Istvan Cseri is a Distinguished Engineer working as the lead architect of SQL Server Data Services within the Server and Tools Business. Previously, Cseri was an architect and development lead and manager in the SQL Server Engine team, where he focused on XML support in SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005. His technical contributions at Microsoft include being the technical architect for the XML technologies effort, including the XSLT stack when the XML 1.0 standard emerged, and being an architect/developer in the Internet Explorer 4.0 browser shortly after joining Microsoft in 1994.

Before coming to Microsoft, Cseri worked at Borland International as a software developer and later as development lead and architect. He was one of the main engineers on the Quattro Pro for Windows project working on the object oriented UI framework, which later became a shared component in an Office compete product.

Istvan received his diploma in Civil Engineering from the Technical University of Budapest while working as a software developer on several different gaming platforms, including the Commodore 64, Atari ST, Amiga and PCs.