Platforms, AI, and the power of human creativity, with Microsoft's Marcus Fontoura

GeekWire

Technology, Tech News, News

4.4 • 116 Ratings

🗓️ 19 April 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, we’re joined by Marcus Fontoura, technical fellow at Microsoft and CTO for Azure Core. Fontoura is the author of A Platform Mindset, a new book that explores how to build scalable systems, support high-performing teams, and foster a culture of collaboration.

We talk about the evolving role of platforms in tech, the impact of AI on engineering productivity, and why creativity and autonomy are more important than ever. Fontoura draws on decades of experience at Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, and IBM to share insights on leadership, technical debt, and why great engineers should be treated more like artists than managers-in-waiting.

With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop; Edited by Curt Milton.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This Geekwire podcast is brought to you by BECU. Stay tuned to the break as Brian Westbrook
0:06.0	interviews BECU's Stacey Black for today's money hack about financial strategies for navigating
0:12.5	unexpected career change. For more money hacks, check out geekwire.com slash BECU.
0:19.9	Because as you were writing in the book about managing teams of software engineers, I couldn't help but think what happens when you're not just managing teams of engineers, but you're managing teams of agents.
0:29.6	Yeah, this is very interesting. We were even talking about like LinkedIn being able to list not only professionals, but list your agents and you'll be able to hire an agent in LinkedIn.
0:40.2	Yeah, it's very interesting.
0:41.9	I think it will give us a lot of opportunity to use our brains to what we really are here to do.
0:48.8	That is changed the world using technology.
0:55.5	Welcome to Geekwire from Geekwire.com in Seattle. I'm Todd Bishop. We are coming to you today
1:00.8	from Microsoft's Redmond campus where our guest is Marcus Fontura. He is technical
1:05.8	fellow at Microsoft and CTO for Azure Core. He's worked across some of the biggest names in tech, IBM, Yahoo, Google,
1:13.6	and he's now in his second stint at Microsoft, where he's helping to shape the future of cloud
1:18.0	infrastructure. Marcus, it's great to have you on the show. Yeah, so happy to be here. Thanks for
1:22.2	having me. We wanted to have you on the show because you have a new book. It's called A Platform
1:27.0	Mindset.
1:28.1	It is published by Microsoft's 8080 books, and it breaks down how to build scalable systems, support high-performing teams, and create a culture of collaboration.
1:37.3	But this book really relates broadly, too. So we're going to touch on some of those issues as well in terms of leading teams and the future of
1:44.4	AI and where things are headed from here in business and technology. First off, let's start with
1:50.0	the name of the book, a platform mindset. What is a platform as you define it in the context of the
1:56.9	book? And can you give me a sense for the mindset that you bring to platforms and that you
2:01.8	hope people who read the book will take away from it? Yeah, so I think the title of the book was
2:06.9	very fortunate because it captures two words that I consider super important. Platform, to me, is a piece
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 24 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from GeekWire, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of GeekWire and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.