The Microsoft Cloud Blog

Expert insights on Microsoft Azure, Cloud Architecture, and Enterprise Technology

Reaching for the Cloud

Bi-weekly newsletter, covering what's new in the Microsoft Cloud, opinion pieces and hopefully hints and tips.

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Forward Deployed Engineers and the reality of enterprise AI
Reaching for the Cloud

Forward Deployed Engineers and the reality of enterprise AI

This week I got introduced to a term I somehow missed: Forward Deployed Engineer, or FDE. I will be honest, it felt like one of those phrases I probably should already have been aware of, but clearly it passed me by until now. The slightly annoying part is that once you see it, you cannot… Continue Reading →

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Standing at the Edge of the Falls and Thinking About AI Governance
Reaching for the Cloud

Standing at the Edge of the Falls and Thinking About AI Governance

A few days ago, and yes, I am technically still on holiday, I was standing at Foz do Iguaçu, watching an unreasonable amount of water throw itself over a cliff. It is loud, chaotic, and completely indifferent to whether you feel prepared for it. The mist gets everywhere, the ground is slippery, and the closer… Continue Reading →

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AI Agents Are Not Your Strategy. They Are Your Dependency.
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AI Agents Are Not Your Strategy. They Are Your Dependency.

During the most recent podcast recording I made an offhand remark about feeling surrounded by agents. It was not a planned insight. It was just a moment of noticing how routine the whole thing has become. Agents now appear everywhere without invitation. They sit inside Microsoft 365. They assist in GitHub. They pop up in… Continue Reading →

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Closing the Governance Gap: Lessons for AI Adoption and Operational Resilience
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Closing the Governance Gap: Lessons for AI Adoption and Operational Resilience

Introduction, and the source of the uncomfortable truth This week, I have been revisiting the IBM Institute for Business Value research, Secure by design, smarter with AI. One finding should make every leadership team pause: 42 percent of executives rank their own operational shortcomings among their top cybersecurity threats, ahead of nation states and just… Continue Reading →

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From Pair Programmer to AI Collaborator: How GitHub Copilot Is Rewriting the Developer Playbook
Reaching for the Cloud

From Pair Programmer to AI Collaborator: How GitHub Copilot Is Rewriting the Developer Playbook

Last month, I took you on a little journey into “vibe coding”—building apps and tools without writing a single line of code, thanks to the magic of AI assistants. If you missed it, you can catch up here: https://themicrosoftcloudblog.com/2025/11/21/adventures-in-vibe-coding-building-apps-and-tools-without-writing-a-single-line-of-code-introduction/. This week, I want to dig deeper. Not into the “no-code” hype, but into the real,… Continue Reading →

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Adventures in Vibe Coding: Building Apps and Tools Without Writing a Single Line of Code Introduction
Reaching for the Cloud

Adventures in Vibe Coding: Building Apps and Tools Without Writing a Single Line of Code Introduction

For the past month, I’ve been running an experiment: could I build multiple full-stack applications and supporting tools—without writing any code myself? Not a single line. Instead, I relied on natural language instructions, documented protocols, and a conversational workflow with my AI assistant. The result? Two apps, two MCP servers, and a mountain of lessons… Continue Reading →

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