How would you handle a practical scenario involving Query Optimization in SQL Server?

For a practical scenario involving Query Optimization, I would first clarify the business goal, scale, constraints, and the failure or quality attribute being tested. Query optimization is the process of reducing the resources and time required for SQL Server to execute queries. The scenario centers on a dashboard query scans millions of rows; explain how you would investigate filters, indexes, aggregation strategy, and whether precomputation is warranted. I would then compare the main alternatives and tradeoffs, identify likely failure modes, and explain how I would validate the solution through testing, observability, security controls, and recovery or rollback planning.