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The Cloud Architects Podcast

by The Cloud Architects

A podcast about best practice, guidance, news and cutting edge Microsoft cloud technologies. Interviews with passionate people in the cloud space, hosted by MVPs Nicolas Blank (twitter.com/nicolasblank), Warren du Toit (twitter.com/warrendt) and Chris Goosen (twitter.com/chrisgoosen)

Publisher-supplied feed metadata · PodParley refreshed Oct 17, 2026 · Source feed

Episodes

  1. Episode 105: Leak And You Shall Find

    You turned on MFA, you finished your security awareness training, and you think you're covered. You're probably not... Five years after his first visit, Donovan Stevens from SpyCloud is back to show us how much of our digital lives is already sitting in the criminal underground, and how little it...

  2. Episode 104: "Vibe" Coded!

    Episode 104: "Vibe" Coded! by The Cloud Architects

  3. Episode 103: YOLO Patching

    Almost Ten years and 100+ episodes in, we reunite for a conversation that has nothing to do with prompts and everything to do with the infrastructure most of us still actually run. In this episode we're joined by Claudia Perez, who's spent the last several months leading a complex Windows 11...

  4. Episode 102: Guardrails are good, but..

    In Episode 102 of the Cloud Architects Podcast, we sit down with Mona Ghadiri to explore the rapidly evolving world of AI governance. As organizations rush to deploy AI agents, copilots, and automated workflows, Mona argues that the industry is focusing too much on shiny tools and “guardrails”...

  5. Episode 101: The State of AI in 2026

    In Episode 101 of the Cloud Architects Podcast, we welcome Microsoft AI MVP James Westall for a candid “state of the nation” discussion on AI in 2026. Moving beyond the LLM hype of 2024 and the agent frenzy of 2025, the conversation explores what’s actually delivering value for organizations…

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  6. Episode 100: Opal AI

    In this milestone 100th episode, we sit down with Daniel Brown, a Microsoft MVP based in Adelaide, to explore how AI is transforming the rugged world of opal mining. Daniel shares the fascinating story of how he developed Opal AI, a computer vision system that uses Microsoft’s Custom Vision and...

  7. Episode 99: Working Smarter

    In this episode we are joined by guest Kirsty McGrath, a Microsoft MVP and adoption expert, for an insightful conversation on working smarter in today’s AI-driven workplace. Kirsty shares her extensive experience leading adoption programs across Australia and consulting with top Microsoft…

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  8. Episode 98: Incident Responders

    In this episode we are joined by guests Ernie Anderson and Darrell Switzer from TBDCyber to discuss the critical topic of incident response (IR). Ernie and Darrell share their insights and experiences in IR. They highlight the importance of having a well-prepared incident response plan, how to...

  9. Episode 97: Reinvent

    At Microsoft Ignite 2024, we sat down with our old friend Anthony Bartolo to discuss the industry’s shift from traditional infrastructure roles to development, a transition heavily influenced by AI and automation. As companies increasingly adopt "vibe coding" — the trend where developers focus on...

  10. Episode 96: Copilot in the real world

    In this episode we sit down with our old friend Antonio Maio. We recorded this episode at Microsoft Ignite 2024 in Chicago, and as always it was an enjoyable conversation with actionable insights. Antonio shares some tips from this Ignite talk to help you assess your environment at scale, protect...

  11. Episode 95: Passkeys & Verifiable Creds

    We've all been prompted to create a Passkey when logging in to online services like Google - but are Passkeys ready for enterprise use? Do we still need MFA? What's is FIDO2? We asked Microsoft MVP Darren Robinson to help us dive into the world of Passkeys & verifiable credentials. Darren helps…

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  12. Episode 94: Clown Car!

    It seems everyone is selling AI at the moment - how can we make the most of these technologies in a measured, controlled way without exposing ourselves to data leakage or other unintended consequences? In this episode we're joined by Saaim Khan as we dive into some of the challenges faced by...

