Sample Data with GenAI in Seconds

Posted on July 14, 2025 by way0utwest

A friend was asking for help with some data analysis. This was in PowerBI, and the source data was PII. I asked them to mask the data for me to work with but realized that’s a chore. I could mock it myself with AI.

This is part of a series of experiments with AI systems.

The Process

I started by building a table. It’s what I often do to solve problems. I could have asked the AI, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted and across 5 minutes or so I was thinking about the problem and what data was needed.

This is a subset. The original table and model had many more columns, but after thinking for a couple of minutes, I realized these would let me model the report someone wanted. At least enough to see if the requirements might be correct and the code work or not work.

CREATE TABLE MarketData
( UserID INT
, ContactDate DATETIME
, ContactType VARCHAR(10)
, ContactDesc VARCHAR(30)
)
GO

Once I had the code, I jumped over to Claude to give this a try. You can see the prompt below, but it was this: I need sample data for this schema. Duplicate some customerIDs across various dates, and duplicate contacttype for each customer (from 1 to 5), but randomly mix these in across dates. Not every customer needs every contact type. Make this for 10 customers across two years

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I could then move on to another task, since I was getting going in the am and answering emails around this task. As it generated, I realized this wasn’t quite what I needed. So I addd this prompt.

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I got a bunch of data.

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This wasn’t perfect, and I actually went back and asked for more users with only a “1” and got the data altered.

I could have done this, but I’ve also found myself sometimes spending as much time mocking an environment as I did writing a query to solve a problem. I can use this to answer questions on SQL Server Central and even quickly strip code out of poorly asked questions.

It’s amazing. Don’t be afraid of AI. Give it a try. Keep trying. If it fails after a few prompts, just do the work you’re do, but go back and try again later.

I’ve got a video walkthrough of this below.

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The PASS Summit on Tour in Dallas

Posted on July 9, 2025 by way0utwest

The PASS Summit goes on tour this year, with a September stop in Dallas. This is the first event in the series, and I’m excited to go back to New York City for the event. You can register here and come see some amazing speakers on Sep 15-16, 2025.

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The lineup is small and short, but it’s a one pre-con day with two half-day sessions and then a one full day of hour long sessions. The pre-cons include Fabric, leadership, performance tuning and more. All from industry experts. The regular sessions are across four tracks with a variety of things you can learn during the 5 time slots throughout the day.

There is also a Redgate Summit in Dallas on Wednesday. That’s got Redgate specific content, but if you’re interested (or a customer), stay an extra day for that as well.

If you’re near Dallas, or can convince your boss to send you, register today and join us on tour. The larger main event is still in Seattle, and if you prefer that, come for a full week in November.

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T-SQL Tuesday #188: Growing the Community

Posted on July 8, 2025 by way0utwest

This month we have a great T-SQL Tuesday, hosted by John Sterrett. He has been a great help in multiple communities over the years, and he has quite an inspirational invitation when you read his story. I am honored to call John a friend and enjoy the times we get to sit and chat.

If you aren’t a part of T-SQL Tuesday, start a blog at WordPress or Medium, or even on LinkedIn. Write a post, leave a link on John’s invitatin, and become a bigger part of our community. If you want to host a T-SQL Tuesday let me know.

Working in the Community

Quite a bit of my career has been intertwined with community. When we started SQL Server Central, we didn’t expect the community to grow like it did. We thought we’d help teach people, but the forums have become an amazing community. If you ever need help, there are plenty of people who can help, arguably better than a GenAI.

From there, my partners, Andy Warren and Brian Knight, and I founded SQL Saturday. I continue to run that today, helping local volunteers run events and fund them.

However, the things I’ve been most proud of is convincing some of the people in the Denver area to deliver their first presentation, helping to inspire and educate their local community. I’ve made it a point over the years to look for, and listen for, smart people and then encourage, support, and inspire them to try speaking. Getting new people to share information is always exciting and thrilling for me, and it adds to the community aspect of my life.

I’ve been less successful in getting others to blog, but still, each time I see someone start blogging, I’m grateful they made the time and overcame their fears to share something with the world.

A rising tide lifts all boats, and a community is an incredible tide.

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Sabbatical le Troisième: A Recharge Week

Posted on July 5, 2025 by way0utwest

It’s been a week since I flew home from London and Redgate to begin my sabbatical. Actually, at this time last week I was just about to land in Chicago on my way back.

I hadn’t made any big plans, and despite my wife pushing, I wanted to spend a week at home doing little.

Mission accomplished.

I got back and spent Sunday and Monday doing some chores, trying to catch up on some lawn maintenance and weeding at the ranch, however, after that I slowed down. While in Cambridge I was attacked by a mosquito the last night and ended up with a few dozen bites on my arms. My body doesn’t react well to these and I’ve had a lot of itching and welts on the arm.

I did a few chores, helping my daughter as she’s working two jobs and sometimes get late with things on the ranch, so I’ve filled water and cleaned stalls. I cleaned a UTV and found the reason why the brakes weren’t working. A broken caliper, so I drove that to the shop after debugging a loose battery cable leading to inconsistent starting.

It’s worse in the sun, so starting Tuesday I decided to slow down and spend a little more time inside. I worked on cleaning out closets and doing some household chores. I also caught up on laundry, played some guitar (re=learning Angel from Montgomery, and trying to learn Secret of Life, which is hard). I also managed to spend a few afternoons with my wife not doing much, relaxing and catching up in person, as opposed to on the phone.

I have a few things planned out and bought some pieces and parts. Today I replace a gate wheel and cut some wood to repair a feeder. I’ll grab a few pictures and post to show that I am being productive.

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