iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I still get all giggly inside when I see a terminal hosted in a browser. I am unable to articulate why and equally unable to deny the giggliness. :{>

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I often want to learn more when someone shares their dislike of something or someone. I'm curious to learn more about what could compel such disagreement. Almost every time, I learn stuff. About half the time, I agree with what I learn more than I disagree.

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

My latest newsletter is titled "Synthetic Monitoring" and is available at engineerofdata.substack.com/p/synthetic-.... Enjoy! :{>

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

My latest newsletter is titled "Ramblings on AI Slop" and is available at engineerofdata.substack.com/p/ramblings-.... Enjoy! :{>

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

My latest blog post is titled "We Borrowed Testing, Too" and is available at andyleonard.blog/2026/09/we-b.... Enjoy! :{>

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

I've made statements like that, yes, partly in jest, almost always when comparing dashboard / analytics / report developers to interior decorators. :{>

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Thanks, Chris Wagner, for creating this awesome ad for the ssis.training sale (ends soon)! If you watch Fabric Fridays on YouTube, Chris has a running joke about using the coupon code "KratosBI" to get 0% off. I figured it was time to use that code for 10% off! :{>

Chris Wagner's awesome ad for ssis.training!

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

I had a great time talking with Chris Wagner (KratosBI) about SSIS on Fabric Fridays! :{> www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOY3...

youtube.com

Fabric Fridays #138 - What is SSIS? with Andy Leonard

YouTube video by KratosBI

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

My latest newsletter is titled "We Stopped Teaching What We Never Stopped Running" and is available at engineerofdata.substack.com/p/we-stopped.... :{> #ssis #training

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

My latest newsletter is titled "On Democratizing Education" and is available at engineerofdata.substack.com/p/on-democra.... :{> #education #ai

"Inconceivable!" from The Princess Bride

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

My latest newsletter is titled "I'm a Claude Power User and an Anthropic Copyright Claimant" and is available at engineerofdata.substack.com/p/im-a-claud.... #anthropic #copyrightsettlement #ai

engineerofdata.substack.com

I'm a Claude Power User and an Anthropic Copyright Claimant

Affected authors, you have until 9 Feb 2026 to opt in

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

Hurry! Early-bird pricing for Using AI to be your Data Engineering Partner ends 31 Jan 2026! Join Stephen Leonard and me on 1 May 2026 for a full day of AI-Enhanced Data Engineering training - live and in-person - in Jacksonville Florida! Register today at www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticket.... #ai #data

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

Frank and I enjoyed an informative and awesome interview video with Jill Axline, Ph.D. on the Data Driven Podcast! Watch the full interview at www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXCs.... Listen to the podcast at datadriven.tv/episodes/syn... #ai #synthetic #populations #data

Data Driven Podcast interview with Dr. Jill Axline

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

Heads up, Virginia Peeps. The forecast changed overnight from 0.25-0.50 in to 1-2 in of ice.

24 Jan 2026 Hampden-Sydney Virginia ice forecast

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

My latest newsletter is titled "Admerica" and is available at engineerofdata.substack.com/p/admerica. I welcome your thoughts. Enjoy! :{> #technology #business #ads

engineerofdata.substack.com

Admerica

Can we get a break?

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

This morning's writing and coding anthem is the Mean Street album by Van Halen. www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4ak...

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

Daniel Beach and I recently had a conversation about data, data engineering, and how I got into it all. Check it out now at substack.com/home/post/p-...! :{> #dataengineeringcentral #podcast

Daniel Beach and me on the Data Engineering Central Podcast

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

On 8-Jan-26, I streamed Claude Code and I developing a Windows application. I blogged about it in a post titled "Video: One-Shotting an App with Claude Code – Jan 2026". You can view the post, which include the recording, at andyleonard.blog/claude-code-.... :{> #claudecode #ai

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Claude Code has been updated. The platform keeps itself up to date, and you will likely see v2.1.1 when you next start Claude Code. If you don’t, you can manually execute an update from you CLI shell with the command “claude update”:

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

“What Am I Up To? Agents. I want to learn to build AI agents.” - From Tinkering with Claude Memory engineerofdata.substack.com/p/tinkering-...

engineerofdata.substack.com

Tinkering with Claude Memory

Plus how my day's gone so far

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

I did not have overtly political conversations over the holidays. I had several technology-related conversations and many of them wandered into the politically-adjacent. When those parts of the discourse emerged, the most-asked question I heard was, "Why haven't I heard this perspective?"

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

My latest blog post is titled "Honored to Present Using AI To Be Your Data Engineering Partner at Day of Data Jax 2026" and is available at andyleonard.blog/jax-2026-ai-.... #DayofDataJax #SQLSatJax #Jax_Data #DayofData

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

My latest newsletter is titled "Tinkering with Claude Memory" and is now available at engineerofdata.substack.com/p/tinkering-.... #claude #aiagents

engineerofdata.substack.com

Tinkering with Claude Memory

Plus how my day's gone so far

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Paid subscribers score a 50% discount on my Enterprise Data & Analytics training, and gain access to an individual license for my AI-Assisted Data Engineering Development Playbook ($49 value) at no additional cost.