  13. Episode 93: Things that go bang!

    Have you heard the story of malware that targets programmable logic controllers (PLCs) on industrial systems and causing fast-spinning centrifuges to tear themselves apart? How about the disgruntled employee in Australia who tampered with a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system...

  14. Episode 92: Dutch!

    No language encryption here... In this episode we have the honor of sitting down for a late-night discussion with our Dutch friends Koos, Jeroen and Maarten. We really enjoyed their interesting and unique perspective on the global threat landscape and how the ransomware-as-a-service economy...

  15. Episode 91: Copilot is like a teenager

    In this episode we welcome back a couple of our old friends Stephen Rose and Darrell Webster to talk about Copilot and AI - how useful or useless are these technologies and what does it take to get it to work as advertised. Our guests share some great insight on what is needed to make the most of...

  16. Episode 90: Storyteller

    In this episode we have the honor of being joined by Richard Campbell - an industry veteran and podcast legend who has recorded more than 3,000 episodes. Richard is a professional storyteller and we really enjoyed talking about a variety of things, including .NET, AI and even Windows on ARM....

  17. Episode 89: Help us, help you!

    Another in-person episode! We recorded this one at the MVP Summit in Redmond earlier this year and had a great time talking to Katie and Pablo about community as they introduced us to The Microsoft Security Customer Connection Program (CCP). Katie and Pablo help us understand the value the…

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  18. Episode 88: Data is the new oil!

    In this episode we're once again joined by Philip Miller to continue our AI discussion, and this time we also invited Todd Wright from Progress to discuss data and the importance of data accessibility and connectivity within AI. Generic large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT are fun and all…

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  19. Episode 87: Prompt Architect

    AI is everywhere at the moment - it seems like every product or service now includes AI. What does that mean exactly? Can technology really think for itself? What is the difference between Copilot and an LLM and how do these relate to Generative AI? In this episode, we chat to Philip Miller from...

  20. Episode 86: Crusty Critical Apps

    We recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Camila Martins from Microsoft to talk about Microsoft's new Security Service Edge (SSE) solution. SSE includes Microsoft Entra Internet Access and Microsoft Entra Private Access. In this episode, we dive deep into these new capabilities that...

  21. Episode 85: M&A Easy Button

    In today’s episode we talk to Twan, Neil and Conrad who are the founders of PowerSyncPro, a software vendor solving complex migration problems for customers in a unique way and, in the shadow of some giant competitors. We delve into their interesting story, their technology and the problems they...

  22. Episode 84: "Entra like Magenta"

    "Back by popular demand" - even if they do say so themselves! In this episode we are excited to welcome back to the show Tarek Dawoud and Mark Morowczynski from Microsoft's Identity CXP team. We discuss the current state of Identity and dive into Conditional Access, phish-resistant MFA, the…

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  23. Episode 83: @merill

    If you follow the latest developments in the Entra space, you have no doubt come across Merill Fernando. In this episode Merill joins us for a great discussion as we geek out about Entra and authentication in general. Why is it called Entra (RIP AAD!)? Merill sheds some light on the name change…

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  24. Episode 82: All bad things happen inside the allow rule

    Shortly before Thanksgiving, Nic and I had the great pleasure of talking to John Kindervag. I once read about John that he has "forgotten more about technology than most people learn in their careers" and I'm sure after listening to this episode you'll understand why he is referred to as the...

  25. Episode 81: Modern Endpoint Management (and dinosaur stories)

    We recently had a great conversation with Joe Flynn about modern endpoint management and how the way we manage our devices has changed over the years - we reminisce about the old ways and talk the future of Active Directory. We also discuss management friction, current hybrid work trends and...

  26. Episode 80: Cyber Security Awareness

    It's Cyber Security Awareness month and in this episode, we talk to Shannon Garcia about the realities of the security industry and have an honest discussion about some of the areas where we could be doing more to raise awareness and educate our organizations, customers and stakeholders. Shannon...

