Steve Jones X: https://x.com/Way0utwest  Web: https://voiceofthedba.com/  Ryan Booz  X: https://x.com/ryanbooz   Web: https://www.softwareandbooz.com/  

In this Coffee Chat episode, Louis sits down with Redgate Advocate Kellyn Gorman. Kellyn tells her origin story of becoming a leader in the data community, which is as inspiring as it is interesting, and the conversation also covers security (and the inherent trust issues data professionals have!), fact-checking ourselves, aging DBAs, Lego obsession, and Raspberry Pi.  Also, ever wondered why Kellyn's social media handle is dbakevlar? Listen in to find out!  Kellyn's website: https://dbakevlar.com  Kellyn's Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dbakevlar.bsky.social  Check out other episodes of Simple Talks, including the Coffee Chats with Scott Stauffer and Erik Darling mentioned in this episode, at https://rd.gt/3TJocZ9 

In this episode of Simple Talks, Louis, Steve, Kellyn and Grant get together to discuss the recently released State of the Database Landscape Report 2025, delving into topics around security, professional development and AI.  Download the full report here: https://www.red-gate.com/solutions/state-of-database-landscape/2025/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mc-202501-t1-navigating-the-database-landscape-in-2025-report-gc-all For more Simple Talks, visit https://rd.gt/3TJocZ9  Connect with the hosts:  Kellyn Gorman  Web: https://dbakevlar.com  BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/dbakevlar.bsky.social  Grant Fritchey Web: https://scarydba.com X: https://x.com/GFritchey  Steve Jones  X: https://x.com/Way0utwest Web: https://voiceofthedba.com/ Louis Davidson  X: https://x.com/drsql  Web: https://drsql.org 

This week's show is with "definitely not a folk music artist" Erik (with a k) Darling from Darling Data. Erik weaves a tale of a decidedly non-data focused start to his career, solving the same problems over and over, spicy foods, family life, all while dropping some great names along the way.   https://sqlsaturday.com/2025-05-10-sqlsaturday1105/ X: @erikdarlingdata YouTube: ErikDarlingData Web: ErikDarling.com  LinkedIn: darling-data TikTok: @darling.data   Redgate's 2025 State of the Database Landscape report: https://www.red-gate.com/solutions/state-of-database-landscape/2025/ For more Simple Talks episodes, visit https://rd.gt/3TJocZ9 

In this week's podcast, we are doing our very first "special episode". Two of the Redgate Advocates (Ryan Booz and Grant Fritchey) have written a book on PostgreSQL titled "Introduction to PostgreSQL for the data professional". So Louis sat down with them and asked them about the book, the process of creating it, and much more.  For more about the book, visit https://rd.gt/3EsLdef   More on the authors:  Ryan Booz   X: https://x.com/ryanbooz    Web: https://www.softwareandbooz.com/   Grant Fritchey:   X: https://x.com/GFritchey    Web: https://www.scarydba.com/  For more podcast episodes visit https://rd.gt/3TJocZ9 

It is the start of season 2, and we are kicking it off with Scott Stauffer talking about coffee, video games, the glorious innovation of technology over our years, guide dogs, AI, and so much more. Without giving away too much, in the show there is a discussion about guide dogs. This part of the recording went on too long, so it was cut for the main show, but as our first Simple Talks Extra, if you want to see a more complete version of this section, you can view it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BiQamHg8Go, and see our entire discussion on the topic! Scott can be followed or contacted at https://www.linkedin.com/scottstauffer/ Guide dog organization mentioned: https://bcandalbertaguidedogs.com/ SQL Bits presentation (Service Dogs in the Cabin - Web Scraping Puppy Data with Microsoft Fabric): https://sqlbits.com/sessions/event2024/Service_Dogs_in_the_Cabin-Web_Scraping_Puppy_Data_with_Microsoft_Fabric-1st_Leg https://sqlbits.com/sessions/event2024/Service_Dogs_in_the_Cabin-Web_Scraping_Puppy_Data_with_Microsoft_Fabric-2nd_Leg

Today, all the hosts (Louis Davidson, Ryan Booz, Kellyn Gorman, Steve Jones, and Grant Fritchey) get together for a festive adjacent discussion about AI, content, books, community, vector, PIVOTing, observability, and we end up with a brief discussion on gluten-free gingerbread men (because we did!) All this, though absolutely none of us broke into song like a Hope/Crosby musical!  For more episodes of Simple Talks, visit www.simple-talk.com/podcasts  Check out Simple Talk at www.simple-talk.com 

In this coffee chat episode of Simple Talks, Louis spends nearly an hour chatting with SQL Server community champion Mala Mahadevan. Learn how Mala got into computing despite her passion for horticulture, her favorite thing about working in technology, and a love for national parks. And stick around to the end where Mala and Louis share their frustrations about a SQL Server feature they both love but really want to see enhanced, so it will be a great feature worthy of use by everyone, everywhere.  You can find Mala online on:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mamahadevan/  Website: https://curiousaboutdata.com/  For more episodes of Simple Talks, visit www.simple-talk.com/podcasts  Check out Simple Talk at www.simple-talk.com  

