AI & Agents7 min read
Agent Memory on Azure: Redis or Cosmos DB?
Where should an AI agent's memory and semantic cache live on Azure, Redis or Cosmos DB? What Microsoft documents for each, a rule of thumb, and the risks.
Blog
Cloud, AI, and technology leadership — in plain English.
Practical articles on cloud strategy, AI adoption, security, and developer tools, written for founders and operators, not other engineers.
FreeReadiness scorecard, two platform checklists and an open-source workshop: see all free resources
Agentic AI, Azure and platform engineering.
- Azure8 min read
Foundry Local: Why to Start Your AI Build Here
Foundry Local runs AI models on your own device with no Azure subscription. We ran its quickstart on a Mac in 17 seconds. Why start there, and where it stops.
- AI & Agents6 min read
AI Skills Navigator: Where a Team Should Start
Microsoft's AI Skills Navigator puts Microsoft, LinkedIn Learning and GitHub training in one place. What it has, how to use it, and what it can't tell you.
Azure7 min readAzAdvertizer: Track Azure Policy and RBAC Changes
AzAdvertizer is a free site that logs every Azure Policy, RBAC and Entra ID change, daily. What it does, three screens worth knowing, and where it stops.
- AI & Agents7 min read
The Agent Platform Production Checklist
33 yes-or-no checks to take AI agents from pilot to a platform other teams can trust: evaluation gates, identity, spend, and human approval.
- Azure8 min read
The Azure AI Landing Zone Readiness Checklist
44 yes-or-no checks, in the order to decide them, to get an Azure AI Landing Zone ready before your first agent ships. Based on Microsoft's own checklist.
- Security9 min read
App Modernization Is a Security Control
A CISO at a large government organization told me modernizing apps is the fastest way to shrink attack surface and SBOM exposure. I checked the evidence.
- AI & Developer Tools6 min read
A Hands-On Introduction to Microsoft Foundry
Our open-source Foundry workshop: deploy with Bicep, build a versioned agent, then gate it with an evaluation. About 60 minutes, Python, MIT-licensed.
Events13 min readTwo Talks at Prairie Dev Con Winnipeg 2026
Recapping two Prairie Dev Con Winnipeg 2026 sessions — live agentic engineering demos, vibe coding's real lesson, and modernizing a legacy app on stage.
AI & Developer Tools9 min readAgentic DevOps: Speed Needs a Delivery System
Faster AI code doesn't mean faster delivery. Paul Duvall on why agentic DevOps needs CI/CD, fast feedback loops, and value-stream thinking to actually work.
- AI & Developer Tools8 min read
Inside the Azure AI Foundry Workshop
A hands-on look at Microsoft's Azure AI Foundry Workshop — agent development, RAG, and evaluation in Python. Archived, but still worth using.
- AI & Developer Tools8 min read
Microsoft Foundry Solution Accelerators by Industry
Looking for Microsoft Foundry examples for your industry? Here is what the 15 official accelerators cover for energy, insurance, healthcare, banking, and more.
AI & Policy12 min readHow Alberta Is Using AI to Modernize Government
Deputy Minister Janak Alford on how Alberta modernized legacy apps 20x faster with AI, trained 6,000+ public servants, and is building agentic government.
- AI & Agents11 min read
Running Agentic AI at Enterprise Scale
Gartner predicts 40% of agentic AI projects get cancelled by 2027. The governance, routing, and zero trust pattern that helped one become a standard platform.
- AI & Developer Tools10 min read
GitHub Agentic DevOps in Production
What 'agentic DevOps' means on GitHub — agent mode vs. coding agent, how MCP extends reach, and the governance controls enterprise teams need.
- Azure10 min read
Containerization and App Modernization on Azure
App Service, Container Apps, or AKS — how to actually choose, plus how GitHub Copilot automates the Java/.NET upgrade work that used to take a quarter.
Azure9 min readAzure AI Landing Zones: Fast Track to Enterprise AI
Azure AI Landing Zones ship a design checklist of 44 recommendations in 10 areas. Here is what each covers and what to decide before your first agent.
More from the archive
Earlier articles.
Cloud strategy, security, developer tools and technology leadership. Many were written for founders and smaller teams, before our focus moved to enterprise agent platforms.
AI Strategy5 min readAI Readiness Assessment: What It Actually Checks (A Small Business Guide)
An AI readiness assessment looks at your data, processes, and team before you spend on AI tools. Here's what it actually checks and why it matters.
