Tableflow + Delta Kernel: Turning Kafka Topics into Governed Delta Lake Tables in Unity Catalog
This webinar shows how Confluent Tableflow, powered by the open source Delta Kernel, transforms Apache Kafka topics into AI-ready Delta Lake tables that are instantly governed and discoverable in Databricks Unity Catalog—eliminating fragile ETL, simplifying schema evolution, and enabling upserts with full ACID guarantees at scale. Attendees will learn the under-the-hood flow from tiered storage reads to Parquet conversion and Delta transaction commits, and how catalog-managed governance, lineage, and policy enforcement make real-time analytics and AI straightforward.
The session includes live architecture deep dives, integration patterns, and practical guidance to operationalize governed streaming-to-table pipelines with Tableflow and Delta Kernel.
Speakers
Shabeeb R P, Senior Software Engineer at Confluent
Shabeeb R P is a Senior Software Engineer at Confluent and the tech lead for the Tableflow Schematization and Open Table Formats team. He previously worked on Confluent’s Kafka Storage team and brings deep expertise in storage systems and open table formats. Earlier in his career, he built cloud systems and enterprise software at Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and SAP.
Kasun Indrasiri Gamage, Senior Product Manager at Confluent
Kasun is a Senior Product Manager at Confluent, driving innovation in the Tableflow product. He has strong experience in data streaming and application integration, and previously led product management for Azure Event Hubs at Microsoft. He is the author of gRPC: Up and Running and Microservices for the Enterprise, and has shared his insights at conferences such as Current, KubeCon, and GOTO.
Host
Robert Pack, Staff Developer Advocate, Databricks
Robert Pack is a data and AI systems expert with foundations in process systems engineering and numerical optimization, holding degrees from RWTH Aachen University and Imperial College London. He began his career in process R&D within a multinational chemical company, where he designed and led transformative cloud and data initiatives that shaped the organization's digital landscape. As Chief Technology Lead, he was responsible for global data and AI platform engineering.
Robert’s open-source journey began with deep contributions to Delta Lake and Delta-RS and later expanded into the broader Rust and Apache Arrow data ecosystems. Today, as part of Databricks, he serves as a Developer Advocate dedicated to fostering a modern, high-performance data ecosystem for all. Through his work on projects such as Delta Kernel, Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, and Apache Iceberg, Robert remains committed to advancing the Open Lakehouse vision and facilitating the next generation of data infrastructure.