This talk traces the evolution of AI agents from the ambitious but complex AutoGPT experiment in 2023, through Cursor's gradual "autonomy slider" approach (2023-2025), to the elegant simplicity of Claude Code in 2025. The presentation argues that we've moved from highly complex systems with multiple agents, embeddings, and cloud infrastructure that, while groundbreaking, often struggled with basic tasks, to "The Zen of Claude Code": a simple terminal-based agent that achieves excellent performance by embracing the bitter lesson.

Discover how Krones and Microsoft are transforming beverage production with AI-powered digital twins. By reducing simulation times from hours to minutes, this breakthrough enables real-time optimization, autonomous decision-making, and sustainable efficiency. Learn how advanced cloud and GPU technologies drive Industry 4.0 innovation and set new standards for smart manufacturing.

Discover how telecoms are leveraging Microsoft AI and cloud solutions to unify data and automate network and business operations to boost efficiency, accelerate service delivery, and grow beyond connectivity.

Discover how PLDT is redefining agility and customer experience through Amdocs’ cloud-native OSS transformation. Learn how streamlined operations, automation, and unified orchestration are driving measurable impact—and why it matters for your business.

Azure brings unified management to on-premises and multi-cloud environments. Learn how Azure Arc delivers consistent governance, security, and operations across Azure, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments—while enabling System Center customers to adopt a cloud-native management experience. Whether modernizing Windows/Linux or building cloud-native apps, equip yourself with tools and agents to bridge datacenter and cloud.

Learn how leading enterprises have transformed legacy systems into agile, cloud- and AI-ready solutions—at scale. Through real customer stories and proven best practices, you’ll discover the latest Azure App, Data, and AI innovations that fuel app modernization and deliver measurable business impact. Walk away with practical tips, inspired by real-world results, that you can start applying from day one.

Deploy AVS and manage VMware vSphere environment as an Azure resources (B) Connect AVS private cloud secretly with Internet (C) Migrate VMs from on-premises to AVS using VMware HCX technology (D) Expand AVS private cloud storage with Azure NetApp Files or Azure Elastic SAN; scaling storage independently from compute (E) Manage AVS workloads VMs using Azure interfaces by Arc-enabling AVS private cloud and its VMs (F) Modernization workloads with Azure Services like Azure SQL Managed Instances and AI capabilities.

Note: this session will use demo environments instead of live environments due to complexity and time.

Please RSVP and arrive at least 5 minutes before the start time, at which point remaining spaces are open to standby attendees.

Join Microsoft experts in discussing hybrid AI across cloud and edge. We’ll trade real world patterns for Surface and Copilot+ PCs, unpack NPU accelerated workflows, and explore how Microsoft Foundry on Windows supports model and dev ops, privacy, and performance. Expect candid Q&A in depth and practical next steps—real talk with people driving business transformation!

Connection Pods accommodate up to 15 people. Please RSVP and arrive at least 5 minutes before the start time, at which point remaining spaces are open to standby attendees.

Meet & Greet with the Cloud Management & Operations Platform Team. Bring your questions and feedback.

Connection Pods accommodate up to 15 people. Please RSVP and arrive at least 5 minutes before the start time, at which point remaining spaces are open to standby attendees.

Unlock the potential of accelerated AI workflows in this hands-on workshop, where participants will learn how to rapidly deploy and integrate NVIDIA’s Nemotron NIM models using Microsoft Foundry’s powerful cloud-native tools. Through guided exercises, you’ll explore model provisioning, configuration, and optimization techniques that streamline AI deployment from prototype to production. Ideal for developers, data scientists, and AI engineers looking to leverage high-performance models in scalable cloud environments.

Please RSVP and arrive at least 5 minutes before the start time, at which point remaining spaces are open to standby attendees.

On-device assistants are evolving from reactive helpers to proactive, self-reasoning agents, seamlessly integrating across devices and cloud platforms. To enable this shift, Intel AI Assistant Builder (Superbuilder) released v.2.0 at IFA 2025, as a reference design for multi-agent orchestration using the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Experience how this framework supports seamless import/export of agents and servers, enabling flexible orchestration and hybrid AI (local + cloud).

Learn to deploy Windows 365 Cloud PCs using a secure, scalable model. In this hands-on lab, set up provisioning policies, integrate with Microsoft Entra, apply Zero Trust networking, and configure Conditional Access. Experience the full user journey and admin setup. Monitor and manage with ease. Leave with a blueprint to deploy, secure, and scale Cloud PCs efficiently.

Please RSVP and arrive at least 5 minutes before the start time, at which point remaining spaces are open to standby attendees.

