343 - Essential MCP servers for working with Azure

This week, we sit down with Rick Van Rousselt, Microsoft 365 MVP and managing partner at Advantive Belgium, for an honest look at what's actually working with applied AI in customer environments and what's quietly failing. We dig into the agentic shift across Agent 365, Entra Agent ID, Microsoft Agent Framework, and AI Foundry; the build-versus-buy line now that Microsoft is shipping agents into every product; and why the wave of Copilot rollouts is finally winding down. (00:00) - Intro and catching up.(00:29) - Show content starts.Show links- Find Rick van Rousselt on LinkedIn- Give us feedback!

In this episode, we explore MCP servers - the open Model Context Protocol that allows AI assistants like GitHub Copilot, Claude, and ChatGPT to connect to live tools and data instead of relying on outdated training data. We discuss what MCP servers are, why they are important, and review our favorite MCP servers for working with Azure. We'll also share some personal favorites! (00:00) - Intro and catching up.(03:48) - Show content starts.Show links- Microsoft Learn MCP Server- Azure DevOps MCP Server- Azure Resource Manager MCP Server- Spotify MCP Server- Give us feedback!

Microsoft Build 2026 marks the biggest format shift in nearly a decade - moving out of Seattle to a 2,500-seat Fort Mason venue in San Francisco with a deliberate "no fluff" pivot toward AI developers, technical leaders, and enterprise architects. In this episode, we unpack what to expect across the six confirmed tracks - plus where we think Microsoft will double down on Foundry, GitHub Copilot, and agent governance. Whether you're flying to San Francisco or planning your livestream strategy from the couch, this is the episode for you!(00:00) - Intro and catching up.(04:44) - Show content starts.Show links- Build 2026 session catalog- GitHub Copilot Token-based billing- Give us feedback!

The Foundry Toolkit for Visual Studio Code - formerly the AI Toolkit - is Microsoft's answer to fragmented AI development workflows, bringing model selection, prompt iteration, agent building, evaluation, and production tracing into a single VS Code extension. In this episode, we walk through the full feature surface. Whether you're picking your first frontier model or shipping a hosted agent to Microsoft Foundry, this is the episode for you!(00:00) - Intro and catching up.(03:55) - Show content starts.Show links- Foundry Toolkit overview- Give us feedback!

In this episode, we unpack nine months of lessons from Pons.io's full rebuild around agentic AI - cutting engineering outsourcing entirely, replacing HubSpot and Salesforce with an internal CRM built in seven days, and shipping dramatically more product on roughly half the staffing cost. We dig into what worked, what bit them along the way, and the practical mechanics of steering an agentic workforce with AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, and Copilot instructions. (00:00) - Intro and catching up.(03:20) - Show content starts.Show links- AGENTS.MD - Claude.md- Give us feedback!

In this week's episode, we look at recent Microsoft Tech updates. By popular request, we're expanding our scope beyond Azure to include Microsoft 365, Power Platform, and related Microsoft platforms and capabilities. What's new? What's interesting? What's retiring? (00:00) - Intro and catching up.(06:14) - Show content starts.Show links- ALZ for SMB- GA: Smart Tier for Azure Blob and Data Lake Storage- Public Preview: Assessment of file shares hosted on servers to Azure Files- GA: Azure available in Denmark cloud region- GA: Azure DevOps March 2026 updates- Copilot Cowork available in Microsoft 365 Copilot- Give us feedback!

In this week's episode, we take a look at Microsoft Agent Framework 1.0, which has been generally available since early April. What is it, and why and how can you use it? We reflect on previous SDKs for building agents, how they relate to Copilot Studio-based and Foundry agents, and how to get started with them. Also, we share experiences using this for a real-agent solution.(00:00) - Intro and catching up.(05:10) - Show content starts.Show links- microsoft/agent-framework (GitHub)- The agent development journey- DevUI- Give us feedback!

In this episode, we reflect on Microsoft certifications and what value they provide. It's been a while since we last looked at these, and plenty has happened - what's new, what's retired, and what's useful in 2026? We also reflect on the usefulness of certifications for juniors and seniors.(00:00) - Intro and catching up.(03:10) - Show content starts.Show links- Certification Poster- New AI business solutions credentials- Certification updates- Give us feedback!

In this episode, we look at Microsoft Agent 365 and Entra Agent ID. What are these new capabilities, and why should you care? We dissect them both, in contrast with agentic engineering, vibe coding, and the growing needs of governing agents.(00:00) - Intro and catching up.(03:52) - Show content starts.Show links- What is Entra Agent ID?- What is Agent 365?- Give us feedback!

In this episode, we take a deeper look at Defender for Cloud and Cloud Security Posture Management. We reflect on what this is all about, what you can do, and how you should approach the capabilities as part of CSPM.(00:00) - Intro and catching up.(02:42) - Show content starts.Show links- What is Defender CSPM- Give us feedback!