Data platform architecture
Lakehouse foundations on Azure Databricks or Microsoft Fabric — medallion layering, governance, and a cost model you can defend to finance.
- Databricks
- Fabric
- Delta Lake
❯ whoami
01
About
openUmar Qureshi
Senior Consultant — Azure Data & AI
MicrosoftMunich, Bavaria, Germany
I design and ship production data and AI platforms on Azure — from lakehouse foundations and real-time ingestion to GenAI assistants and the MLOps that keeps them honest. Ten years across consulting, engineering and analytics, currently at Microsoft.
- Years in data & AI
- 10+
- At Microsoft since
- 2019
- Certifications
- 6
- Based in
- Munich
02
Skills
The tools I reach for, grouped by the job they do.
Languages
day-to-day- Python
- SQL
- C#
- PowerShell
- TypeScript
- Bicep
Data platform
lakehouse & warehouse- Azure Databricks
- Microsoft Fabric
- Delta Lake
- Azure Data Factory
- Synapse Analytics
- Azure Data Lake Storage
AI & machine learning
from prototype to production- Azure OpenAI
- Retrieval-Augmented Generation
- Azure AI Search
- Azure AI Foundry
- Computer Vision
- Agentic workflows
Platform engineering
how it stays up- MLOps
- LLMOps
- DevOps
- Azure Kubernetes Service
- Infrastructure as Code
- Observability
Streaming & integration
data in motion- Azure IoT Hub
- Event Hubs
- Structured Streaming
- Microservices
- REST APIs
Consulting
the part that is not code- Solution architecture
- Pre-sales
- Technical workshops
- Stakeholder alignment
- Cost optimisation
03
Services
Independent engagements through Datenschaftler, alongside my role at Microsoft.
Data engineering
Batch and streaming pipelines that are idempotent, observable, and testable. Built so the on-call engineer is not the person who wrote them.
- PySpark
- ADF
- Event Hubs
Applied AI & GenAI
Retrieval-augmented assistants and agentic workflows grounded in your own data, with evaluation harnesses instead of vibes.
- Azure OpenAI
- RAG
- AI Search
MLOps & LLMOps
Deployment, monitoring, drift detection, and rollback paths for models and prompts, wired into the CI/CD you already run.
- MLflow
- CI/CD
- Monitoring
Real-time & IoT
Telemetry ingestion at device scale — stream processing, hot and cold paths, and microservices that keep latency predictable.
- IoT Hub
- Streaming
- AKS
Technical advisory
Architecture reviews, build-vs-buy calls, and pre-sales support. Straight answers about what will and will not work.
- Architecture
- Review
- Strategy
04
Experience
Senior Consultant — Azure Data & AI
Jan 2019 → PresentMicrosoft · Germany
Delivering data and AI platforms for enterprise customers, from first architecture whiteboard through to production hand-over.
- Led GenAI platform development for interactive, retrieval-grounded chat applications.
- Owned the data platform and MLOps lifecycle for computer vision use cases in production.
- Built microservices for real-time IoT telemetry processing at device scale.
- Provided architectural guidance, technical workshops, and pre-sales consulting.
- Azure OpenAI
- Databricks
- AKS
- IoT Hub
- Python
Business Data Analyst
Oct 2017 → Jan 2019DHL Supply Chain · Bonn, Germany
Built the reporting backbone for global sales performance management and translated business needs into IT requirements.
- Developed the Global Sales Performance Management reporting suite.
- Defined business requirements for IT support functions.
- Created Power BI reports consolidating diverse upstream data sources.
- Power BI
- SQL
- Excel
05
Education
MSc Life Science Informatics
Universität Bonn · 2016
Computational biology, data mining and applied machine learning.
BSc (Hons) Agriculture — Plant Breeding & Genetics
Agriculture University Rawalpindi · 2012
06
Certifications
Certifications earned across Microsoft, Databricks and GitHub — each one independently verifiable at the issuer.
Certified
Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Engineer Associate
- Issuer
- Microsoft
- Issued
- May 2025
- Expires
- May 2027
- Credential ID
- B7A8AB695A243810
- Cert. no.
- 4BA3D3-2FBE9A
Certified
GitHub Certified: Agentic AI Developer
- Issuer
- GitHub
Certified
Databricks Certified Data Engineer Associate
- Issuer
- Databricks
- Issued
- Apr 2024
- Credential ID
- 102397037
Certified
Academy Accreditation — Databricks Lakehouse Fundamentals
- Issuer
- Databricks
- Issued
- Jan 2024
- Validity
- No expiry
Certified
Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate
- Issuer
- Microsoft
Certified
Microsoft Certified: Azure IoT Developer Specialty
- Issuer
- Microsoft
08
Contact
Based in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Open to consulting conversations, speaking, and interesting problems.
09
Curriculum vitae
The whole thing on one page. Use your browser's print dialogue to save it as a PDF.
Umar Qureshi
Senior Consultant — Azure Data & AI
- uaqureshi@outlook.com
- +49 160 5892659
- Munich, Bavaria, Germany
- linkedin.com/in/uaqureshi
Profile
I design and ship production data and AI platforms on Azure — from lakehouse foundations and real-time ingestion to GenAI assistants and the MLOps that keeps them honest. Ten years across consulting, engineering and analytics, currently at Microsoft.
Core skills
Languages
Python · SQL · C# · PowerShell · TypeScript · Bicep
Data platform
Azure Databricks · Microsoft Fabric · Delta Lake · Azure Data Factory · Synapse Analytics · Azure Data Lake Storage
AI & machine learning
Azure OpenAI · Retrieval-Augmented Generation · Azure AI Search · Azure AI Foundry · Computer Vision · Agentic workflows
Platform engineering
MLOps · LLMOps · DevOps · Azure Kubernetes Service · Infrastructure as Code · Observability
Streaming & integration
Azure IoT Hub · Event Hubs · Structured Streaming · Microservices · REST APIs
Consulting
Solution architecture · Pre-sales · Technical workshops · Stakeholder alignment · Cost optimisation
Professional experience
Senior Consultant — Azure Data & AI
Jan 2019 → PresentMicrosoft · Germany
- Led GenAI platform development for interactive, retrieval-grounded chat applications.
- Owned the data platform and MLOps lifecycle for computer vision use cases in production.
- Built microservices for real-time IoT telemetry processing at device scale.
- Provided architectural guidance, technical workshops, and pre-sales consulting.
Business Data Analyst
Oct 2017 → Jan 2019DHL Supply Chain · Bonn, Germany
- Developed the Global Sales Performance Management reporting suite.
- Defined business requirements for IT support functions.
- Created Power BI reports consolidating diverse upstream data sources.
Education
MSc Life Science Informatics
Universität Bonn · 2016
BSc (Hons) Agriculture — Plant Breeding & Genetics
Agriculture University Rawalpindi · 2012
Certifications
- CertifiedMicrosoft Certified: Azure AI Engineer AssociateMay 2025
- CertifiedGitHub Certified: Agentic AI Developer
- CertifiedDatabricks Certified Data Engineer AssociateApr 2024
- CertifiedAcademy Accreditation — Databricks Lakehouse FundamentalsJan 2024
- CertifiedMicrosoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate
- CertifiedMicrosoft Certified: Azure IoT Developer Specialty
Publications
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