New Breakpoint

3:00 fm - 4:00 fm (UTC)

What happens when GenAI meets robotics? In this episode, Daniel Fang walks us through how large language models can be transformed into intelligent agents that understand user intent, generate Python code, and control LEGO Spike Prime robots in real time. 🔍 Key takeaways for enterprise tech leaders: Architecting agentic AI systems that plan, reason, and act Integrating GPT with physical devices for real-world feedback loops Building scalable, student-friendly AI apps on Azure - Inspiring the next generation of developers through hands-on learning 💡 Whether you're exploring AI in education, edge computing, or human-machine interaction, this episode offers practical insights into building intelligent, responsive systems that bridge the digital and physical worlds.

2:00 fm - 3:00 fm (UTC)

Join host Michelle Sandford as she welcomes Randy Bias and Bharath Nallapeta from Mirantis for a deep dive into the future of platform engineering. In this episode, we explore how Kubernetes has become the de facto standard for application delivery—and how open-source tools like Cordant are redefining multi-cloud orchestration. From deploying GPU-enabled clusters on Azure to managing AI workloads with service templates, Bharath walks us through a live demo that showcases scalable, repeatable infrastructure for modern development teams. We also discuss: • The evolution from DevOps to platform engineering • Balancing community-driven innovation with enterprise-grade reliability • The role of AI in observability, automation, and developer experience Whether you're building internal developer platforms, scaling across clouds, or integrating AI into your ops strategy, this episode offers practical insights and bold ideas for the next generation of engineering leaders. 📅 Broadcast Date: Thursday 11th September, 12pm GMT+8 🎥 Live Q&A: Join us in chat to ask your questions 🔗 Resources & Demo Code: Available via GitHub after the show at https://aka.ms/new-breakpoint/log

12:00 fm - 1:00 fm (UTC)

Join host Michelle Sandford in this episode of New Breakpoint, where we welcome Rakesh Lakshminarayana, Principal Architect at Agile Insights, to unpack the building blocks of intelligent applications. From model selection and prompt engineering to context management and multiagent orchestration, Rakesh walks us through the latest advancements in AI development. Discover how tools like MCP enhance model capabilities, explore best practices for testing and evaluation, and dive into a hands-on demo using Azure AI Foundry to build a custom AI assistant. Whether you're just starting out or looking to refine your approach, this session is packed with insights, resources, and practical guidance to help you build smarter, more effective AI solutions.

1:00 fm - 2:00 fm (UTC)

GitHub Copilot has revolutionized how we code by bringing agent powered assistance directly into our editors. Now, that same magic is coming to your terminal unlocking a new level of speed, precision, and automation for command-line workflows. In this session Scott Holden - Microsoft Developer Solutions Engineer will join Host Michelle Sandford to take a deep dive into GitHub Copilot CLI, how to get the best use out of it from your terminal, how to unlock the power of MCPs from the CLI in a secure manner, and a peek at automating GitHub Copilot CLI via programmatic mode.

2:00 fm - 3:00 fm (UTC)

MVP Stacy Cashmore talks to host Michelle Sandford at Oredev Developers Conference in Sweden about Azure Static Web Apps which you might think of as an easy way to get a hobby site into the world for very little cost. But it turns out that's not all they can do! With a few changes to the out of the box experience, and using the standard, paid, tier we can use these Azure Resources in our enterprise architecture. Stacy will touch upon infrastructure as code, to make reliable deployments to a known environment. She'll look into how to change the default pipeline to allow unit tests etc for the code and deploying the same build applications into multiple environments. Finally, she'll take a look at Custom Authentication - using Auth0 to authenticate and a custom Azure Function to provide the roles for our users. Join us for this cool session with lots of live demos using GitHub Codespaces and Actions and you'll learn everything you need to do to build a very grown-up site from a quick and easy web app.

2:00 fm - 3:00 fm (UTC)

In this episode of New Breakpoint, we bring back Rakesh Lakshminarayana from the AI Toolkit episode. We will dive into the evolution from Azure AI Foundry-built agents to the newly upgraded Microsoft Agent Framework, using the refreshed Contoso Bike Store demo to spotlight what’s changed, what gaps are now filled, and how workflows, hosting, DevUI, and the new AG‑UI all come together to create production‑ready agent experiences. We explore why workflows still matter even when agents can choose their own next step, how Foundry agents and the Framework complement each other, what new tooling exists for runtime observability, and the fastest path for developers to get started. Join us for a practical, future‑focused tour of how Microsoft is redefining the agent development stack.

