This month we’re delighted to be joined by Tesco’s Head of Data and we’ll also hear about the latest in AI Governance on Databricks from the Advancing Analytics team!

17:30 - 18:00: Arrival & Networking 18:00 - 18:10: Opening Remarks & Introductions

18:10 - 18:40: Building Sustainable Data Products with AI Readiness at Scale for Cyber - Varun S Gangoor - Head of Data at Tesco In this session, we’ll explore how sustainable data product design can enable AI readiness and drive innovation in cybersecurity. We’ll look at the key principles behind building scalable, secure and reusable data products that support cyber analytics, machine learning and GenAI use cases at scale. We’ll also discuss practical approaches to data governance, automation and platform engineering that help cyber teams turn data into actionable intelligence and strengthen overall cyber resilience.

18.40-19.10 Governing AI In Databricks: Building Trust And Compliance At Scale - Gavi Regunath, Advancing Analytics CAIO and Databricks MVP, joined by Terry McCann, Advancing Analytics CEO AI governance isn’t optional - it’s foundational. With 45% of organisations concerned about data accuracy and bias, and 40% worried about privacy, the need for robust oversight is clear. From model safety to compliance tooling, we’ll show how to embed trust into your AI systems, without slowing innovation.

19:00 onwards: Pizza, Drinks & Networking Enjoy some delicious pizza and beverages while networking with peers.

Join us for a fantastic evening of learning and networking at the London Databricks meetup!

Welcome to the London Databricks Meetup! The January 2025 edition will be hosted in the brand new Databricks London office. Join us for an exciting evening of insights, expert sessions, and networking.

Event Schedule: 17:30 - 18:00: Arrival & Networking Mingle with fellow data enthusiasts and professionals. 18:00 - 18:10: Opening Remarks & Introductions Get to know your fellow attendees and the organizers. 18:10 - 18:40 Building production ready web apps with Databricks-- Tomi Tokko In this talk, we’ll explore how to build production-ready web applications using the Databricks Apps feature. With Databricks Apps, you can create interactive tools that allow end-users to interact with your data, workflows, or models without needing to work directly in Databricks or understand its technical complexities. You’ll learn how to build and deploy web apps directly within Databricks, using Python, Flask, and the platform’s built-in tools. Whether it’s building dashboards, creating input forms, or enabling model predictions, Databricks Apps open up new possibilities for making your data work more impactful and accessible. 18:45-19:15 Hacking Databricks Genie to talk like a tweed wearing baker -- Terry McCann Talking to your data has never been easier with the recent introduction of Databricks Genie. Genie gives you a new interface to chat to your data unlocking new methods of analytics with Generative BI. Using Genie in combination with Unity Catalog unlocks generative BI with the context of your data. Now that is great and Genie is very cool, but wouldn’t it be better if it talked like a northern baker? Join us in this interactive session where we look at how to hack Databricks Genie to talk like a tweed wearing baker. 19:15 onwards: Pizza, Drinks & Networking Enjoy some delicious pizza and beverages while networking with peers.

Date and Location: Date: 23rd Jan Venue: Databricks London Office Join us for a fantastic evening of learning and networking at the London Databricks meetup!

We are excited to welcome Simon Whiteley and Terry McCann for our November meetup.

Fabric Notebooks for the Power BI Professional

Microsoft Fabric combines the worlds of Power BI and Data Platforms, and there is a huge array of powerful tools at your now at your fingertips - but if you've never written python, how do you even begin to use the Notebook experience? What is a DataFrame and how do you use them? How can you avoid Python and use SQL instead?

In this session, we'll take a look at how the Spark engine is surprisingly similar to Power Query. We'll load some files into our OneLake, write some PySpark to read the data, transform it a little, and save it as a Lakehouse table that we can then use datasets, warehouses and more. We’ll look at some of the tips and tricks for using a little bit of Spark to speed up your data curation, as well as some of the neat new tools that come in the Fabric experience.

Finally, we'll discuss using notebooks as part of your end-to-end data process, and answer your Fabric design questions!

Simon Whiteley

Data Platform MVP. Databricks Beacon. Cloud Architect, Nerd

Director of Engineering for Advancing Analytics Ltd, Microsoft Data Platform MVP and Databricks Beacon. Simon is a seasoned solution architect & technical lead with well over a decade of Microsoft Analytics experience, who spends an inordinate amount of time running the Advancing Spark YouTube series. A deep techie with a focus on emerging cloud technologies and applying "big data" thinking to traditional analytics problems, Simon also has a passion for bringing it back to the high level and making sense of the bigger picture. When not tinkering with tech, Simon is a death-dodging London cyclist, a sampler of craft beers, an avid chef and a generally nerdy person.

Terry McCann

Microsoft MVP & CEO

Microsoft MVP. CEO & Owner of Advancing Analytics. A consultancy who helps businesses advance their analytics and better understand their data. Frequent speaker at events across the globe. Organiser of the Global AI Bootcamp London, Data Science user group in Exeter, UK and previous co-organiser of SQL Saturday Exeter, UK.

OPEN DATA CHALLENGE: Before our main session we are bringing back the Open Data Challenge. Your opportunity to showcase your talent to the audience. This month's challenge is Women's Football World Cup 2023 data from StatsBomb.

https://statsbomb.com/news/statsbomb-release-free-2023-womens-world-cup-data/

You'll have the opportunity to present a short (max 5 minute) presentation to show road report and and other aspects of Microsoft Fabric used in creating your solution.

Please bring a laptop to present, or contact us in advance.

VENUE: We will meet at the Nigel Frank Offices at 60 Great Tower Street. If you've not been there before, it's just a little further up the street from Brewdog. Google Maps link to help you find the building: https://goo.gl/maps/GRZWr5LfScZhApu6A