SQL & AI Trainer · Pluralsight Author
Practical SQL and AI training for data teams
I’m Lucian Lazar. I teach teams to write SQL that runs fast, design databases that hold up as they grow, and use AI safely in everyday data work. Every example comes from systems I’ve worked on in production since 2010.
20+
years in databases
10+
years teaching
18,000+
learners
For teams
Workshops for your team
Each workshop is shaped around your team’s level and goals, with real scenarios, live demos and hands-on exercises. Live sessions add what video can’t: your team’s questions and a pace set by the group.
SQL from Fundamentals to Advanced
For: analysts, testers, BI developers and anyone new to data.
Format: from a half-day introduction to a full 48-hour course.
From the first SELECT to joins, aggregations, window functions and subqueries. Above all, how to turn a business question into a query on your own. Your team practices on six case studies across Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL and MongoDB.
He did everything he could, in a very short time, to help us not just write commands but understand the logic behind SQL: how it works and how to approach problems so we can reach solutions on our own. Thank you for your patience and for making us understand SQL, not just use it.
— Wantsome student, Data Analyst & Data Engineer program (translated from Romanian)
Thank you for your professionalism and the very good way of teaching combined with practice!
— Wantsome student, Data Analyst & Data Engineer program (translated from Romanian)
Thank you for explaining things briefly and to the point, so everyone could follow, for the focus on lots of practice (which is the best way), and for the dedication and patience you showed.
— Wantsome student, Introduction to Databases (translated from Romanian)
Native SQL for Developers
For: backend and full-stack developers.
Format: from a one-day workshop to 8 sessions (16 hours) with a group project and individual projects in Java, JavaScript or Python.
Using an ORM like Hibernate, Sequelize or SQLAlchemy and ending up with a slow database?
Design tables your ORM can’t, write queries that use exactly the functions you need, and tune them yourself instead of waiting for a DBA. Includes what happens when many users hit the same data: locking, blocking and deadlocks.
I first ran this course for developer colleagues at my company, then for developers from other companies: about 20 developers in 2022–2023.
It gives a well-structured way to get quickly up-to-speed with native SQL. ORMs are problematic as applications become more complex since they can generate suboptimal SQL queries. I highly recommend this course for developers who work with complex applications in which the database is the bottleneck.
— Senior Software Engineer
You can count on high level frameworks, but understanding what’s actually happening behind the scenes always matters. More than you think! Worked with Lucian on several projects, he’s the perfect mentor for you.
— VP of Product
Lucian presents some very important SQL and performance concepts that any backend developer should be aware of, in an interesting and captivating manner. Having these notions and improvements in mind can make our lives a lot easier when we develop a complex application.
— Full Stack Developer
Data Modeling & Warehousing
For: data engineers, architects and developers who design data structures.
Format: a one-day workshop or a course over several sessions.
Get the model right before everything is built on it. Logical and physical models, normalization and when to break it, star and snowflake schemas, and indexing and partitioning for analytics.
This is an excellent module that gives the fundamentals of the data modeling. Shows how and why it is important for well designed systems.
— Pluralsight learner, Data Modeling Core Concepts
Nice overview — essential viewing for anyone who works with data models in any aspect of their role.
— Pluralsight learner, Data Modeling Core Concepts
Learned about Indexing and Partitioning, Star Snowflake schemas. Will watch again.
— Pluralsight learner, Data Warehousing for Data Engineers
AI in Data Work
For: data teams and developers bringing AI into their databases.
Format: a half-day or one-day workshop.
The AI features in SQL Server 2025, from embeddings to vector search. How to let AI agents like Microsoft Copilot query your data through a read-only connection. And the limits to plan for: confident but wrong joins, and answers that change from one run to the next.
Great course – learned a lot.
— Pluralsight learner, AI in SQL Server 2025
Very interesting and relatable examples.
— Pluralsight learner, Agentic AI in Retail
Very cleanly delivered in a concise manner. Easy to understand.
— Pluralsight learner, Databricks Certified Data Analyst: SQL in the Lakehouse
Practical AI for Business Teams
For: business, sales, communications and operations teams.
Format: a half-day workshop.
Write prompts with a clear framework (CO-STAR), adapt tone and style to each situation, and see where AI agents already create value, with real cases from leading retailers.
I really like the course construct and most importantly how Lucian explained concepts by tying them to real use cases.
— Pluralsight learner, Agentic AI in Retail
Very useful COSTAR framework – useful tips on changing the style to match the situation. Great course.
