While we all know that Apache Spark and Azure Databricks can be used for BI-style analysis, the fact remains that BI workloads weren’t a great fit for either one. But with the release of Databricks SQL workspaces and SQL warehouses, all that has changed. Now you can spin up special Databricks clusters that run persistently and can be readily queried within the SQL workspaces or by any BI tool. And if that tool is Power BI, you can take advantage of a new customized connector to make the experience far easier than before.

In addition, Databricks’ new Proton engine makes BI queries on Databricks run far faster than they did before. Add in new features like Delta Live Tables and Unity Catalog, and users get versatile capabilities around the management of the data they’re querying. To learn more about Databricks SQL, and how to build great Power BI reports against big data, come to this demo-heavy session.

You will learn:

• How to use Databricks SQL Workspaces
• Deployment of, and connecting Power BI to, Databricks SQL Warehouses
• Background on performance optimizations in the Proton engine
• Use of Power BI composite models for efficient big data querying