About Me
Having recently made the commute from Australia, excited to now call London home! My name is Taygan Rifat, and I work for Microsoft as a Cloud Solution Architect (Data and AI). Have been in the business intelligence and analytics space for over 15 years, I am currently deeply passionate about how data, cloud and artificial intelligence can be used to build and foster innovation and business value. My working career spans a multitude of industries and technologies, working side-by-side with customers to derive actionable insights.
I have presented at events across Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, sharing thought-provoking technical demonstrations, illustrating the art of the possible, different ways of working and more. While an evangelist for delivering data solutions through best practices and delightful user experiences, I am also a technologist at heart, keeping in touch with the ever-shifting technology and analytics landscape.
Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed throughout this site are my own and do not necessarily state or reflect those of Microsoft.
Microsoft Presentations
London, United Kingdom | April 2018 till Present
Jul 2018 | Azure Databricks Workshop, Big Data & Analytics Conference - University of Essex
Aug 2018 | Azure Databricks 101, Microsoft Internal
Sep 2018 | Azure Data Services: Data-to-Insight, Partner Event
Sep 2018 | Microsoft Data & AI Strategy, Partner Event - Azure 101 (1 of 2)
Oct 2018 | Azure Data Services, Microsoft Managed Service Provider Community Day
Jan 2019 | Microsoft Data & AI Strategy, Partner Event - Azure 101 (2 of 2)
May 2019 | Digital Transformation, Partner Event
Jun 2019 | Form Recognizer, Azure Hackathon - Microsoft Reactor
Jul 2019 | Introduction to AI Builder, Partner Event
Jul 2019 | Landing an Effective Technical Skills Plan, Microsoft Azure Theatre
Oct 2019 | Introduction to Azure Data Platform, Partner Event
Feb 2020 | Future of Beauty, Partner Event
Jun 2020 | Zero Code AI with Drag-n-Drop Machine Learning
Jul 2020 | AI in Media, Partner Event
Aug 2020 | Azure Partner Community Call (Azure AI)
Tame the BI Tools Jungle
Mastering Business Analytics - Melbourne, Australia | October 2015
Despite SAP’s convergence strategy in a concerted effort to “run simple”, many customers are left grappling with the challenge of choosing the right tools for the right information need. With a constantly evolving toolset, it can become increasingly difficult to see between the marketing hype and what actually makes sense for your environment. In Tame the BI Tools Jungle, I walk through example strategies on how we can maximize value out of our existing BI investments.
Path to BI Value: Paving the way with User Adoption
SAP BI Specialist Interest Group - Wellington & Auckland, New Zealand | April 2015
Mastering Business Analytics - Melbourne, Australia | October 2014
User uptake is key to BI return on investment. However, there are several factors which affect adoption rates. The Path to BI Value: Paving the way with User Adoption shares AGL's story on how we were able to build interest in our biggest critics by demonstrating the art of the possible, converting interest into adoption and ensuring repeated successes to sustain growth.
Certifications
Microsoft Certified: Azure Database Administrator Associate
Issued by Microsoft: Mar 2021
Skills and knowledge to implement and manage the operational aspects of cloud-native and hybrid data platform solutions built on Microsoft Azure data services and Microsoft SQL Server.
Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Scientist Associate
Issued by Microsoft: Jul 2020
The Azure Data Scientist applies their knowledge of data science and machine learning to implement and run machine learning workloads on Azure; in particular, using Azure Machine Learning Service.
Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate
Issued by Microsoft: Feb 2020
Azure Data Engineers design and implement the management, monitoring, security, and privacy of data using the full stack of Azure data services to satisfy business needs.
Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Engineer Associate
Issued by Microsoft: Jun 2019
Validates the skills and knowledge to use Cognitive Services, Machine Learning, and Knowledge Mining to architect and implement Microsoft AI solutions involving natural language processing, speech, computer vision, bots, and agents.
Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals
Issued by Microsoft: Feb 2019
Demonstrates foundational level knowledge of cloud services and how those services are provided with Microsoft Azure.
Microsoft Certified Trainer
Issued by Microsoft: Apr 2020
Microsoft Certified Trainers (MCTs) are the premier technical and instructional experts in Microsoft technologies. Professional trainers and learning consultants who demonstrate and maintain technical and instructional expertise on Microsoft technologies.
Awards
Microsoft | FY20 Gold Club
June 2020
The distinguished Gold Club Award recognizes the extraordinary performance of individuals who transform and contribute to the overall success and growth of Microsoft.
Microsoft | FY19 Circle of Excellence Nominee
June 2019
The Circle of Excellence program recognizes employees who are really making a difference, going above and beyond and demonstrating passion, perseverance and teamwork whilst embodying our Microsoft culture.
The Eventful Group | Mastering Business Analytics
December 2014
Highest rated Australian presenter. Second highest rated International presenter.
AGL | Corporate Employee of the Year
November 2013
”In recognition on achieving exceptional work and delivering on our brand promise of “Action, not words” through the value of One Team”