PGDay Lowlands2026

Microsoft's mission is to empower every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more. In the PostgreSQL context, that means not only building managed services such as Azure Database for PostgreSQL and Azure HorizonDB, but also contributing to the long-term success of the open source project and community. Microsoft's values align closely with those of the PostgreSQL community:

• Respect: At Microsoft we believe that each person has intrinsic worth—and we invite in perspectives that are different from our own. This value is shared in the PostgreSQL community.
• Integrity: Integrity is integral to building trust—and like in the Postgres community, we keep our word and we do what we know is right, even when it’s hard.
• Accountability: At Microsoft we take ownership for what we say and do and for the outcomes we create and how they’re delivered. And we invite input from others on how we are doing. It’s safe to say that accountability is also important in the Postgres community.

Microsoft offers two managed services for PostgreSQL: Azure Database for PostgreSQL and Azure HorizonDB. Azure Database for PostgreSQLis a fully-managed, AI-ready database service that supports all major open-source PostgreSQL versions and is widely used for production workloads today. Just a few of the things that make the service unique:

1. Resiliency across 65+ regions with built in multi-zone high availability, cross-region replication and Chaos Studio integration;
2. Trusted data security and compliance features;
3. Direct mirroring to Microsoft Fabric;
4. The popular VS Code extension for PostgreSQL, now evolved into a full Postgres IDE; and
5. Elastic clusters for horizontal scale, powered by open-source Citus.

Azure HorizonDB, now in public preview, is Microsoft’s next-generation cloud‑native, high‑performance PostgreSQL-compatible service designed for mission critical workloads. Charles Feddersen and Affan Dar, describe details of Azure HorizonDB in this announcement blog from June.

Microsoft's contributions to the PostgreSQL open source project span multiple releases and subsystems. One contribution we're particularly proud of is helping bring PostgreSQL's Asynchronous I/O infrastructure to life, a major architectural change that landed in PostgreSQL 18 and continues to evolve in PostgreSQL 19.

• Query planner: better execution plans and more consistent query performance
• Executor: faster execution of complex queries and lower CPU overhead
• Storage & I/O: continued work on PostgreSQL's modern asynchronous I/O infrastructure
• Security: authentication and security enhancements
• Operations & manageability: improvements for monitoring and administration
• SQL language: new SQL functionality and standards-compliance improvements

Microsoft's open source engineering contributions are supported by non-code contributions. This creates valuable feedback loops between contributors and users, helping ensure that PostgreSQL continues to evolve in ways that address real-world needs. For a deeper dive, see the latest version of our annual blog post: What's New with Postgres at Microsoft, 2026 Edition.

PGDay Lowlands (the second-best PostgreSQL conference in Europe 😊) stands out for its creative approach to bringing people together around PostgreSQL. Over the years, the organizers have consistently found unique ways to make the event memorable, from hosting the conference in unexpected venues (such as a zoo in 2025) to incorporating debate sessions, community activities, special sponsor interactions, and even event-themed songs. These touches create a Postgres conference experience people remember long after the event is over.

We chose to sponsor PGDay Lowlands because local conferences are an important part of the PostgreSQL community. Sponsorship helps make gatherings like this possible, and being part of an experience that attendees remember long after the conference is over makes it especially rewarding to support.

Microsoft is proud of its contributions to PostgreSQL ecosystem, including

• Azure Database for PostgreSQL Fully managed, AI-ready database as a service for PostgreSQL.
• Azure HorizonDB: New PostgreSQL-compatible database service to build & scale mission-critical applications.
• Talking Postgres Podcast: A monthly podcast about the people who work on Postgres & why they do what they do.
• Microsoft Blog for PostgreSQL: Our blog about Postgres, Azure, and our Postgres community initiatives.
• Upstream Contributions to Postgres: Microsoft employs Postgres committers & contributors working directly on upstream Postgres—plus a team working on open source extensions.
• Supporting Postgres Events: Microsoft sponsors—and helps to organize—PostgreSQL conferences & user groups worldwide.
• Visual Studio Code Extension: VS Code extension for PostgreSQL with over 689K installs. Works with any Postgres database.
• POSETTE: An Event for Postgres: Free & virtual developer event with livestreams, a virtual hallway track, & expert speakers from the Postgres ecosystem.

Microsoft is also a Benefactor sponsor of the PostgreSQL Community Association (PGCA).

Collaborative, Rigorous, Welcoming

• Collaborative because PostgreSQL is shaped by people who work together across countries, timezones and companies. Knowledge sharing, mentoring, and collective problem-solving are at the heart of the project.
• Rigorous because all contributions are carefully examined, discussed, and refined. This is true for our collaboration on code to our collaboration on everything else in the project.
• Welcoming because people are encouraged to participate. There is a genuine effort to create a working environment where people can belong.

• Playlist from POSETTE: An Event for Postgres 2026: These 44 recorded talks on YouTube give you access to more than 19 hours of Postgres content from experts across 23 companies and 19 countries.
• Azure Developer Hub for PostgreSQL: A collection of sample applications, learning resources, and Azure community support for building applications and AI agents with PostgreSQL on Azure.
• Build AI Apps with Azure Database for PostgreSQL Learning Path: Microsoft's most complete technical curriculum for modern PostgreSQL development.