While I have been able to work on several exciting opportunities in my professional career at Microsoft, including delivering live presentations and working with some of the biggest brand name organizations the world, this was my first time tackling a technical book. This project was both intense and incredibly rewarding, as it allowed me to share what I believe are the fundamental skills anyone will need to start a successful career with the Microsoft data stack. However, this would not have been possible without the support from the following people.

First and foremost, I would like to thank my wife, Kaiya, for her love and support during the writing of this book. It is from her that I gather inspiration to be my best self every day. Thanks to my mom and dad for their unrelenting support and helping me make the most of every opportunity.

I would also like to thank my colleague Susanne Tedrick, author of WOMEN OF COLOR IN TECH: A Blueprint for Inspiring and Mentoring the Next Generation of Technology Innovators, (Wiley, 2020) for reaching out to me when this opportunity became available and to Kenyon Brown, the acquisitions editor, for helping me get it off the ground. Many thanks to Ayman El-Ghazali, the technical editor for this book and a mentor of mine throughout my time at Microsoft. Special thanks to Jon Flynn and Tash Tahir, two of my colleagues at Microsoft, for taking the time out of their busy schedule to review the content.

Finally, thank you to the entire team who made this book come together, including David Clark (project editor), Pete Gaughan (managing editor), Judy Flynn (copyeditor), and Barath Kumar Rajasekaran, who polished the rough content and made sure the project kept moving. Thanks also to all of the people who work behind the scenes with the production of this book.