The Shift: Your open questions about agents, honest discussions

In this episode of The Shift, members of the Microsoft Azure Database team, Eric, Marko, Claire and Abinav explore a question from you, our community:

Is Postgres the wave of the future?

The Shift, Agentic Edition connects the people building AI tools with those creating agents, so we can all level up together.

Get the eBook:
https://aka.ms/AppsAgentsPostgresSQL

Join our community: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/

Get to know the team:

Eric Hudson, Director Product Marketing
https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-hudson-aa0a943/

Marko Hotti, Senior Product Marketing Manager
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marko-hotti-7656574/

Claire Giordano, Principal Group PM Manager
https://www.linkedin.com/in/claireg/

Abinav Rameesh, Principal PM Manager
https://www.linkedin.com/in/abinavrameesh/

The Shift podcast is a place for experts to share their insights and opinions. As students of the future of technology, Microsoft values inputs from a diverse set of voices. That said, the opinions and findings of our guests are their own and they may not necessarily reflect Microsoft's positions as a company.

This episode of The Shift was recorded in February 2026. All information about products and offers are relevant to the time of recording.

In this episode of The Shift, members of the Microsoft Foundry team, Ronak, Vinod and Linda explore a question from you, our community:

What senses do agents need to act?

The Shift, Agentic Edition connects the people building AI tools with those creating agents, so we can all level up together.

Get the eBook: AI Apps and Agents | Microsoft Azure
https://aka.ms/AIAppsAgents

Join our community: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/

Get to know the team:
Ronak Chokshi, Director Product Marketing
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronakchokshi/
Vinod Valloppillil, Partner Product Director
https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinodvalloppillil/
Linda Li, Product Manager II
https://www.linkedin.com/in/zhuoqun-linda-li/

The Shift podcast is a place for experts to share their insights and opinions. As students of the future of technology, Microsoft values inputs from a diverse set of voices. That said, the opinions and findings of our guests are their own and they may not necessarily reflect Microsoft's positions as a company.
This episode of The Shift was recorded in February 2026. All information about products and offers are relevant to the time of recording.

In this episode of The Shift, members of the Microsoft Foundry team, Allison, Pamela and Matt explore a question from you, our community:
Is context engineering the new RAG?

The Shift, Agentic Edition connects the people building AI tools with those creating agents, so we can all level up together.

Get the eBook: AI Apps and Agents | Microsoft Azure
https://aka.ms/AIAppsAgents

Join our community: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/

Get to know the team:
Allison Sparrow, Director Product Marketing
https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsparrow/

Pamela Fox, Principal Cloud Advocate
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamela-s-fox/

Matt Gotteiner, Senior Program Manager
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattgotteiner/

The Shift podcast is a place for experts to share their insights and opinions. As students of the future of technology, Microsoft values inputs from a diverse set of voices. That said, the opinions and findings of our guests are their own and they may not necessarily reflect Microsoft's positions as a company.

This episode of The Shift was recorded in February 2026. All information about products and offers are relevant to the time of recording.

In this episode of The Shift, members of the Microsoft Azure Database team, Nikisha, James, Debbi and Jared explore a question from you, our community:

Wait, my agent needs a database?

The Shift, Agentic Edition connects the people building AI tools with those creating agents, so we can all level up together.

Get the eBook:
Building a strategic database ecosystem: From Choice to Orchestration | Microsoft Azure
https://aka.ms/databaseecosystem

Join our community: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/

Meet the Team:
Nikisha Reyes-Grange, Senior Director Product Marketing
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikisha/
James Codella, Principal Product Manager
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamescodella/
Jared Meade, Senior Program Manager
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jared-meade/
Debbi Lyons, Director Product Marketing
https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbilyons/

The Shift podcast is a place for experts to share their insights and opinions. As students of the future of technology, Microsoft values inputs from a diverse set of voices. That said, the opinions and findings of our guests are their own and they may not necessarily reflect Microsoft's own research or positions.
This episode of The Shift was recorded in January 2026. All information about products and offers are relevant to the time of recording.

In this episode of The Shift, members of the Microsoft Foundry team, Takuto, Shawn, Amanda and Victor explore a question from you, our community:

How do agents work together?

The Shift, Agentic Edition connects the people building AI tools with those creating agents, so we can all level up together.

Get the eBook: AI Apps and Agents | Microsoft Azure
https://aka.ms/AIAppsandAgents

Join our community: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/

Get to know the team:
Takuto Higuchi, Product Strategy
https://www.linkedin.com/in/takuto-higuchi-626681135/

Shawn Henry, Principal Group Product Manager
https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawn-patrick-henry/

Amanda Foster, Product Manager, Microsoft Foundry Agent Service
https://www.linkedin.com/in/foster-amanda/

Victor Dibia, Principal RDSE at Microsoft Core AI
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dibiavictor/

The Shift podcast is a place for experts to share their insights and opinions. As students of the future of technology, Microsoft values inputs from a diverse set of voices. That said, the opinions and findings of our guests are their own and they may not necessarily reflect Microsoft's positions as a company.

This episode of The Shift was recorded in January 2026. All information about products and offers are relevant to the time of recording.