1:30 fm - 2:30 fm (UTC)

In this episode of New Breakpoint, Arnauld Lheureux joins host Michelle Sandford for a hands-on guide to shipping with confidence in an agent powered world. The core idea is simple: treat the spec as the product, and let agents do the heavy lifting, as long as you give them the right constraints. Arnauld walks through what makes a spec implementable: • Clear outcomes • Non-goals • Edge cases • Acceptance criteria • The smallest testable slice From there, we unpack how to translate that spec into high quality agent tasks for implementation, tests, refactors, and documentation, while keeping humans in control of intent and tradeoffs. You will learn practical prompting patterns, review checkpoints, and how to avoid the common failure modes like scope creep, plausible but wrong code, and inconsistent behavior across environments. We close with an enterprise lens: how teams use GitHub Enterprise to operationalize this approach with governance, security boundaries, and a growing ecosystem of custom and third-party agents. If you want a repeatable playbook that turns specs into merged pull requests with less toil and fewer surprises, this is the episode.

2:30 fm - 3:30 fm (UTC)

GitHub Copilot is great in the editor, but what if you want Copilot inside your product or workflow? Let us introduce you to the Copilot SDK! In this episode, Aaron Powell joins host Michelle Sandford to explore the GitHub Copilot SDK, the building blocks you need to create custom Copilot powered experiences, and the real world gotchas that show up after the demo works. Expect clear explanations, practical examples, and a roadmap for going from idea to shipped feature.

4:00 fm - 5:00 fm (UTC)

In this episode of New Breakpoint, host Michelle Sandford (She/Her) is joined by Ayodeji Ayodele - Senior Customer Success Architect at GitHub and author of the GitHub Foundations Certification Guide. Together they break down what developers actually need to know day‑to‑day: the difference between Git and GitHub, repo and collaboration hygiene, how to write (and review) pull requests that speed teams up, and where automation with GitHub Actions delivers quick wins. They also dig into practical security foundations - including dependency, secret, and code scanning - plus how to use GitHub Copilot responsibly and how to get started contributing to open source.

2:00 fm - 3:00 fm (UTC)

Platform engineering has always been about turning intent into secure, compliant infrastructure but it has come at the cost of complexity, time, and endless templates. In this episode of New Breakpoint, Michelle Sandford is joined by Arnaud Lheureux to explore how agentic AI is redefining that model. Instead of manually stitching together infrastructure components, what if agents could orchestrate everything for you - safely, transparently, and in minutes instead of weeks? Through a live demo of GitApe, we see how teams can go from a simple prompt to a fully deployed, policy-compliant architecture, complete with validation, cost insights, documentation, and traceability. But this isn’t about replacing engineers. It’s about elevating them. As automation takes over repetitive tasks, platform teams shift towards designing guardrails, shaping context, and making better-informed decisions. If you’re building, operating, or evolving platforms in the age of AI, this episode will challenge how you think about speed, responsibility, and what it really means to engineer at scale.

3:30 fm - 4:30 fm (UTC)

In this episode of New Breakpoint, Michelle Sandford sits down with Aaron Powell to explore the GitHub Copilot App - a new experience that brings agentic workflows directly into your day-to-day work on GitHub. Rather than focusing purely on code, the Copilot App introduces a shift toward task-driven collaboration, enabling developers and broader technical teams to manage pull requests, issues, and backlogs through intelligent, agent-powered workflows. Together, Michelle and Aaron take a hands-on look at how the app enables: Automations: creating scheduled workflows like daily pull request summaries or issue triage, tailored to your team’s needs Agent-driven sessions: working across repositories with isolated contexts, allowing multiple streams of work to run in parallel Backlog visibility: helping product owners and managers stay across issues and progress without needing to dive into code Interactive collaboration: reviewing changes, adding inline feedback, and steering agents in real time Extensibility: using skills, plugins, and canvases to customise workflows, visualise data, and even build lightweight apps The episode also explores how the Copilot App bridges the gap between developers and non-developers, making it easier for entire teams to participate in modern, AI-powered workflows - whether you’re writing code, managing a sprint, or tracking progress on the go. If you’re looking to understand how automations, agents, and real-world workflows come together inside GitHub, this is a great place to start. Get Started with the GitHub Copilot App

3:30 fm - 4:30 fm (UTC)

Security isn't someone else's job anymore. In this episode of New Breakpoint, Michelle Sandford (She/Her) sits down with George Coldham, Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft, to explore how developers can use GitHub and GitHub Copilot to make security a natural part of their everyday workflow. Through a live demo, George shows how to identify exposed secrets, detect vulnerable dependencies, improve code quality, and leverage AI-powered tools to address issues before they reach production. Whether you're an experienced developer or just getting started, you'll learn practical ways to build more secure applications while maintaining speed and productivity, and why human accountability remains critical in the age of AI-assisted development.