In this Advochats episode of Simple Talks, we welcome a new Advocate to the podcast - Kellyn Gorman! And since Kellyn is the Oracle Advocate, this week's show focuses on how Oracle differs from other data platforms that the advocates have used.  More episodes of Simple Talks can be found at: https://www.red-gate.com/simple-talk/podcasts/  Check out Simple Talk at: www.simple-talk.com 

On this episode of Simple Talks, Louis hangs out with Aaron Bertrand and talks hockey, curling, football, hybrid cars and even some technology. One of the big (non-sports) themes of the episode is that Aaron is a problem-solver and is interested in how issues can be overcome with technology - even if his focus now and in the conceivable future is being a top-level expert with some of the aspects of SQL Server.

What's data masking? What's subsetting? Get past the jargon as Redgate advocates Grant, Steve & Ryan break down these processes, explain why they're important, how they work, and their personal experiences of both.

On this episode of Simple Talks, Louis sits down with Kevin Feasel and talks database design, conferences, battle tech games, and a lot more. Kevin has one of the most interesting origin stories so far in this series. He is a Data Platform Microsoft MVP and is the model of a great member of the data community. Also on the podcast, Louis learns a few new words and phrases, and for those of you watching on video, you can see him accidentally take himself out of the video a few times as well.  Where to find Kevin:  CuratedSQL.com   LinkedIn: kevin-feasel-5047167   Twitter/X: @feaselkl    Blog: https://36chambers.wordpress.com/  User Group: https://www.meetup.com/tripass  Check out Simple Talks on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4sLQQR7DgYDPj2Ob1muIgU  Visit the Simple Talk website: https://www.red-gate.com/simple-talk/ 

Ryan, Grant & Steve discuss all things AI, from driverless taxis in San Francisco and Redgate's PromptAI software, to the current concerns around AI and the potential impact on the future workforce.  Have your say in Redgate's State of the Database Landscape Survey Visit the Simple Talk website

Louis is joined by Redgate author, business owner and conference speaker Tonie Huizer for coffee and a chat. Tonie discusses how he got into technology, why he loves automation, and how speaking about whiskey has more in common with conference speaking than you may think. He also gives a taster of his upcoming PASS Data Community Summit sessions and teases an exciting new Simple Talk series for 2025.

Steve, Grant and Ryan return to Simple Talks to discuss SQL Server and Postgres. The advocates share their experiences with both systems, highlighting what works and what doesn't. From time series and Query Store to extended events, tooling and log shipping - this is a quick-fire deep dive into the pros, cons and differences between the two. There's also conversation around making the transition from one system to the other, and Ryan reflects on his challenging introduction to Postgres…on the first day of a new job. Check out Grant and Ryan's PostgreSQL articles on Simple Talk: Learning PostgreSQL with Grant - https://rd.gt/3AxVZ0B Transforming and Analyzing Data in PostgreSQL by Ryan Booz https://rd.gt/3XcGKTQ ...and for Simple Talk's extensive SQL Server content - https://rd.gt/3MiPRMw

Host Louis Davidson is joined by regular Simple Talk contributor and community speaker Jason Romans for coffee and a chat. From his early days owning a Commodore 64, juggling retail work with his studies and becoming an 'accidental DBA', all the way up to his current position as a Business Intelligence engineer, Jason has quite a few stories to tell. Other topics discussed include a shared love of theme parks, the travel benefits of attending conferences, and the challenges of sharing a name with 'JSON'…

Steve, Grant and Ryan discuss the evolution of Database DevOps, from its origins to its significance today. They discuss what they were doing at the time of its inception as a concept and how it impacted their day-to-day, while also looking at the various pieces that make up the Database DevOps puzzle – from automation to testing - and where it may go next. 

Host Louis Davidson meets with fellow Redgater, Solutions Engineer Huxley Kendell, to chat about his experiences studying computer science, the opportunities that provided him, and how all of this led him to the path he's pursuing now. Listen in to this episode for discussions including LLMs and AI, Coding and Career paths, all the way to Dungeons and Dragons. References/Links: https://www.huxleykendell.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/huxleykendell

In this episode of Simple Talks, Steve, Ryan and Grant delve into the latest happenings in their world of travel and events. From major conferences to smaller user groups, here's an overview of recent and upcoming events such as PASS Data Community Summit, PGConf, THAT conference, SQL Bits and local developer meetups. They discuss key takeaways, the impact these gatherings have on the industry and the benefits of building a diverse professional network and how it can open doors to new opportunities.  References:  PASS Data Community Summit 2024: https://passdatacommunitysummit.com  THAT Conference: https://thatconference.com  Redgate Summits: https://www.red-gate.com/hub/events/redgate-events/redgate-summit/  SQL Saturday: https://sqlsaturday.com/2024-07-27-sqlsaturday1076/  PGConf: https://2024.pgconf.nyc/tickets/