Description
Get on a journey from the foundations of Microsoft s early innovations to today s AI-powered enterprise solutions. Beginning with the evolution from BASIC to Windows and Office, the book shows how usability, scalability, and automation shaped the modern technology landscape. Along the way, you will explore landmark systems like the Intelligent Filing Manager, discover the power of declarative programming, and gain insights into building efficient processes and scaling Agile in a cloud-first world.
Moving from principles to practice, the book dives deep into the technologies driving digital transformation today. With dedicated chapters on Azure, SaaS, and strategic cloud AI architecture, it then provides an in-depth exploration of Azure AI Services, the Copilot ecosystem, and Microsoft s Power Platform. By weaving together history, case studies, and practical guidance, this playbook equips you to harness the Microsoft cloud and AI stack effectively.
What You Will Learn:
- Map business processes, assess data readiness, quantify impact, and prioritize a staged roadmap from proof of concept to production
- Develop cutting-edge software products, end-to-end
- Understand and implement Azure AI Services
- Apply reference patterns for data pipelines, retrieval-augmented applications, model serving, and SaaS integration, balancing latency, reliability, quality, and cost
- How to put governance, security, privacy, compliance, monitoring, drift detection, incident response, and cost control into daily practice
Who This Book Is For:
Azure Practitioners, Enterprise/Cloud Architects, Data/ML leaders.
Chapter 1.Foundations: Microsoft from BASIC to AI.- Chapter 2.Usability and Scalability: Lessons from Windows.- Chapter 3.The Need for Automation.- Chapter 4.The Intelligent Filing Manager.- Chapter 5.Declarative Programming.- Chapter 6.Business Process Efficiency.- Chapter 7.Agile Software Development.- Chapter 8.Cloud Computing Essentials: Understanding Azure.- Chapter 9.SaaS and Cloud Applications.- Chapter 10.Strategic Cloud AI Architecture.- Chapter 11.Azure AI Services: A Deep Dive.- Chapter 12.The Copilot Ecosystem.- Chapter 13.Power Platform and AI.- Chapter 14.The Intelligence Revolution: Bringing It All Together.- Appendix 1: Historical Computer Storage Formats.- Appendix 2:Programming Languages Used with Mainframes.- Appendix 3:Key Moments in the History of Windows.- Appendix 4:Architecture of the Windows Operating System.- Appendix 5:Sophisticated Document Management Systems.- Appendix 6:INTELLIFM: AI Meets COM Architecture.- Appendix 7:Prompt Engineering in Practice.- Appendix 8:Overview of Software Development Roles.- Appendix 9:Popular Software Prototyping Tools.
Krishna C. Mukherjee is a pioneering computer scientist, software architect, and business leader whose innovations in artificial intelligence and cloud computing have shaped the future of enterprise technology. An alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and IIT Kanpur, he began his career at Microsoft s headquarters in Redmond in 1988, where he served as principal software architect and lead engineer. During his tenure, he made outstanding contributions to Microsoft s flagship products including Office, Windows, and Visual Studio while also laying early foundations for AI-driven business workflows with his groundbreaking Intelligent Filing Manager.
Beyond Microsoft, he continued to influence the evolution of cloud and AI technologies in leadership roles across industries. As CIO at Wolters Kluwer, he helped pioneer SaaS delivery models with CTAdvantage, and at Bloomberg, he led the creation of the widely used Bloomberg Valuation Service (BVAL), transforming financial valuations with AI-powered analytics. Most recently, he has returned to the Microsoft ecosystem, applying Azure AI, Copilot, and Power Platform technologies to design next-generation voice assistants, chatbots, and enterprise AI solutions. His career reflects a rare blend of deep technical expertise and visionary leadership, making him a true pioneer of the digital transformation era.
