Modern SQL development has evolved far beyond writing queries and tuning indexes ,but many developers are still missing powerful capabilities that can dramatically improve productivity, reliability, and developer experience.

In this session, we’ll walk through the top 10 SQL features for developers that are often overlooked spanning developer tooling, drivers, CI/CD workflows, and AI-assisted development. These are practical, real-world features that teams can start using immediately to ship faster and with more confidence.

We’ll look at how modern tooling like VS Code, the mssql extension, and GitHub Copilot are changing the way developers design schemas, write queries, debug issues, and collaborate with their teams. From intelligent code assistance and testing support to safer database change workflows and improved observability, we’ll demonstrate how AI is becoming a true copilot in the SQL developer’s day-to-day work not just for writing code, but for understanding, reviewing, and evolving it.

The session will be demo-driven and grounded in real developer scenarios, drawing on close collaboration with the VS Code mssql, GitHub Copilot, DevOps, and SQL driver teams. Whether you’re building cloud-native apps, modernizing existing SQL workloads, or enabling better DevEx across your organization, you’ll walk away with concrete takeaways and a fresh perspective on what “modern SQL development” looks like today.