Three-day Belgian community conference for Microsoft Data and AI professionals at the historic Lamot Congress Centre in Mechelen, 12-14 October. Covers Microsoft Fabric, Azure Data, Power BI, data engineering and AI agents. Organised by the dataMinds community. Pre-conference workshop day plus two main conference days.
dataMinds Connect is an annual community-organised conference for Microsoft Data and AI professionals, held at Lamot Congress and Heritage Centre in Mechelen, Belgium. The 2026 edition runs 12-14 October. The conference covers the Microsoft data platform stack: Microsoft Fabric, Azure Data services, Power BI, data engineering and AI agents, targeting data engineers, data analysts, Power BI developers and Azure data architects. The community format means content is submitted and selected by practitioners, not curated by vendors.
Programme tracks for 2026:
The audience spans data engineers, data analysts, Power BI developers, Azure data architects and Microsoft Fabric practitioners from Belgium and the broader EMEA Microsoft data community. The community-organised format attracts practitioners looking for peer exchange rather than vendor-led keynotes. Sessions are selected via Sessionize based on community voting.
No. While the Belgian and EMEA Microsoft data community is the core audience, the event attracts international attendees from the broader Microsoft data platform community. English is the primary language for sessions.
Yes. Power BI remains a significant track, including the latest developments in Microsoft Fabric-integrated Power BI, semantic model design and Copilot for analytics.
Lamot is a congress and heritage centre housed in a converted 19th-century brewery in the centre of Mechelen, Belgium. The venue combines heritage architecture with modern conference facilities and is a frequently used location for Belgian tech and data events. Mechelen is located between Brussels (approximately 25 minutes by train) and Antwerp (approximately 15 minutes by train), making it accessible from Brussels Airport (BRU) and Antwerp.
dataMinds is the Belgian Microsoft Data and AI community organisation behind dataMinds Connect and dataMinds Saturday (a regular one-day event). The organisation runs as a volunteer community and is part of the broader Microsoft Data Community network in the EMEA region.
dataMinds Connect is Belgium's specialist Microsoft Data and AI conference: three days in Mechelen at the Lamot heritage centre, with deep coverage of Microsoft Fabric, Power BI and AI agents.
Tickets via datamindsconnect.be. General ticket sales opened 1 June 2026. Specific 2026 pricing was not publicly listed at time of verification; check the website for current rates.
Mechelen station is on the Brussels-Antwerp main rail line. From Brussels Centraal: approximately 25 minutes. From Antwerp Centraal: approximately 15 minutes. From Brussels Airport (BRU): train to Brussels Centraal (20 minutes), then to Mechelen (25 minutes). Lamot is a 10-minute walk from Mechelen station.
Yes. Day 1 (12 October) is a pre-conference workshop day with in-depth sessions. The main conference runs on Days 2 and 3 (13-14 October).
| Official website | https://datamindsconnect.be/ |
| Call for speakers | https://sessionize.com/dataminds-connect-2026/ |
| Register | https://datamindsconnect.be/ |