  27. Episode 79 - It was DNS!

    It's ALWAYS DNS! We've all fallen victim to DNS at some point in our careers. In this episode we are once again joined by Robby Pedrica as we discuss DNS architecture and security - we've been deploying DNS the same way for a long time and perhaps it's time we look at our deployments and consider...

  28. Episode 78: The Modern Admin

    Same product, new name - RIP Azure AD/long live Entra ID! In this episode we're joined by long-time friend of the show Michael Van Horenbeeck to discuss the recent Entra related announcements and Microsoft's expansion into Security Service Edge (SSE) with two new products – Microsoft Entra…

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  29. Episode 77: Open-source

    In this episode we're joined by long-time friend Robby Pedrica as we talk about Open-source software. We asked Robby about Open-source technologies in the enterprise and discussed the history, ins and outs of using Open-source projects in your environment. Robby Pedrica is a IT & Network Security...

  30. Episode 76: Insiders

    What is insider risk and how does it differ from an insider threat? Did you know that these are not always bad actors or malicious acts? We were curios about insider risk management, insider threat detection and everything that goes along with it, so we asked Zach Luze to unpack this vast topic…

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  31. Episode 75: Explaining AI to your parents

    If you were to open your Twitter/LinkedIn/Mastodon feed at the moment, it is undoubtedly filled with AI posts - while some of these might be interesting or even somewhat useful, the majority likely include the words "RIP" and some profession or job function. There is so much AI FUD around right…

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  32. Episode 74: Llama Cam

    In this episode we geek out about home automation, Azure and training cognitive services to recognize llamas. Wait.. sound weird? Maybe, but we had a blast talking to MVP Lars Klint about life on his farm in the high country of Victoria in Australia and how he uses technology to automate (and...

  33. Episode 73: Persistently Vulnerable

    Exchange Server 2013 officially reached its end of support on April 11, 2023. What exactly does end of support mean? What should you do if your organization still relies on Exchange 2013 for email? In this episode I'm joined by Microsoft MVP Jeff Guillet, and we attempt to answer these questions...

  34. Episode 72: Cyber Readiness

    We're Back! Happy 2023 to all - and yes, I realize that it's February. We often talk on this podcast about cyber readiness and the important of having a plan but, felt it would be important to unpack that a talk about what is means in practical terms. In this episode we welcome back our friend…

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  35. Episode 71: CISO

    A CISO, or chief information security officer, is a senior-level executive who oversees an organization's information, cyber, and technology security. We recently had a fun conversation with our friend and CISO Sachin Surajbali about what is means to be a CISO. Sachin gave us a glimpse into a day...

  36. Episode 70: All about Teams

    We recently had a great time talking to fellow Microsoft MVP Tom Arbuthnot about all things Microsoft Teams - covered some of the great community work Tom is involved with and discussed Teams call quality, meeting etiquette and how work from home has brought about a massive increase in meetings…

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  37. Episode 69: Exchange Server - Fine wine or Swiss cheese?

    We love Exchange Server! No, really - I've personally been working with Exchange Server in some form or fashion since Exchange Server 5.5 in the late '90s and in some circles that makes me a late bloomer. It is difficult to ignore what seems like an endless list of day-zero vulnerabilities that...

  38. Episode 68: In the kitchen with Chef

    We apologize for the poor audio at the beginning of this episode - we're not sure what happened, but it does improve as the episode progresses. What is DevOps? The answer will often differ depending on who you ask. In this episode we asked Prashanth from Chef that question. He shares some great...

  39. Episode 67: PSA - The end of Basic Auth in Exchange Online (no, really!)

    Microsoft first announced the deprecation of Basic Authentication in September 2019 with the intention of starting the retirement process in October 2020. Those plans were subsequently postponed and needless to say it's been a long journey for many organizations to prepare for the inevitable.…

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  40. Episode 66: Use your dongle

    In this episode we chat to James "UCMadScientist" Arber. Some of you may know him as the guy who ran Doom on a Sonus/Ribbon SBC 1000 or set fire to a Polycom CX series phone, but James is also extremely knowledgable when it comes to all things Microsoft Teams. We had a lot of fun talking about…

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  41. Episode 65: ISO 27001:2022, say what?

