I have had the pleasure to be on the MVP Unplugged show with Justin Garrett where I spoke about how to use AI services (yes Copilots and more) to take advantage of those great big piles of data that is your Azure Resource metrics, your application diagnostics, your security trace, and your usage cost data, and where Microsoft is going now when putting the Copilots to work in the Cloud for our benefit.

I always say this, and it bares repeting. You may think your business is large, but in Azure Cloud terms even the larger enterprise companies are but a small customer in the totality of things. That written, for Microsoft an Azure datancentre region can still on occasion run low on capacity of certain services. At the same time, Microsoft want more satisfied customers using their regions. That means for Microsoft to empower more of their customers to spend wisely and make room for even more success.

In other words; it makes business-sense for Microsoft to help their customers optimise their usage and be as effective and successful as possible on their Cloud Platform. This means that Microsoft is investing a ton in ever better tooling for their cloud consuming customers!

I want to say a hardy thank you to Justin for having me on the show which is much appreciated.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

✅ How to use Azure Monitor and Log Analytics for enterprise observability.

✅ Why Service Groups help Azure understand application architecture.

✅ How AI-assisted investigation accelerates root cause analysis.

✅ Best practices for managing diagnostics data at scale.

✅ How Azure Copilot turns natural language into KQL queries.

✅ When to use Azure Advisor insights to optimize performance and cost.

Please enjoy this episode of MVP Unplugged:

Some photos from the show:

The episode hosts:

Fun snap… the size of that fish!

Original post on YouTube: Taming the Data Estate with Copilot and Azure Service Monitor | MVP Unplugged

The whole MVP Unplugged playlist: MVP Unplugged - YouTube

Join host Justin Garrett from the Microsoft MVP Program as he sits down with Magnus Mårtensson, a 14-time Azure MVP, to explore what it takes for enterprises to manage growing data estates with AI-powered observability in Azure. As organizations scale across hybrid environments, multi-cloud platforms, and legacy systems, monitoring application health and managing diagnostic data becomes increasingly complex. In this episode, Magnus explains how Azure Monitor, Service Groups, and AI-assisted investigation are transforming observability by turning massive volumes of telemetry into actionable insight.

You’ll learn how Azure Copilot can analyze logs, detect anomalies, recommend next steps, and help prioritize Azure Advisor recommendations using natural language inside tools like Visual Studio Code. The result: faster investigations, improved uptime, reduced operational overhead, and smarter decision-making across your cloud estate. Whether you're modernizing applications or optimizing resources across subscriptions, this episode highlights real-world strategies for building resilient, cost-efficient systems with AI in Azure.

00:06 - Welcome to MVP Unplugged Episode 3

00:32 - Meet Magnus Mårtensson

01:24 - Observability Challenges Explained

03:14 - Azure Monitor Overview

05:27 - Managing Log Data at Scale

06:21 - AI for Diagnostics Data

09:36 - Azure Service Groups (Preview)

11:04 - Demo: Mapping Applications

15:20 - Health Models

21:30 - AI-Assisted Investigation

27:30 - Azure Copilot in VS Code

30:33 - Azure Advisor with AI

35:35 - AI for Cost Optimization

39:23 - Wrap-Up

#AzureMonitor #AzureCopilot #Observability #EnterpriseIT #LogAnalytics

#CloudComputing #AIinCloud #MicrosoftDeveloper #Azure #DevOps

#ApplicationMonitoring #CloudOptimization #MVPUnplugged

Resources & Links

Free Microsoft Foundry Trial: https://aka.ms/devrelft

✏️ Azure Monitor docs: Azure Monitor documentation - Azure Monitor | Microsoft Learn

✏️ Azure Service Groups docs: Azure Service Groups documentation | Microsoft Learn

➡️ Azure Tools for VS Code: Getting Started with Azure Tools for Visual Studio Code

About Magnus:

Magnus Mårtensson is a cloud architecture advisor and founder of Loftysoft, helping organizations design scalable, cloud-native solutions aligned to business strategy. He is an internationally recognized speaker, trainer, and community leader behind events like CloudBurst and Global Azure.

About Justin:

Justin Garrett is host of MVP Unplugged and a Principal PM in Developer Relations at Microsoft, with 20+ years of experience across Windows, Bing, Edge, and Cloud Advocacy. He also leads the Microsoft MVP Program.

I am looking a lot forward to speak at the Future Tech 2026 in Utrecht, Netherlands on March 10-11!

