Azure Cloud Talk

About Azure Cloud Talk

Engineer in the Loop is the weekly show for software engineers who ship with models in the mix. Host Alec Harrison chats with practitioners about architecture decisions, failure modes, and the workflows that keep humans firmly “in the loop.” Expect repo round-ups, post-mortems, and listener Q&A—with actionable code examples and zero buzzword fluff!

Publisher

Alec Harrison

Category

technology

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

10 Jun 2023

Latest episode

17 Dec 2025

Latest episodes

85 of 90 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   17 Dec 2025TRANSCRIPT

   Inside Microsoft’s Secret to Scaling New Ideas W/ Taylor Black

   What does it really take to turn bold ideas into real impact inside one of the world’s largest technology companies? In this episode of Engineering in the Loop, Alec Harrison sits down with Taylor Black, Director of AI & Venture Ecosystems in the Office of the CTO at Microsoft, to unpack how internal incubators actually work — and why most innovation efforts fail before they ever ship. Taylor leads Microsoft’s internal incubation studio, where early-stage, high-risk ideas are tested, validated, and scaled into products capable of generating hundreds of millions — and eventually billions — in revenue. Unlike traditional startups, these ventures must meet Microsoft-scale expectations while navigating enterprise constraints, long buying cycles, and strategic alignment across product groups. In this conversation, we cover: What makes an idea “Microsoft-sized” (and why most aren’t) How internal incubators de-risk innovation before product teams invest Why $1B in revenue within five years is the bar — not the exception The biggest mistakes founders make when starting companies When not to take venture capital (and why most founders do it too early) How AI agents will reshape work far beyond chat interfaces Why the future may include one-person billion-dollar companies Whether you’re an engineer, founder, product leader, or innovation executive, this episode offers a rare, inside look at how venture-style thinking works inside a global enterprise — and what you can learn from it.

2. 

   29 Nov 2025TRANSCRIPT

   AI, Turkey, and Catching Up

   Host Alec and guest Brian discuss the intersection of AI and turkey farming, exploring innovative applications in agriculture.

3. 

   17 Nov 2025TRANSCRIPT

   From 11 Nested For-Loops to AI-Driven Engineering — A Conversation with Zure CEO Sakari Nahi

   Host Alec interviews Zure CEO Sakari Nahi about 25 years of tech evolution, AI use cases, and building a people-first engineering culture.

Inside a recent episode

Inside Microsoft’s Secret to Scaling New Ideas W/ Taylor Black

Published 17 Dec 2025 · Transcript excerpt

[…] That's really cool. I'm just curious with your background, do you have any like top three mistakes people should avoid if they're trying to start a startup or like do you have like your top X list of things that you should focus on or maybe think you should avoid when you're trying to do that or get into that system. Totally, yeah, yeah. Well, first off is not solving a customer problem or a customer problem this large enough. A lot of founders that I work with will have a great idea with regard to something that they've solved in their own lives potentially or a theoretical solution they see to a theoretical problem. […]

Who has been a guest on Azure Cloud Talk

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Sakari Nahi
• Cory House
• Javier Lozano
• Elliott Leighton-Woodruff
• Cameron Presley

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

28,582

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 71 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

89

Social presence

0

YouTube

72

Engagement

60

Contact Azure Cloud Talk

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Azure Cloud Talk