Consulting
I don’t fix it for you. I fix it with you.
For more than two decades I have helped teams make SQL Server fast, and I have done it for over 400 customers without ever asking for a password. Lately the same teams bring a second question: how do we use AI with our data without getting fooled by it?
This page has both. Pick what fits, and we work on your real system over Zoom, with your hands on the keyboard and every script staying with you.
Every engagement below is USD 2,432, fixed price. Anything that does not fit a box is USD 650 per hour. No retainers, no long contracts.
18 books, 120 courses and 5,800+ articles. That is the authority in SQLAuthority. Browse all 18 books.
Your Options
How I Work
Your server stays in your hands.
I never ask for usernames or passwords and never take remote control. You run everything while I guide. Here is why.
You keep every script.
Every script, checklist and prompt we use is yours to keep and reuse. Here is why.
You learn it once.
My goal is that the same problem never brings you back to me. Here is why.
AI gets checked, not trusted.
No hype, no doom. Every AI suggestion is tested against your real system before it goes anywhere near production.
SQL Server Performance and AI for Data Teams
Two kinds of help, one way of working: your real system, your hands on the keyboard, and every script and checklist staying with you. Pick the side that sounds like your week, or both.
SQL Server Performance
Most slow servers I see have the same handful of problems, and most fixes need no downtime and no restart. Sound familiar?
- Queries that were fast last week
- CPU high for no clear reason
- Deadlocks and timeouts
- A log file that will not stop growing
- Indexes nobody touched in years
- Plans that make no sense
Over 400 customers fixed this with me over Zoom. Nobody shared a password, and every script we used stayed with them.
Two of these sound like your week? Start with Option 1, the Health Check.
AI for Data Teams
I test AI on real SQL Server work in public. With clients it pulls business rules out of old code. Sound familiar?
- AI-written SQL shipped unchecked
- Index advice nobody tested
- Is it safe to paste this into a chatbot?
- Data that must never leave the building
- A boss asking for an AI plan by Friday
- Reviews piling up faster than code
We check every AI answer against your system first. Your data stays put, and every prompt and checklist stays with you.
Two of these sound like your team? Start with Option 3, the AI Workshop.
Comprehensive Database Performance Health Check
Your server is slow and you want it fast, without handing over credentials.
Up to 4 hours on Zoom. Most fixes start within the first 75 minutes.
- Server, instance and database settings
- Index analysis, optimization and maintenance
- Execution plans, wait statistics and I/O
- TempDB, data and log files, DBCC best practices
- A clear action plan, and every script we used
USD 2,432 Full details
SQL Server Performance Tuning Practical Workshop
No PowerPoint. Just live demos and two games your team will not forget.
3 to 4 hours, live on Zoom, for your whole team.
- Indexing worst practices and how to fix them
- WhichIndex: a game about multi-column indexes
- Don’t Change Code: a game about functions, views and indexes
- Your server, your questions
- Every script from the workshop
USD 2,432 per class
AI Enablement Workshop for Data Teams
Where AI saves your team hours, and where it quietly costs you.
Up to 4 hours on Zoom. DBAs, developers and managers together.
- Using AI on query tuning and execution plans, with your own examples
- Checking AI-written SQL and AI index suggestions before they reach production
- What should never be pasted into a chat window, and when local models make sense
- Giving AI the right context: structure and summaries, not raw data
- For managers: why checking, not making, is now the bottleneck
- A one page team checklist you keep
USD 2,432
On-Demand Expert Hour
For everything that does not fit a box above:
- A second opinion before a big migration or design decision
- An urgent performance problem that cannot wait
- A follow-up after any engagement on this page
- Checking a vendor’s or an AI tool’s recommendation before you act on it
USD 650 per hour
Read How I Work First
On consulting
- Why Do I Never Take Control of Computers Remotely?
- Why Do I Give 100% Guarantee of My Services?
- Why Do I Assure SQL Server Performance Optimization in 4 Hours?
- Why Do I Give All of the Performance-Tuning Scripts to My Customers?
- Why Don’t I Want My Customers to Return Because of the Same Problem?
- What my clients say
On AI and data
- Nine Unusual Ways My Clients Use AI With SQL Server
- I Let AI Recommend SQL Server Indexes Across a Week of Queries
- Validating AI-Generated Index Recommendations
- AI Execution Plan Analysis: I Gave It My Plan and Asked What Was Wrong
- Local AI Models for SQL Server: A Complete Guide
- Setting Up an MCP Server for Natural Language Tuning
- AI Code Review Bottleneck: Nobody Owns It
Questions People Ask
Prefer to watch first? Here is a video from me, and the answers to what people usually ask are right below it.
Can I see how you teach before booking?
Of course. Watch my free training videos, or subscribe to my YouTube channel for SQL in Sixty Seconds. I promise the subject is more fun than it sounds.
Do you need access to our server or our data?
No. We work over Zoom while you share your screen. I never ask for usernames or passwords, and nothing is copied off your systems.
Will AI see our data?
Only if you decide it should. Most sessions work with structure and summaries rather than rows, and local models keep everything on your own machine.
Who should join?
Anyone who touches the system: DBAs, developers, analysts, and the manager who signs off. The workshops work best with the whole team in the room.
Can we combine engagements?
Yes. A Health Check followed by the Practical Workshop works well, and the AI Enablement Workshop fits on another day. Each one is priced on its own.
What if four hours is not enough?
Book a second engagement or add hourly time. There are no retainers and no long contracts.
How do we pay?
Credit card, debit card, bank transfer or PayPal. Once payment is made and the meeting is scheduled, it is not refundable.
AI: Nobody’s in There. But we’re still in here.
Thirty short essays, two to five minutes each, on living and working alongside AI. No hype. No doom. It is the thinking behind every AI session on this page.
Paperback, Kindle and audiobook.
Getting Started
1. Email me
Write to pinal@sqlauthority.com with the engagement you want (or your problem in a few lines), your SQL Server versions, your company name and your time zone.
2. Pick a slot
I reply with the earliest available times and the payment options.
3. Join on Zoom
You receive a Zoom invite to share with your team, and we get to work.