Security6 min readFractional CISO: What It Is and How It Compares to a Full-Time Hire
A fractional CISO gives you security oversight without a $150K–$250K full-time salary. Here's what the role covers and how the cost compares.
Azure6 min readWhat Does a Microsoft Partner Actually Do for Your Azure Environment?
Microsoft Partner status isn't just a badge — here's what it actually means for Azure landing zones, governance, and cloud advisory for your business.
Events6 min readWhose Job Is AI Security? Notes from YYC DataCon, Anthropic's Latest Report, and What's Next at Prairie Dev Con
I was on the AI security panel at YYC DataCon on a Friday. The following Monday, Anthropic published exactly the report that backs up what we argued onstage.
Leadership7 min readOmarchy Just Got Corporate Backing. It Also Just Had Real Vulnerabilities. Should Your Team Run It?
Omarchy raised over $12M and hired a security lead the same month a researcher found real bugs in it. How a fractional CTO would actually evaluate the ask.
Events4 min readInside the Code To Cloud Community: Discord, the Podcast, and What's Next
A look at what's happening in the Code To Cloud community — the Discord, recent podcast episodes, the Summit, and new episodes coming soon.
AI & Policy7 min readShadow AI: What's Actually Running on Your Team's Laptops
Alberta's privacy regulator just found ChatGPT's consent practices irreparable under provincial law. Meanwhile, employees are pasting customer data into it.
AI & Policy6 min readCanada Will Lend Your Business Up to $5M for AI. Here's What to Ask Before You Apply
BDC's $500M LIFT program offers real AI financing to Canadian SMEs. Before you apply, get the questions a lender won't ask you answered first.
Cloud Strategy7 min readThe Vendor Contract Checklist: 18 Questions Before You Renew Your Next SaaS Tool
Most SaaS renewals get rubber-stamped because nobody owns the question. Eighteen questions to ask before you sign — on cost, data residency, and lock-in.
Developer Tools20 min readOmarchy Hotkeys: The Ones That Matter
Omarchy ships around 200 hotkeys. You need twelve. A field guide to the keymap's grammar, and an honest account of the week your hands stop working.
AI & Developer Tools22 min readCodeberg: The Non-Profit GitHub Alternative
Codeberg is a member-owned forge in Berlin now hosting 678,000 projects. What its mission is, how it actually works, and who is walking away from GitHub.
AI & Developer Tools20 min readOmarchy 4 Quattro: What's New in DHH's Agentic Linux Desktop
Omarchy 4 (Quattro) shipped 14 August 2026: a full Quickshell desktop rewrite, pacman internals, and a coding agent wired into the bar. What changed, and why.
- AI & Policy15 min read
Canada's National AI Strategy Explained: What AI for All Means for Canadian Businesses
Canada's AI for All strategy launched June 4, 2026. A frank look at the six pillars, what is funded, the sovereignty play, and what it means for your business.
- AI & Developer Tools12 min read
10 Claude Code Repos That Replace a Dev Team
Verified list of the top Claude Code GitHub repos — skills, agents, and dev tools — with real star counts and honest reviews from a fractional CTO.
- AI & Open Source18 min read
Open-Source LLMs for Developers: Models, Agents & Local AI
Compare 15+ open-weight and open-source LLMs for coding agents and local inference. Covers Llama 4, DeepSeek R1, Qwen 3, Ollama, Foundry Local, and more.
Developer Tools14 min readKodra macOS: One-Command Developer Environment
Bootstrap your macOS developer environment in one command: Ghostty, tmux, OpenCode AI, Podman, GitHub Copilot CLI, and 40+ cloud-native tools.
Leadership10 min readTech Leadership Lessons: Keran McGuire, Canadian Tire SVP
Canadian Tire SVP Keran McGuire on 20+ years of tech leadership: cloud transformation in financial services, high-trust teams, and why full-stack thinkers win.
- AI & Azure12 min read
Copilot Studio vs Azure AI Foundry: Decision Tree
Copilot Studio or Azure AI Foundry? A business outcome decision tree covering RAG, agents, security, fine-tuning, networking, and governance.
AI & Productivity16 min readChief of Staff Agent: Copilot Daily Briefing
Build an AI chief of staff agent using GitHub Copilot, MCP servers, and custom agent files. Automate daily briefings, inbox triage, and weekly planning.
AI & Agents14 min readMicrosoft Agent Frameworks Compared: Which One Should You Use?