My session is on how Cloud App & Infra Observability casts silver bullets. Admidetly this title is a bit of a mouthfull, but I like to try to create catch titles like that. Here is my session description:

“Application observability in the Azure Cloud has made recent significant advancement with AI and with new core governance capabilities. This session is about the silver bullet mould – a great way toward cloud excellence, and at both regular and enterprise scale.
The Cloud promised pay-per-use, global business reach, green applications, and full security – easy, fast, and cheap – right! Right? Application Developers and IT-Engineers are accountable for being in control, steering, and scaling everything just right, preferably with full automation.
At the IKEA Cloud Engineering department, I help oversee the corporate cloud platform where we offer guidance on how to live in the cloud and how to live up to the long list of workload owner responsibilities. We assist and guide in modernization, migration, and in optimization of the cloud estate within the enterprise. We know that it starts with an unassuming thing – observability.
Developing observable application code, configuring infrastructure resource diagnostics, collecting the right logs and metrics, storing them properly, transforming data into insights, and pinpointing problems. No cloud-rewards may be reaped unless you lay the correct observable-groundwork. Without observing how a workload is doing it is unknown if it is secured, well-performing, or cost optimized. Being a highly specialized skill – observing applications in the cloud – it is evident that the business requires a silver bullet foundry and they will win through investing in training, proper guidance, and learning in this area. It is the path that leads to streamlining operations at scale.
Join a Cloud Architect Engineer – on a mission to cloud enable customers since the dawn of the public cloud – and learn about Service Groups, diagnostics best practices, health modelling, and more! While a fleet of cloud applications might be good, this session is about becoming great.”

It will be a blast to return to the Netherlands and meet up with my good friends there, and to speak at a local conference. Always good to hang with the community, so this should be great!

The Nordic Women in Tech Awards 2025 #NWiTA2025 celebrates and recognizes female role models who have made outstanding contributions to the tech industry. By highlighting their individual and collective achievements, we aim to promote their success and inspire others to follow their footsteps.

“We believe in the power of diversity and inclusivity, and our ultimate goal is to make a positive contribution to the tech industry by inspiring the next generation of diverse and talented tech professionals.”

It is my distinct honor and privilege to serve as one of the Global Judges for the 2025 edition of the awards. It is hubling to be asked to judge this prestegious award and highlight superstar women in tech role models for the world!

Here is the presentation of me that the event made: “We’re proud to have Magnus Mårtensson ☁ join our Global Jury this year! Magnus Mårtensson ☁is a pioneer in cloud technology and a true connector in the tech community. He has been inspiring and guiding leaders worldwide for decades.

Founder & CEO of Loftysoft AB
Microsoft Azure MVP & Regional Director
International speaker & organizer of CloudBurst + GlobalAzure
First-ever Azure MVP in the Nordics

Magnus Mårtensson ☁ brings decades of expertise and passion for innovation — and will help us crown the winners of hashtag#NWITA2025 at the Gala Ceremony on 10th October in Helsinki.”

There is a gala award ceremony that you can attend in Helsinki on October 9 and 10.

Here is the list of the Global Judges for Nordic Women in Tech Awards 2025:

• Hilde Asklund, Chief Technology Officer, Signicat
• Åshild Hanne Larsen, Vice President Subsurface Excellence & Digital
• Anna Radulovski, Founder & CEO, WomenTech Network; Author of “Chief in Tech”
• Amina Askaner, Social Impact Lead Co-founder, Amplify Voices
• Magnus Mårtensson, Cloud Technology Specialist Founder & CEO, Loftysoft
• Heidi Pech, DEI consultant, speaker and mentor
• Sigrún Jenný Bardadóttir, CEO of Memm.Care
• Jennifer Montague, Senior Director of Go-to-Market at Verdane
• Tove Keldsen, Communication Manager Association of Nordic Engineers (ANE)
• Dr. Ida Susana Fattah, Chief Executive Officer, Doktor Innovasjon AS
• Sólveig Hrönn Sigurðardóttir, Chief Technology Officer at Carbfix
• Melanie Nash, Sr. Client Executive, SoftwareONE
  

My first time visit to Irealand will be to speak at the excellent conference ESPC in Dublin on December 1-4 2025.

ESPC is Europe’s premier Microsoft 365 and AI conference and brings together leading experts and professionals from the Microsoft 365 and AI world. Star line up of speakers, the latest and greatest session content and workshops, lots of networking and even party fun. What’s not to like!? Attending will help you stay up-to-date on industry trends like AI transformation.

My session will be about Advanced Azure Architecture, which does sound like a bit of a mouthful as a conference topic. And it is. What I want to do is bring up as many classic cloud challenges as I might given that the session is only one hour. Maybe I could talk about this for a few days if given the opportunity, but most would probably be bored before I run out of things to talk about. I have consulted with enterprises and government organizations for quite some years now and have presently fourteen Azure MVP titles in my baggage. This is what I do – help my customers cloud become better – and in so doing, there are always some challenges that come back again and again in most every customer case. THAT is what my session is about!

My speaker profile: Magnus Mårtensson - Microsoft RD, MVP | ESPC Conference, 2025

I really hope I get to see you all at the new Microsoft and community conference Azure Dev Summit, in Portugal on October 13 – 16, 2025! It is going to be a super event with all the experts speaking about Azure, .NET, and Microsoft AI.

A new conference in Europe for the dev-crowd in the cloud – HOW COOL IS THAT! I don’t want to be the one to say “I am supere-exited”, but I really am!

Here is me giving a few hints to my topic at the conference: Azure Dev Summit 2025 My Session #azure #conference #technology #tech #developers

I am going to be there to speak about a favorite topic of mine Azure Monitoring, and I really hope to see you there too!