Episodes

  • GitHub copilot with Scott Densmore
    Dec 6 2023

    In this episode I spoke with Scott Densmore, VP of engineering at GitHub, focusing on GitHub copilot. Scott shared how GitHub Copilot is being used to make developers more impactful and the successes developers are having with the technology.

    Additionally, Scott shares a bit about how GitHub Copilot works and even gives us a forecast of upcoming features and releases.

    Show links

    • GitHub Copilot
    • Follow Scott on LinkedIn
    • GitHub Universe keynote

    Hosts

    David Starr is a Principal Software Development Engineer in the Marketplace FastTrack team at Microsoft. Follow him on LinkedIn.

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    44 mins
  • Microsoft for Startups and AI Innovations
    Oct 10 2023

    Microsoft for Startups works with organizations to enable their success. This episode visits the programs available for founders and startups. In addition, the conversation includes how startups are leveraging AI and moving the state-of-the-art forward.

    Guests

    Hans Yang is General Manager Microsoft for Startups. He looks for new programs and platforms to enable Microsoft to help startups. Follow Hans on LinkedIn.

     

    Rob Ferguson is head of AI for Startups for Microsoft. As such, he gets to work with some amazing partners and technologies, many of whom are driving true innovation in the AI space. Follow Rob on LinkedIn.

    Show links

    • Microsoft for Startups home
    • Founders Hub
    • Pegasus Program
    • Technical advisory for founders from Microsoft experts
    • Microsoft for Startups Blog
    • Azure OpenAI Service

    Hosts

    Paul Maher is General Manager of the Commercial Marketplace Service Team at Microsoft. Follow him on LinkedIn andTwitter.

    David Starr is a Principal Software Development Engineer in the Commercial Marketplace Services Team at Microsoft. Follow him on LinkedIn.

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    29 mins
  • Azure Clouds for Industry with Madhan Arumugam Ramakrishnan
    Aug 15 2023

    Madhan Arumugam Ramakrishnan, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft’s Cloud for Industry, introduces us to industry clouds. These industry-aligned clouds provide the full infrastructure of Azure and offer a way for software sellers to enable specific industries with relevant product offerings.

    As a early contributor to building Azure, Madhan has deep technical chops. He shares some thoughts not only on Azure’s specialty clouds, but we also discuss Microsoft’s AI investments and how they are shaping new product offerings.

    Follow Madhan on LinkedIn

    Microsoft’s ISV Success Program

    LEARN MORE ABOUT MICROSOFT'S CLOUDS FOR INDUSTRY

    Microsoft Industry Clouds Overview

    • Financial Services
    • Healthcare
    • Manufacturing
    • Nonprofit
    • Retail
    • Sustainability

    Solution Center

    • Microsoft Cloud Solution Center
    • Microsoft Cloud Solution Center (Microsoft Learn course)

    Hosts:

    Paul Maher is General Manager of the Commercial Marketplace Service Team at Microsoft. Follow him on LinkedIn and Twitter.

    David Starr is a Principal Software Development Engineer in the Commercial Marketplace Services Team at Microsoft. Follow him on LinkedIn.

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    34 mins
  • Mastodon and federated systems with Sujit D'Mello
    Mar 14 2023

    On today’s episode of Azure for Executives, Sujit D'Mello joins us to discuss Mastodon and federated systems. This episode deviates a bit from our standard fare, but we thought it would be fun to delve into this topics.

    In addition to learning about the Mastodon micro-blogging system, Sujit helps us understand federated systems, their advantages, and why your company may be interested in setting up its own server.

    Sujit D’Mello

    Follow Sujit on your favorite social platform and listen to him on the Azure Podcast.

    • Mastodon
    • LinkedIn
    • The Azure Podcast

    Hosts:

    Paul Maher is General Manager of the Commercial Marketplace Service Team at Microsoft. Follow him on LinkedIn and Twitter.

    David Starr is a Principal Software Development Engineer in the Commercial Marketplace Services Team at Microsoft. Follow him on  LinkedIn  and  Mastodon

    .

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    31 mins
  • The Present and Future of AI and Data with Zia Mansoor
    Feb 15 2023

    In this timely discussion, we were joined by Zia Mansoor on the Azure for Executives podcast. Zia is Vice President for Microsoft’s Worldwide Commercial Data and AI Business. He shares his thoughts on the present and future of AI, the relationship between data and AI, what is driving the AI wave, and much more.

    Join us for this great conversation about how organizations can realize the models and benefits of AI and the data that is enabling it.

    Follow Zia Mansoor on LinkedIn 

    • Azure Synapse Analytics
    • Azure Pervue
    • Microsoft Intelligence Data Platform
    • Microsoft Designer
    • Data mesh
    • Azure applied AI services
    • Azure OpenAI in the Azure Marketplace

    Paul Maher is General Manager of the Commercial Marketplace Service Team at Microsoft. Follow him on LinkedIn and Twitter.

    David Starr is a Principal Software Development Engineer in the Commercial Marketplace Services Team at Microsoft. Follow him on LinkedIn and Mastodon.

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    26 mins
  • Creating Tools for Developers with Amanda Silver
    Jan 26 2023

    We’re joined by Amanda Silver, CVP of Product in Microsoft’s Developer Division (DevDiv). She takes us through the present and future of developer tools and how organizations are making investments on next-generation development ecosystems.

    Guest information

    Follow Amanda on LinkedIn

    Topics discussed in this episode include the following.