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

For a limited time, subscribe to my newsletter (Engineer of Data) and save 20%! Details at engineerofdata.substack.com/p/thank-you-.... #dataengineering #newsletter

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

The author of the quote was speaking about a minister engaging in controversy, but the quote equally applies to technology and entrepreneurs.

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

I read this quote in a newsletter today: "A man whose reputation has already been demolished by years of relentless attacks is strangely free. Free to go where others will not. Free to speak without calculation. Free to risk being misunderstood."

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

Happy New Year! My latest newsletter - titled "A SQL Server Countdown Function" - is now available at open.substack.com/pub/engineer.... #newsletter #sqlserver #countdown

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

Paid subscriptions to Engineer of Data (engineerofdata.substack.com) include access to my latest playbook titled “AI-Assisted Data Engineering Development Playbook” (delmsuite.com/ai-data-e…) -a $49 value, 200+ page PDF subtitled How I set up a virtual server for modern data engineering development.

AI-Assisted Data Engineering Development Playbook

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

Today is the last day of 2025. Seize it.

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

Doh! I now view Unsubscribes as a sign of a healthy community. I am an acquired taste, I’m not for everyone. And that’s ok. “And that’s ok” is the theme of my latest post/newsletter. Enjoy “2025: A Number Containing Two 2’s, One 5, and a 0: My whack at a year in review”.

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

I confess, it used to bug me when subscribers unsubscribed every time I posted a newsletter. And then it dawned on me: “Andy, you’re sending thousands of people an ‘Unsubscribe’ link every. single. time.”

engineerofdata.substack.com

2025: A Number Containing Two 2’s, One 5, and a 0

My whack at a year in review

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

(And yes, I also share how Stephen Leonard and I are approaching this pragmatically in our upcoming work.) :{>

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

I wrote about this in my latest Substack newsletter, including why “wait and see” is no longer a neutral position heading into 2026. If you’re curious about AI and uneasy about it, this one’s for you. Read the newsletter here: engineerofdata.substack.com/p/ai-data-en...

engineerofdata.substack.com

AI, Data Engineering, and 2026

I recently crossed my 50th year working with computers.

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

AI feels like one of those moments. Not because it’s perfect. It isn’t. Hallucinations are real. Skepticism is healthy. But the productivity gap between engineers who learn where AI belongs - and those who don’t - is starting to open.

engineerofdata.substack.com

AI, Data Engineering, and 2026

I recently crossed my 50th year working with computers.

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

AI, Data Engineering, and 2026 I recently crossed my 50th year working with computers. Most of that experience is useless. What is useful is recognizing early signals - the moments when something changes productivity enough that ignoring it becomes the risky choice.

engineerofdata.substack.com

AI, Data Engineering, and 2026

I recently crossed my 50th year working with computers.

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 25/12/2025

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:1-7

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 25/12/2025

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 25/12/2025

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

My latest blog post is titled "Separating Concerns in SSIS" and is available at andyleonard.blog/2025/12/sepa.... #designpatterns #dataengineering #ssis

"Monoliths Must Die!" slide from my SSIS training (https://entdna.com/ssis-premium)

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

My latest blog post is titled "Install Durandal Memory MCP Server to Mitigate AI Context Fatigue" and is available at andyleonard.blog/2025/12/inst.... #ai #claudecode #durandal #mcpserver #local #memory

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

An excerpt of my upcoming release titled "How I Set Up a Virtual Server for AI-Assisted Data Engineering Development" :{> #SSMS #Microsoft Subscribe to my newsletter - Engineer of Data - to learn more. engineerofdata.substack.com

engineerofdata.substack.com

Engineer of Data | Substack

Transform your current data engineering challenges into breakthrough results. Join 4500+ members already transforming. Click to read Engineer of Data, a Substack publication with thousands of subscrib...

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

I confess: I really like SSMS v22. I feel the team at Microsoft delivered an outstanding product in this application. If you follow me on the socials, you know I do not hand out compliments on a whim – especially to Microsoft. When Microsoft drops the ball, I throw the flag. 1/

A screenshot of my upcoming release titled "How I Set Up a Virtual Server for AI-Assisted Data Engineering Development"

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

If you’re anything like me, downloading the list from your mind to paper frees your mind some, and leaves more brain cycles for getting things done. I almost always get more done - and done faster - when I start the day by making a checklist. °<:{> 2/2

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

It’s a new month and the start of a new work week. I encourage you to pause and write down what you’d like to accomplish today. As you do those things, check them off. 1/2

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

I love the smell of a new virtual server in the morning. :{>

Screenshot of a new Hyper-V virtual server.

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

Praying for a speedy recovery and return to duty for the two National Guard soldiers who were wounded near the White House earlier today.

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

You, me, Fabric Data Factory. 10 Dec 2025. Live. Online. On sale! Register today at entdna.com/a-day-of-fab.... :{> #fabric #datafactory #training

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Andy Leonard @andyleonard.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

The latest release of Fabric Navigator has cool features. It surfaces Fabric SQL databases, supports copying artifact names and id’s, masks - and remembers the previous - tenant and client id’s. Best of all? Fabric Navigator is free! Download it today at delmsuite.com/fabric-navigator :{>

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