The Shift: Your open questions about agents, honest discussions

As AI agents become more capable—and more autonomous—one question rises fast: How do we draw agentic borders? For many organizations, this is also a sovereignty question: what stays in-country, who can access it, and how do you enforce policy across systems and regions?

In this episode of The Shift Podcast: Agentic Edition, leaders from Microsoft Azure explore the evolving boundaries between agents, humans, systems, and responsibility—and what it takes to keep trust and accountability as AI becomes more agentic.

The conversation covers:
What “agentic borders” mean in enterprise practice
How to approach responsibility and oversight in agent systems
How sovereignty requirements (data residency, jurisdiction, and access) shape agent design and deployment
Why governance matters as agents move into real use
What to consider when setting guardrails for agents
An honest discussion on moving forward responsibly—while still building with speed and ambition.

👉 Read Microsoft Sovereign Cloud in Europe: https://aka.ms/MSFTSovereignCloudWhitepaper
👉 Join the Tech Community: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/

Get to know the team:
Evelyn Ozzie https://www.linkedin.com/in/evelyn-ozzie-18062721/
Meena Gowdar https://www.linkedin.com/in/mjgowdar/
Edouard de Cremiers https://www.linkedin.com/in/edouarddecremiers/
Karim Batthish https://www.linkedin.com/in/karimondo/

The Shift Podcast: Agentic Edition 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 is relevant to the time of recording.

#TheShiftPodcast #ResponsibleAI #AgenticAI #DigitalGovernance #MicrosoftAzure #DigitalSovereignty

As AI agents move from experimentation into real-world operations, many IT leaders are asking a new kind of workforce question: Should your IT team hire agents?

In this episode of The Shift Podcast: Agentic Edition, members of the Microsoft Azure team explore how agentic AI is beginning to reshape IT operations, cloud management, and the future of technical work. Agents are emerging as powerful collaborators alongside humans in the loop—augmenting teams, automating repetitive tasks, and enabling a more proactive approach to managing complex systems.

This conversation digs into what agent adoption really looks like for IT organizations today, including:
• How agents for IT automation are changing cloud operations.
• Where trust, transparency, and control matter most in agentic systems.
• What skills IT teams need as workflows shift from manual to autonomous.
• How Azure Copilot and intelligent operations are influencing day to day IT work.

You’ll also hear how organizations can thoughtfully introduce agents without creating black boxes—keeping humans in control while scaling operational efficiency.

If you’re an IT leader, practitioner, or decision maker thinking about the future of cloud operations, modernization, or automation, this episode offers a grounded look at how agents fit into real enterprise environments.
👉 Download the whitepaper: Intelligent IT Operations: https://aka.ms/IntelligentITOpsAzure
👉 Join the Tech Community: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/

#TheShiftPodcast #AgenticAI #ITAutomation #IntelligentOperations #AzureCopilot

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.