    • Visual Studio
    • Visual Studio Code
    • Microsoft Dev Box
    • GitHub Copilot
    • Azure Spring Apps
    • And much more!

    Host information

    Paul Maher is General Manager of the Commercial Marketplace Service Team at Microsoft. Follow him on LinkedIn and Twitter.

    David Starr is a Principal Software Development Engineer in the Commercial Marketplace Services team at Microsoft. Follow him on LinkedIn and Mastodon.

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    41 mins
  • Moving to the cloud using Azure Landing Zones with Jeff Mitchell and Dom Allen
    Jan 10 2023

    Are you still considering a move to the Azure cloud? If so, this episode is for you.

    In this episode of the Azure for Executives podcast we discuss Azure Landing Zones, tools for helping organizations move their workloads into Azure. Beyond prescriptive guidance, Azure Landing Zones provide reference architectures for solutions of all sizes to help with moving to Azure.

    Guests

    • Dom Allen on LinkedIn
    • Jeff Mitchell  on LinkedIn

    More on Azure Landing Zones

    1. Join the upcoming Azure Landing Zone community call – Jan. 31st, 2023
    2. What is an Azure Landing Zone?
    3. Journey to the target architecture

    Hosts

    Paul Maher is General Manager of the Commercial Marketplace Service Team at Microsoft. Follow him on LinkedIn and Twitter.

    David Starr is a Principal Software Development Engineer in the Commercial Marketplace Services Team at Microsoft. Follow him on LinkedIn and Mastodon.

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    37 mins
  • Rebooting the podcast with Paul Maher and David Starr
    Jan 10 2023
    This is a unique episode. Short and sweet. Since David and Paul really don’t have a chance to introduce themselves in regular episodes, they thought it might be good to take an opportunity to do so in this episode.After introductions, they share announcements regarding the future of this podcast.Episode Links:Mastering The MarketplaceHosts:Paul Maher is General Manager of the Commercial Marketplace Service Team at Microsoft. Follow him on LinkedIn and Twitter.David Starr is a Principal Software Development Engineer in the Commercial Marketplace Services Team at Microsoft. Follow him on LinkedIn and Mastodon.Transcript:DAVID: Rebooting the podcast with your hosts, Paul Maher, and David Starr.Welcome to the Azure for Executives Podcast, the show for technology leaders. This podcast covers trends and technologies in industries and how Microsoft Azure is enabling them. Here, you'll hear from thought leaders in various industries and technologies on topics important to you. So I'm sure you've noticed that the Azure for Executives Podcast has been on a bit of a hiatus for a few months. Well, we're back. And we're back with some really great news, which I'll leave for a few minutes as we kind of settle into this episode. Now, this is a unique episode, as it'll be pretty short and sweet. We don't have any guests today. But instead, you get my co-host, Paul Maher, and me talking a little bit about the show and our futures. Since we don't really have a chance to introduce ourselves in regular episodes, we thought it might be good to take an opportunity to do so in this episode. So after introductions, we'll have some announcements regarding the future of the podcast. Paul, why don't you talk a little bit about what you do at Microsoft and maybe some of your passions?PAUL: Thanks, David. And it's great to be back. And it's nice to have the opportunity, as you said, to actually introduce ourselves. We spend a lot of time talking to our guests, so it's a fun opportunity to say hi to our listeners. And so, just a little bit about myself, I mean, I've worked in various business and technology-related leadership roles throughout my career with some of the largest companies worldwide across multiple industries. But for the past few years, I've really been focused on cloud across many different roles and initiatives. So you could call me kind of really the cloud evangelist if you will. But currently, at Microsoft, I lead the commercial marketplace services organization. And my focus is really on helping businesses transform by moving to the Microsoft Azure Cloud and growing sales through the Microsoft commercial marketplace. So great to be here, great to have the opportunity to introduce myself to the listeners. And, David, maybe you want to take the opportunity to do the same.DAVID: Sure. Thanks, Paul. I'm a Principal Software Development Engineer here at Microsoft, and I live in the same organization as Paul, and that is the commercial marketplace services team. And, Paul, if you think back, you hired me directly. And I was about number seven in the org at that time, if you'll recall. And --PAUL: That's right. Lucky number 7, David. Lucky number 7.DAVID: [laughs] Indeed. And we have a pretty good-sized organization now, so we've grown quite a bit over the last four years, which is how long I've been with the team, four years and counting. So I'll tell you that this is my second stint at Microsoft. And my first go-round was working on Visual Studio. For those who might use Visual Studio on the show, may not be you but people who work for you; I put a feature, or I was part of a team, I should say, a good-sized team that put a feature called CodeLens into Visual Studio. So that was a good piece of work. And today, instead, I focus on working with partners for the commercial marketplace, as you've heard, a pretty good focus on the commercial marketplace in our past episodes. Well, what that means is that I take consults. These are sort of one-time answer questions for partners who might be struggling a little bit with their onboarding or work with partners in a longer-term engagement to get them from start to finish and get their products onboarded to the commercial marketplace. So that's the essence of what I do. I work with partners in that context. And my little side project baby I have to mention, is Mastering the Marketplace. That is a resource where you or your technologists on your team can go to learn more about how to do that implementation. And we have videos and code and hands-on labs to grow skills, so all that good stuff to help you get going. And the URL for that will be posted in the show notes. I'll say here it's aka.ms/masteringthemarketplace. With that, Paul, what's the big news that we were talking about?PAUL: So the big news, even though we are part of the Microsoft commercial marketplace organization and that's our day job and our priority, we've taken a step back. And we feel like ...
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    14 mins