Hear how Canadian Tire Corporation, one of Canada’s most iconic retailers, is modernizing its digital strategy through a hybrid cloud approach with Microsoft and Equinix. Discover how scalable, interconnected infrastructure accelerates Azure VMware Solution (AVS) migration, supports hybrid cloud workloads, and builds a resilient, future-ready network.

Explore the latest Azure Storage innovations engineered for every use case. From scaling inferencing with terabytes-per-second throughput to ensuring business continuity for mission-critical operations, Azure Storage solves diverse challenges with flexibility and reliability. Whether you’re modernizing legacy environments, optimizing Tier-0 workloads, or building next-generation AI applications, you’ll get practical guidance to transform and accelerate your cloud journey with Azure Storage.

Delivered in a silent stage breakout.

Join fellow identity practitioners for a focused roundtable on proactively designing resilient identity architectures using Microsoft Entra. We’ll explore strategies for secure access, automation, and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud environments—sharing real-world insights and surfacing ideas to strengthen Entra’s capabilities.

Connection Pods accommodate up to 15 people. Please RSVP and arrive at least 5 minutes before the start time, at which point remaining spaces are open to standby attendees.

Windows ML is a new performance-first AI framework built into Windows to enable secure, on-device inferencing across CPU, GPU, and NPU. See how you can use various models with no cloud or extra infrastructure needed. Learn how Windows ML helps streamline deployment across diverse hardware tiers and manage dependencies to reduce your app size to deliver fast, private, and scalable AI experiences.

The Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program is the primary way we engage and invest in our partner ecosystem.  The program brings everything together across the whole of the partner lifecycle, including onboarding, skilling, go-to-market, incentives, and co-selling. In this session, learn about our Partner Program, its evolution, exciting new offers and how it enables partners drive growth.

Learn how intelligent infrastructure, agentic operations, and AI-driven tools are transforming cloud reliability, security, and agility for every workload. Join Chief Product Officer of Azure Platform, Jeremy Winter and guests, to discover how Azure’s latest innovations empower organizations to modernize, secure, and scale with confidence.

Send us a text Dive into the powerful world of mainframes! Chief Product Officer of IBM Z and LinuxONE, Tina Tarquinio, reveals the truth behind those eight nines of uptime and explores how mainframes are evolving with AI, hybrid cloud, and future-proofing strategies for mission-critical business decisions. 

Discover the cutting-edge innovations transforming enterprise computing—from on-chip AIU and Spyre AI accelerators enabling real-time inferencing at transaction speed, to how LinuxONE is redefining hybrid cloud architecture.  Tina discusses DevOps integration, AI-powered code assistants revolutionizing mainframe development, compelling AI use cases, and shares her bold predictions for the mainframe’s next 100 years.  Plus, career advice from a tech leader and what she does for fun! 00:46 Tina Tarquinio03:18 The Most Mainframe Surprise09:12 What IS the Mainframe Really?  8 Nines!14:40 On Chip AIU, Spyre Inferencing18:11 Mainframes with Hybrid Cloud19:11 The Linux One Pitch19:59 Exciting Mainframe Innovations22:09 DevOps23:36 Code Assistants26:03 AI Use Case27:49 Future Proofing Decisions37:17 Regulations38:45 Bold Prediction38:58 Mainframe 10040:48 Career Advice42:24 For FunLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tina-tarquinio Website: https://www.ibm.com/products/z

MakingDataSimple #IBMz #Mainframe #LinuxONE #AIInferencing #SpyreAccelerator #HybridCloud #EnterpriseAI #DevOps #AICodeAssistant #EightNines #TinaTarquinio #MainframeModernization #AIUChip #FutureProofing #TechLeadership #WatsonxCodeAssistant #CloudComputing #TelumII

Want to be featured as a guest on Making Data Simple? Reach out to us at [email protected] and tell us why you should be next. The Making Data Simple Podcast is hosted by Al Martin, WW VP Technical Sales, IBM, where we explore trending technologies, business innovation, and leadership ... while keeping it simple & fun.

Deploy AVS and manage VMware vSphere environment as an Azure resources (B) Connect AVS private cloud secretly with Internet (C) Migrate VMs from on-premises to AVS using VMware HCX technology (D) Expand AVS private cloud storage with Azure NetApp Files or Azure Elastic SAN; scaling storage independently from compute (E) Manage AVS workloads VMs using Azure interfaces by Arc-enabling AVS private cloud and its VMs (F) Modernization workloads with Azure Services like Azure SQL Managed Instances and AI capabilities.

Note: this session will use demo environments instead of live environments due to complexity and time.

Please RSVP and arrive at least 5 minutes before the start time, at which point remaining spaces are open to standby attendees.