High database load is often caused by a small number of expensive queries, inefficient joins, or poor access patterns. In an engineering management interview, you are expected to explain both how you would diagnose the issue and how you would drive remediation.
You are told that a transactional database backing American Express servicing and account activity workloads is under heavy load. Explain how you would identify which queries, users, applications, or jobs are generating the load, how you would use SQL and database metadata to isolate the worst offenders, and how you would optimize the system once the source is known.
Focus on a practical, SQL-centered approach rather than generic infrastructure advice. The interviewer expects you to cover query-level diagnosis, execution-plan analysis, indexing and schema considerations, workload segmentation, and the trade-offs between quick fixes and durable improvements.