Jonathan Gardner | Cloud Architect & Technology Leader

Jonathan Gardner

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Network diagram showing AI agents connected with various success and failure states

Distributed Systems

Multi-Agent AI Is a Distributed Systems Problem: Plan Accordingly

Microsoft announced agents talking to agents at Ignite 2025. What they didn't address: the distributed systems complexity that creates. If you've built microservices architectures, this will feel familiar. If you haven't, you're about to learn some hard lessons.

Split illustration showing simple presentation diagrams transforming into complex enterprise architecture

Agent 365: Plan for 18 Months, Not 3

Microsoft's Agent 365 demos compress 12-18 months of work into 10-minute presentations. The technology is real. The implementation gap is too. Here's what data readiness, integration complexity, and organizational change actually look like for enterprises planning AI agent deployments.

The Shadow AI Problem That Agent 365 Actually Solves

The Shadow AI Problem That Agent 365 Actually Solves

Enterprises are about to repeat every mistake they made during cloud adoption, but with AI agents. Here's what I learned from ten years of Azure migrations about why Shadow IT happens and what Microsoft's Agent 365 actually solves.

I Built a Claude Skill That Creates Claude Skills (Using Claude)

Claude Skills Featured

I Built a Claude Skill That Creates Claude Skills (Using Claude)

I used Claude Code to build a tool that creates Claude Skills. Open-source CLI tools for validating and packaging skills at scale. Built by AI, for AI, used by engineering teams. Includes practical examples for SDLC automation.

When Measuring Impact Gets in the Way of Actually Having Impact

When Measuring Impact Gets in the Way of Actually Having Impact

Teams hit every metric—green dashboards, perfect scores. But customers were frustrated and critical incidents kept happening. Here's why: people spent more time proving they had impact than actually having it. Measurement systems don't just fail, they twist the work they measure.

The Only Three Questions Your TPM Dashboard Should Answer

Program Management

The Only Three Questions Your TPM Dashboard Should Answer

Most TPM dashboards track the wrong things. Build success rates and sprint velocity tell you nothing about what matters. Every metric should answer one of three questions: Can we ship safely? Are teams fast enough? Will customers succeed? Stop measuring everything. Start measuring what matters.

Why Technical Debt Isn't a Technical Problem

Why Technical Debt Isn't a Technical Problem

Southwest Airlines lost $825 million in ten days because of a crew scheduling system from the 1990s. Pilots had warned management for years. This wasn't a technical failure—it was a leadership failure. Technical debt isn't a technical problem. It's a business problem disguised as an IT issue.

Three Questions Before Any Technology Decision

Three Questions Before Any Technology Decision

A company spent $20M on software that didn't work. They picked tools first, then tried to solve problems. After 20 years at Microsoft, I learned to ask three questions before any tech decision. Start with problems, not solutions.

Moving from Engineer to Architect: The Skills That Matter

Moving from Engineer to Architect: The Skills That Matter

The shift from engineer to architect isn't about learning new tools. It's expanding your scope from local fixes to global impact. Engineers make code work. Architects think about what happens when that code scales, fails, or succeeds beyond expectations.

When Kubernetes Isn't the Answer: Right-Sizing Your Cloud Architecture

When Kubernetes Isn't the Answer: Right-Sizing Your Cloud Architecture

Teams pick Kubernetes before they understand their problem. This creates unnecessary complexity. I've seen simple apps that would work perfectly on Azure App Service struggle with container orchestration nightmares. Requirements should drive platform choice, not trends.

Making LLMs Work with Your Existing Data Systems: A Technical Leader's Guide to AI Integration

Making LLMs Work with Your Existing Data Systems: A Technical Leader's Guide to AI Integration

Learn proven strategies for integrating LLMs with enterprise data systems. Practical insights on architecture patterns, data pipelines, and security from hands-on experience.

Building a Custom Action Item Tool: Beyond Microsoft Teams Copilot's Limitations

Building a Custom Action Item Tool: Beyond Microsoft Teams Copilot's Limitations

Teams Copilot struggles with long meetings, 30-day history limits, and inconsistent formatting. Learn how to build a custom Azure solution using durable functions and OpenAI that processes any meeting length with unlimited history and team-specific templates.