— Pluralsight learner, Prompt Engineering for Communications
CO-STAR framework is too helpful. I am going to apply it to all my communications going forward.
— Pluralsight learner, Prompt Engineering for Communications
15
courses on Pluralsight
4.6/5
from 95 learner ratings
10,000+
learners in 2026
Pluralsight · University · Bootcamp
See how I teach
Watch one of my courses before you book a workshop.
Pluralsight courses
Best so far in speech cadence. Clear messaging.
— Pluralsight learner, Data Modeling Core Concepts
Overall, the module was engaging, practical, and immediately applicable to everyday business tasks.
— Pluralsight learner, Prompt Engineering for Communications
Very valuable information for me. I need it for my new project. It was presented well. I liked the example queries very much!
— Pluralsight learner, Databricks Certified Data Analyst: SQL in the Lakehouse
Live classes
Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași
10 years of seminars and labs in databases and programming for Computer Science and Economics students.
500+ students in total.
Wantsome
2 cohorts of the Introduction to Databases course.
3 cohorts of the accredited Data Analyst & Data Engineer program.
Taught in Romanian.
Maven
Native SQL for Developers, my own live course for backend and full-stack developers: table design, native SQL and query tuning, with a group project and individual projects.
About 20 developers in 2022–2023.
Feel free to learn from an expert. Lucian will teach you quite a few tricks about SQL in this course.
— Data Scientist | Solution Architect
I’ve set myself the goal of working through all 90 exercises this weekend, since I woke up this morning with WHERE, GROUP BY and HAVING on my mind.
— Wantsome student, Data Analyst & Data Engineer program (translated from Romanian)
Your content is very clear and to the point. Especially the performance tuning and optimization. I am very impressed by that.
— Senior Implementation Analyst
100+
clients on the platform
2 trillion+
records a month
500+ TB
of data a month
In production since 2010
Why my training works
I’ve taught databases for more than ten years, and I still work in production every day. The examples I teach with come from real systems, not from a textbook.
Since 2010, I’ve been the database engineer behind an enterprise sales performance management platform. It runs at 100+ clients and processes nearly 2 trillion records and over 500 TB of data a month.
Read-only access for BI tools and AI agents
I built direct database access for the platform’s clients: a read-only schema where they query their own data through business-named views, from their BI tools or any SQL client. Then I put an MCP server on that same connection, so AI agents like Microsoft Copilot can answer plain-English questions from live Oracle data. Read-only is enforced by database privileges, not by instructions to the model, and every answer shows the SQL behind it. It’s been delivered to a client.
Application locking for busy Oracle apps
An application used by 100+ clients kept blocking and deadlocking. Some clients had over 10,000 users, several hundred of them working at the same time. I built an application-level locking framework in PL/SQL that removed almost all of the deadlocks.
DDL you can roll back
In Oracle, every DDL statement commits on its own. An operation that changes both structure and data can fail halfway and leave a half-built schema behind. I designed a framework that logs an undo statement for every DDL, rolls the whole operation back in reverse order, and cleans up orphaned transactions automatically. It runs at every client on the platform.
Consulting
Need hands-on help instead?
Sometimes a team needs a fix, not a course. I also help when your database or SQL isn’t doing what you need:
- Queries and reports that have become slow, and you need to know why
- Applications that block or slow down when many users work at once
- A data model you want to get right before everything is built on it
- PL/SQL or T-SQL code that has become hard to maintain or troubleshoot
- Giving clients, partners or AI agents read-only access to part of your database, safely
- Moving data from Oracle to Snowflake, Databricks or other cloud platforms
You get a clear diagnosis, a fix your team can maintain, and an explanation they can learn from. I take on a limited number of consulting projects at a time, so each one gets my full attention.
Next step
How we start
01
A short, free call
We talk about your team’s level, what you want them to be able to do, and the databases and tools you use.
02
An agenda built for your team
I shape the topics, examples and length around your goals.
03
Hands-on sessions
Real scenarios, live demos and exercises your team can apply the next day. SQL exercises come from my own bank of 500+ problems with solutions, and your team keeps the ones we work through.
Online or on-site, in Romania or abroad · English or Romanian · From a half-day workshop to a 48-hour course · Best with 5–10 people, up to 20 · Weekdays, evenings or weekends, to fit your team’s schedule
Pricing depends on the format and length. I’ll send you a proposal after our call.
Write to me at lucian@lucianlazar.com with a few lines about your team and what you’d like them to learn, or book a free 15-minute call with the “Schedule a call with me” button below.