Compare Microsoft Agent Framework, M365 Agents SDK, Foundry SDK, and open-source alternatives like LangGraph and CrewAI. Decision flowchart included.
Azure7 min readAzure Foundry Blueprints: Deploy Microsoft Foundry in 15 Minutes
Open source Terraform and Bicep blueprints to deploy Microsoft Foundry with private networking. Learn the new AI Services architecture and get hands-on fast.
Azure12 min readAzure Landing Zones: Which One Do You Need?
Azure Landing Zone or AI Landing Zone? Compare both architectures, deployment methods, and find which one fits your team.
- Cybersecurity22 min read
$500K Backup Failure & SuperBox Espionage
A company lost $500K to untested backups. Plus: the SuperBox espionage device found in U.S. oil and gas — and why Western Canada should pay attention.
- Cloud Careers18 min read
Cloud Career Roadmap: From Zero to Hired in 90 Days
The definitive cloud career roadmap for 2026. Step-by-step path from zero to hired, salary data for 5 roles, 16 AI prompts, and a printable 90-day action plan.
AI Strategy8 min readOpenAI Killed Sora: AI Lock-In Lessons
OpenAI shut down Sora, its AI video tool. Here's what this means for your AI strategy and how to avoid vendor lock-in when adopting AI tools.
Events8 min readCode To Cloud Summit 2026: May 23, Calgary
Recap of the Code To Cloud Summit 2026 — Alberta's full-day cloud, AI & DevOps conference in Calgary on May 23, 2026. Summit 2027 returns in May 2027.
AI & Azure6 min readMicrosoft Foundry Agent Service is Now GA: Everything You Need to Know
Microsoft Foundry Agent Service is now GA. Responses API, full VNet isolation, Voice Live, built-in evals, and open model support.
Developer Tools20 min readGitHub Copilot Instructions: Setup Guide
Set up GitHub Copilot custom instructions for your team. Repo-level, path-specific, and org-wide guidelines for Azure, Bicep, and Terraform projects.
Security12 min readWho Owns Your Business Technology?
What happens when your IT contractor disappears with all the passwords? Learn how to keep control of your domain, email, and cloud accounts.
AI Strategy10 min readGetting Started with AI: A Practical Guide for Alberta Businesses
Before you spend money on AI tools, read this. A plain-English guide to defining your problem, choosing the right platform, and avoiding expensive mistakes.
Developer Tools4 min readKodra: Fresh Install to azd up in Minutes
Kodra bootstraps your Azure dev environment in one command. Go from bare Ubuntu 24.04 to azd up in under five minutes.
AI & Agents4 min readGas Town on Microsoft's AI Stack
Exploring what a multi-agent development system would look like using Microsoft Foundry and GitHub Copilot's pro-code tooling.
Developer Tools2 min readInfrastructure That Documents Itself
Using GitHub Copilot + Azure MCP to generate complete infrastructure wikis from live Azure environments in under 15 minutes.
Cloud Strategy5 min read5 Cloud Strategy Mistakes That Kill Startups
Most founders treat cloud infrastructure as an IT decision. The best treat it as their competitive advantage. Here are the 5 mistakes to avoid.
Leadership7 min readWhat Is a Fractional CTO? Plain-English Guide
Not sure what a CTO does — or if you need one? This plain-English guide covers fractional CTO services for Alberta startups and small businesses.
Cloud Careers3 min readIT Certifications in 2026: Do They Matter?
IT certifications are evolving fast. Kevin Evans and Tim Warner discuss which cloud, AI, and DevOps certs actually matter for Alberta tech careers in 2026.
Cloud Native5 min readCloud-Native Skills 2026: Open-Source Playbook
Master cloud-native skills in 2026 with this open-source playbook covering Linux, containers, Kubernetes, automation, and Infrastructure as Code.
Leadership3 min readCrawl, Walk, Run: Containers for Leaders (Beyond Just the Tech)
A leadership guide to container adoption. Learn the crawl, walk, run approach to moving your organization to containers and Kubernetes on Azure.
AI & Policy2 min readAI in Public Service: The Shift from Administration to Intelligence
Innovation isn't just happening in Silicon Valley. Learn how Alberta is using AI to transform public service with insights from Deputy Minister Janak Alford.
Leadership2 min readThe Future of Coding with AI: Gene Kim on VibeCoding & DevOps Transformation
Gene Kim, DevOps pioneer and author of The Phoenix Project, explores VibeCoding — a revolutionary way to code with AI as your co-pilot.