Databricks runs best on Azure

By Dustin Ward

Azure Databricks has clear advantages over other cloud service providers This blog is a supplement to the Azure Databricks: Differentiated Synergy blog post and continues to define the differentiation for Azure Databricks in the cloud data analytics and AI landscape. Azure Databricks: Powering analytics for the data-driven enterprise In today’s data-driven world, organizations are seeking…

Reasoning reimagined: Introducing Phi-4-mini-flash-reasoning

By Dustin Ward

State of the art architecture redefines speed for reasoning models Microsoft is excited to unveil a new edition to the Phi model family: Phi-4-mini-flash-reasoning. Purpose-built for scenarios where compute, memory, and latency are tightly constrained, this new model is engineered to bring advanced reasoning capabilities to edge devices, mobile applications, and other resource-constrained environments. This…

Introducing Deep Research in Azure AI Foundry Agent Service

By Dustin Ward

Unlock enterprise-scale web research automation Today we’re excited to announce the public preview of Deep Research in Azure AI Foundry—an API and software development kit (SDK)-based offering of OpenAI’s advanced agentic research capability, fully integrated with Azure’s enterprise-grade agentic platform. With Deep Research, developers can build agents that deeply plan, analyze, and synthesize information from across…

Introducing Azure Accelerate: Fueling transformation with experts and investments across your cloud and AI journey

By Dustin Ward

As technology continues to reshape every industry, organizations are transforming with cloud, data, and AI—ultimately resulting in smarter operations, better outcomes, and more impactful customer experiences. From global enterprises to fast-scaling startups, customers are putting Azure to work in powerful ways. To date, more than 26,000 customer projects have leveraged our offerings—Azure Migrate and Modernize…

Running high-performance PostgreSQL on Azure Kubernetes Service

By Dustin Ward

In the ever-evolving world of cloud-native technologies, PostgreSQL continues to solidify its position as a top-tier database choice among workloads running on Kubernetes. According to the Kubernetes in the Wild 2025 report, PostgreSQL now powers 36% of all database workloads running on Kubernetes—up 6 points since 2022—signaling its rising popularity and growing trust among the…

Building secure, scalable AI in the cloud with Microsoft Azure

By Dustin Ward

Generative AI is a transformative force, redefining how modern enterprises operate. It has quickly become central to how businesses drive productivity, innovate, and deliver impact. The pressure is on: organizations must move fast to not only adopt AI, but to unlock real value at scale or risk falling behind.   Achieving enterprise-wide deployment of AI securely…