Johann Joubert

I’ve spent over 15 years in the Microsoft data ecosystem, most of it as founder and Managing Director of Data Bear, a Microsoft Solution Partner in Data & AI providing Power BI and Microsoft Fabric consulting, development and training. Over ten years I built and directly managed a team of 12 consultants, developers and trainers, and worked with more than 400 organisations in the UK and internationally, retaining clients for up to eight years.

I owned the full pre-sales cycle: discovery workshops, live demonstrations, proofs of concept built on prospects’ own data, scoping, proposals, formal RFP and tender responses, pricing and contracts. Having run the business myself, I judge what can realistically be delivered and challenge scope that isn’t. I’ve managed senior and executive client relationships across finance, retail and professional services, and connected reporting to systems including Oracle, SAP, NetSuite, Dynamics, Salesforce, Sage, Xero and QuickBooks.

On the delivery side, I defined governance and best-practice standards for Power BI and Fabric covering semantic modelling, DAX, workspace structure and row-level security, and established certified semantic models for clients including a global consumer brand. I designed and led Power BI training for more than 250 people, from beginner to advanced. I remain hands-on as a player-coach, so I can review technical work credibly and explain it clearly to executive, commercial and technical audiences.

My current focus is applied AI. I led Data Bear’s early adoption of Microsoft Fabric and built an internal kit for AI-assisted Power BI development, using AI-driven report design with MCP tooling and PBIP, and I’ve spearheaded AI-assisted development of Fabric Apps. I’m interested in helping organisations adopt data and AI soundly, weighing value, risk, governance and data readiness rather than selling technology for its own sake.

Before Data Bear, I co-founded Go Power BI, an early Power BI training and consulting venture in Australia and Canada, worked as a BI consultant on the Microsoft and Sage BI stacks, and started out as a teacher, which still shapes how I train and communicate.

I’m looking for a full-time role in Microsoft-focused pre-sales, partner or alliance management, customer success at a data and analytics vendor, or BI leadership. I retain ownership and a directorship of Data Bear, but its established team runs operations and delivery independently, so I’m fully available. I’m a UK, Australian and South African citizen, based in the UK and open to remote or hybrid work.