# Brian Knight

> Brian Knight is the founder and CEO of Pragmatic Works, a Florida-based Microsoft technology training company. After entering technology during the dot-com era, he helped found SQLServerCentral, built Pragmatic Works across software, consulting, and training, sold the software and consulting divisions, and concentrated the remaining business on practical instruction in Power BI, Power Apps, Azure, AI, Copilot, and related tools. He is a Microsoft-certified trainer and Power Platform specialist, the author or co-author of more than 15 technical books, and a longtime conference speaker whose operating philosophy is to transfer enough knowledge that customers can carry the work forward themselves.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Pragmatic Works
- **Organizations:** Pragmatic Works, SQLServerCentral, Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS), The Kitchen of Clay County, regional Economic Development Corporation
- **Education:** Saint Johns River State College
- **Known for:** Founded and leads Pragmatic Works., Helped found SQLServerCentral in 2001; the community site was acquired by Redgate in 2006., Authored or co-authored more than 15 technical books, including titles on SQL Server administration and Integration Services.

## Career timeline

- **1998** — Began working with SQL Server as a DBA and business intelligence professional.
- **2001** — Helped found SQLServerCentral, a community site created by six database administrators.
- **2006** — SQLServerCentral was sold to Redgate Software; Knight moved on to other SQL Server ventures.
- **2007** — Founded Pragmatic Works in Florida; company materials describe the business as founded in 2007.
- **2013** — Named an Ultimate CEO by the Jacksonville Business Journal.
- **2014** — Named Business Person of the Year by the Clay County Chamber.
- **2018** — SentryOne acquired Pragmatic Works Software; Knight joined the SentryOne advisory board during the transition.
- **2020** — 3Cloud acquired Pragmatic Works Consulting; Knight continued leading the separately owned training company with Devin Knight.
- **2023** — Explained that Pragmatic Works had become 100 percent focused on training and described Power Apps as a central teaching interest.
- **2026** — Continued publishing practical instruction on Power Apps, Copilot, Excel, Microsoft Fabric certification, and data-analyst career development.

## Achievements

- Founded and leads Pragmatic Works.
- Helped found SQLServerCentral in 2001; the community site was acquired by Redgate in 2006.
- Authored or co-authored more than 15 technical books, including titles on SQL Server administration and Integration Services.
- Spoke at PASS, SQL Connections, TechEd, SQL Saturday events, Code Camps, and user groups.
- Received a Business Ambassador Award from the governor of Florida, according to his company biography.
- Named an Ultimate CEO by the Jacksonville Business Journal in 2013.
- Named Business Person of the Year by the Clay County Chamber in 2014.
- Serves as president of The Kitchen of Clay County and on the board of the region's Economic Development Corporation, according to Pragmatic Works.

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — Published instruction on using ChatGPT with Copilot to create a Power App and on open-source Power Apps for school workflows.
- **2026-07** — Published tutorials on Power Apps, Power Pages migrations, Copilot integration, and choosing data storage for the Power Platform.
- **2026-05** — Published a six-month data-analyst career roadmap and participated in Microsoft Fabric DP-600 certification preparation content.
- **2025-10** — Published guidance on creating a structured company profile JSON file for AI systems.

## Links

- Website: https://prag.works
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianknight/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/PragmaticWorks
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pragmaticworks
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/pragmaticworks

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/brian-knight
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-24