🎙️ Cloud Dialogues #34: Plugging AI Into the Real World — Why MCP Matters

In this episode of Cloud Dialogues, Georgia and Matt go beyond the buzzwords and into the wiring of enterprise AI. From AI agents that write code to cloud strategies that make a lick of sense, we unpack the tools and protocols reshaping modern AI — starting with the week’s wild headlines.

• Databricks acquires Neon, strengthening the serverless Postgres story

• OpenAI drops Codex, a multitasking software agent that’s raising a few eyebrows

• Google launches Gemini 2.5 and VO3, stepping further into multimodal territory

• Microsoft open-sources GitHub Copilot, plus introduces a new SRE agent

• Oracle bets big on AI, snapping up $40B in Nvidia chips for U.S. data centers

We also call out the rise of “vibe coding” and the risks of AI-powered startups without adult supervision. Georgia thinks that credentials still matter....

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an answer to a growing problem that we are all hearing about: LLMs are powerful, but kind of clueless. Without fresh data, structured tools, and the ability to reason in real-time, they hallucinate. A lot.

MCP fixes that — by letting AI agents safely plug into real systems (think APIs, dashboards, HR tools) with structure, permissions, and traceability.

• ✅ Inject real-time data into AI workflows without retraining models

• ✅ Reduce hallucinations and increase trust, auditability & reliablity

• ✅ Enable secure, role-based access to internal systems (HR, finance, ops)

• ✅ Build agents that do more than chat — they act

• Pulling support ticket history during a live customer call

• Executing a compliance check via a secure API

• Asking your AI assistant to summarize live KPIs across platforms

🎧 We wrap up with a challenge: what would it really take to let an AI agent run an entire startup? (Spoiler: we’re not there yet — but we’re closer than you think - eyes on this space 👀)

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#CloudDialogues #MCP #GenAI #AgenticAI #Copilot #CloudStrategy #AIIntegration #Anthropic #Claude #APIs #ModelContextProtocol #TechLeadership #DigitalTransformation

🎙️ Cloud Dialogues: Vegas, AI, and What’s Next with Google

This week on Cloud Dialogues, Georgia and Matt are joined by Anupam Phoghat, fresh off the tarmac from Google Next 2025 in Las Vegas, to break down the biggest announcements, hottest trends, and a few surprises from the cloud world’s glitziest event.

But first… the news roundup was 🔥:

🚨 In the News:

• AWS’s Big Growth Energy: 19% year-over-year growth and strong focus on making AI cheaper and faster—thanks to Tranan 2 chips.
• Data Center Power Drain: By 2030, data centers could be drawing more power than Japan. Edge computing, you’re up.
• OpenAI Eyes Windsurf: Rumored $3B acquisition of a VS Code fork to boost its dev game—and catch up to Claude Code.
• Nvidia’s $5.5B Problem: U.S. export restrictions to China are biting hard.
• Kubernetes is Back (Again): KubeCon London showed signs of a Kubernetes renaissance—maybe AI on the edge is to thank.
• MCP Becomes the Standard: Google jumps on Anthropic’s Model Connection Protocol bandwagon. AI models are finally learning to play nice with data.

🎰 Straight from the Vegas Strip: Google Next 2025 Highlights

Anu gives us the inside scoop from the Strip, where 35,000+ attendees spread across 10 hotels saw Google go all-in on AI everything.

✨ Big Announcements:

• The AI Hyper Computer: Custom hardware to supercharge inference at scale
• GKE Upgrades: Now with inference gateway and full VM support
• Cloud Run & Cloud WAN: Big leaps in serverless and networking
• Vertex AI’s Model Garden: A smorgasbord of foundation models, including Claude and Llama
• Agent Development Kit: Tooling to build your own AI agents (think RAG meets agents IRL)
• Open-source + Interop Love: More cross-platform support, less vendor lock-in

We also dug into: ⚾️ MLB’s use of AI agents to manage network ops 🧠 Why your AI is only as smart as your training data 🚩 Twitter/X as a case study in what not to feed your model

Anu wrapped by sharing the mission behind Nebulla Action—his new venture building practical, industry-focused AI tools for healthcare, finance, and retail.

🎧 Ready to decode Google’s big bets and what they mean for your business?

Tune in now wherever you get your podcasts—or hit the link in our bio.

#CloudDialogues #GoogleNext2025 #AI #CloudComputing #VertexAI #DevOps #OpenSource #CloudStrategy #GKE #AIInfrastructure #Podcast

In this episode of Cloud Dialogues, Georgia and Matt are joined by Amit from OpenOps for a deep (and refreshingly honest) dive into the state of cloud automation today—and where it's heading next.

We kick things off with a look at the latest industry news:

• Huawei gears up to produce its own AI chips in response to ongoing tariff challenges

• Microsoft and Amazon hit pause on data center expansion due to power constraints

• And yes… humanoid robots just ran a half-marathon in China (because why not?)

Then we shift gears into automation. Amit brings a wealth of experience—from Microsoft to cybersecurity to autonomous vehicles—and shares sharp, real-world insights on what it actually takes to build a sustainable automation strategy in the cloud.

• The journey from visibility → orchestration → automation

• Why “human-in-the-loop” automation is often the safest bet

• How risk appetite should drive your automation roadmap

• Why not automating can cost you more than you think—especially in cloud security and efficiency

• The growing role of AI in automation (and why it still needs a chaperone)

💡 Amit reminds us that while the dream of fully autonomous cloud ops is on the horizon, we’re not quite there yet—and human oversight remains as crucial as ever.

Whether you're early in your automation journey or deep in fine-tuning, there’s something in this episode for every cloud leader.

🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts—and check out OpenOps on GitHub for some powerful tools to get started.

Fine OpenOps on GitHub https://github.com/openops-cloud

#CloudAutomation #CloudOps #AI #DevOps #CloudStrategy #CloudDialogues #OpenOps