RunAs Radio

Cecilia Wirén, a Senior developer and DevOps/Security specialist with numerous Microsoft MVP awards, shares her insights on AI tools for sysadmins. She highlights how AI enhances existing security and coding tools instead of creating new ones. Cecilia explains the benefits of GitHub Copilot for casual scripters and how crafting prompts leads to clearer design thinking. They discuss using git history to preserve AI-generated code and the importance of regular tool evaluation. The conversation concludes with how AI is shaping documentation and debugging practices.

As we step into 2026, AI's influence on sysadmins takes center stage, sparking conversations about productivity tools and security risks. The threat of AI-driven hacking and data breaches looms large, especially with rising supply chain litigation. Richard discusses the importance of data sovereignty and the evolving landscape of Windows, including migration to Server 2025. Cloud migration approaches are scrutinized for efficiency, while hiring challenges persist amid AI's impact on resumes. Proactive planning is emphasized to bolster security and leadership.

Paul Thurrott, a renowned technology writer and Windows expert, shares insights on the future of Windows in 2026. He discusses Pavan Davuluri's promotion and the merging of Windows teams, highlighting the potential this brings. The conversation dives into the public backlash against AI integration and examines the challenges of Copilot adoption. They also celebrate the advancements in Windows on ARM with Snapdragon technology. Will our wishes for Windows 12 be fulfilled? Tune in for some intriguing predictions!

Michele Leroux Bustamante, CEO and co-founder of Soliance, lends her cloud security expertise to discuss evolving zero-trust security. She shares insights on the growing complexity CISOs face, emphasizing security as a continuous journey. Michele explores the importance of secure development environments and the balance between identity and authorization. Key topics include the NIST Cybersecurity Framework for measuring security maturity and the significance of mandatory MFA in reducing account risks. Her practical advice on identity platforms rounds out this engaging discussion.

Liam Westley, a fintech and engineering leader, shares insights from managing an incident during the CrowdStrike update that caused global outages. He discusses the critical importance of having incident plans in place, especially in regulated environments. Liam explains how his team managed to report incidents efficiently using a Slack integration. He highlights the unexpected supply-chain impacts even though they didn't use CrowdStrike. Finally, he emphasizes lessons learned about resilience, customer communication, and regulatory compliance in incident management.

In this engaging discussion, Nikki Chappell, a Microsoft MVP and compliance expert with over 30 years of IT experience, shares her insights on preparing organizations for M365 Copilot deployment. She highlights challenges like data oversharing and provides a comprehensive readiness checklist. Nikki stresses the importance of archiving old information, monitoring sensitive data, and enhancing cross-team collaboration. The conversation also tackles the necessity of an AI governance council to support safe tool adoption and emphasizes a phased approach to data security.

Join Joey Snow, a witty technology commentator, and Rick Claus, an IT community favorite, as they tackle the tricky task of holiday gifting for sysadmins. They share clever gadget recommendations like the USB tester for troubleshooting, the quirky Dumpster Fire pen holder for desk humor, and the nostalgic NES hard drive enclosure. Explore practical tools like the iFixit smart soldering iron and fun ideas like Effing Candles. Plus, don't miss the wireless earbuds and retro Bluetooth players perfect for any tech enthusiast!

Deepthi Chelupati, Principal Product Manager at Microsoft, dives into the world of Azure SRE Agents, discussing their potential to streamline serverless applications. She explains how these agents can monitor deployment issues, automate incident responses, and integrate with tools like GitHub and Azure DevOps. Deepthi highlights their ability to learn from past incidents, manage telemetry changes, and facilitate incident response while ensuring flexibility between automated actions and human oversight. Excitement is building around how SRE Agents can significantly enhance operational efficiency.

In this engaging discussion, Chris Ayers, a senior software engineer at Microsoft’s Azure Reliability team, dives into the complexities of Azure resiliency. He highlights the Well-Architected Framework and its role in aligning reliability with business needs. Chris outlines types of outages, the importance of availability zones, and the necessity of balancing costs with service reliability. With practical advice on monitoring, operational excellence, and data protection, he emphasizes the value of automated tools while stressing the importance of human oversight in decision-making.

Aria Hanson, a Program Manager at Microsoft focused on cloud-based update management, dives into the future of Windows updates. She explains how Windows Autopatch consolidates updates for easier management, especially as WSUS is phased out. Aria discusses the benefits of cloud deployment, optimal patch deployment strategies, and the importance of tracking updates through Intune. With insights on handling drivers and firmware, as well as the Windows Roadmap for feature planning, she emphasizes why organizations should embrace cloud updating now.