    As an IT professional, governance and compliance have never been the sexiest of concepts. For many of us, these are things that distract us once a year when they require the yearly tick-in-the-box. It is important that we face the reality of the world we live in though and understand that we do...

  42. Episode 64 : The S word

    We recently had a lot of fun connecting with Koos Goossens to talk about Microsoft Sentinel. Koos has a wealth of knowledge and shared some great tips on getting started with Sentinel, the importance of cost management and why a product != process. Koos Goossens is passionate about all things...

  43. Episode 63: Tech Simplified

    This episode is all about certifications. I sat my first industry certification exam in the late 1990's and it's safe to say that certifications and the way the industry views them has changed a lot over the years. Are certifications important or even relevant anymore? This can be a very…

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  44. Episode 62: Human Journey

    We recently had the pleasure of talking to a long time friend of the show Jay Gundotra. Jay is incredibly passionate about the community and you have most probably seen the ENow Software booth or attended one of their parties at Ignite or some other industry event. We talk about his journey from...

  45. Episode 61: Inner Warrior

    In this episode we had the pleasure of talking to Kexin Ye and hearing her inspirational story of personal growth and how she went from selling Fair trade "coffee to fighting to tech". We also talk about chaos engineering, technical debt and the importance of a sound cloud strategy. If you're...

  46. Episode 60: 2022 - New Year, New Undies

    We're back for our first episode of 2022! We had so much fun catching up in-person in Cape Town last month to record this one. In this episode we're joined by fellow MVP Alistair Pugin to talk through some of our predictions for 2022. Will 2022 be the year of spend? We talk about hybrid cloud,...

  47. Episode 59: The Red Shirt Tour

    I really miss in-person conferences and I'm sure I'm not the only one. We've always enjoyed being able to connect with new and old friends and peers, not to mention how incredibly enjoyable it is for us to record our episodes in person. In this episode we talk to Microsoft's Laurent Bugnion about...

  48. Episode 58: Data Security and why you should "stop buying stuff.."

    Data Security is top of mind for many organizations at the moment with so many of them transitioning to a permanent work from home or hybrid working model. There is however so much more to protecting your data than encrypting it or implementing a DLP tool. In this episode we have a great...

  49. Episode 57: "Technologies don't fix problems.."

    Ever wondered what a SIEM is? How about SOAR? In this episode we have a fantastic conversation with ML who helps us understand what these are, how they are different and even how they can work together. We also cover a few other security-related topics and ML shares some great insights and...

  50. Episode 56: Is Exchange leaking your creds?

    If you follow the Microsoft productivity space, you have no doubt seen or heard about the "Autodiscovering the Great Leak" research paper recently published by Amit Serper, a security researcher at Guardicore. The paper details more than five months' research into the Autodiscover service used by...

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ABOUT THIS SHOW

A podcast about best practice, guidance, news and cutting edge Microsoft cloud technologies. Interviews with passionate people in the cloud space, hosted by MVPs Nicolas Blank (twitter.com/nicolasblank), Warren du Toit (twitter.com/warrendt) and Chris Goosen (twitter.com/chrisgoosen)

HOSTED BY

The Cloud Architects

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Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does The Cloud Architects Podcast have?

The Cloud Architects Podcast currently has 110 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.

What is The Cloud Architects Podcast about?

A podcast about best practice, guidance, news and cutting edge Microsoft cloud technologies. Interviews with passionate people in the cloud space, hosted by MVPs Nicolas Blank (twitter.com/nicolasblank), Warren du Toit (twitter.com/warrendt) and Chris Goosen (twitter.com/chrisgoosen)

How often does The Cloud Architects Podcast release new episodes?

The Cloud Architects Podcast publishes regularly with 110 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.

Where can I listen to The Cloud Architects Podcast?

You can listen to The Cloud Architects Podcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.

Who hosts The Cloud Architects Podcast?

The Cloud Architects Podcast is created and hosted by The Cloud Architects.
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