A system and a method are disclosed for efficiently executing database queries using a computing device that includes a central processing unit (CPU) and a processing unit based on single instruction multiple thread (SIMT) architecture, for example, a GPU. A query engine determines a target processing unit to execute a database query based on factors including the type and amount of data processed by the query, the complexity of the query, and the current load on the processing units. An intermediate executable representation generator generates an intermediate executable representation for executing a query on a database virtual machine. If the query engine determines that the database query should be executed on an SIMT based processing unit, a native code generator generates native code from the intermediate executable representation. The native code is optimized for execution using a particular processing unit.