The PowerShell Podcast

Principal Security Consultant and community favorite Jake Hildreth returns to The PowerShell Podcast to talk about building smarter automation, leveling up through community, and creating tools that solve real problems. Andrew shares his “stop trying so hard” theme for the year, how working smarter applies directly to scripting and security, and why getting involved with others is one of the faste...

Newly minted Microsoft MVP David Sass joins The PowerShell Podcast to talk about PowerShell notebooks, terminal tooling, and making automation approachable for teams that are hesitant to touch the console. David shares how he uses Jupyter/PowerShell notebooks as a practical “click-to-run” interface for colleagues, helping them safely run approved automation while keeping the logic documented, repe...

Matthew Gill joins The PowerShell Podcast to talk about what it means to be a Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) and how SRE thinking changes the way you approach automation, reliability, and problem solving. Matthew and host Andrew Pla break down core concepts like SLAs, SLOs, and SLIs, and why reliability through planning matters more than rushing straight to the keyboard.   They also dig into why ...

Distinguished Software Engineer Ryan Spletzer joins The PowerShell Podcast to talk about building a long-term career in tech through curiosity, continuous learning, and strong community connections. Ryan shares how PowerShell helped shape his path from early work in SharePoint, automation, and identity management to leading AI initiatives at Autodesk, where his team built an internal ChatGPT-style...

Jorge Suarez joins The PowerShell Podcast to share his journey into PowerShell, automation, and community contribution. From attending his first MMS conference to building creative and practical PowerShell projects, Jorge talks about how PowerShell became the primary driver of his career growth. The conversation covers his popular Intune Hydration Kit, creative TUI projects inspired by shows like ...

PowerShell legend Jeff Hicks joins The PowerShell Podcast to talk about what it really means to live in PowerShell every day. From running his entire workflow in the console to building highly polished terminal tools, Jeff shares how PowerShell can be used far beyond infrastructure management—to organize your day, automate personal tasks, and multiply productivity. The conversation also dives deep...

In this episode of The PowerShell Podcast, Shannon Eldridge-Kuehn returns to discuss her journey since becoming a Microsoft MVP, her experiences at Microsoft Ignite, and her evolving views on technology, communication, and personal growth. Shannon shares stories from Ignite, including Mark Russinovich’s fascinating demo on optical computing, and offers insight into how AI is reshaping IT work, bot...

In this episode of The PowerShell Podcast, host Andrew Pla welcomes Dr. Al Carlson, a cryptographer, mathematician, and engineer whose career spans more than four decades in military intelligence, embedded systems, and advanced encryption research. Dr. Carlson explains how set theory and mathematical patterns underpin all cryptography, breaking down complex systems like AES into understandable con...

Newly minted Microsoft MVP, pentester, and returning guest Spencer Alessi joins The PowerShell Podcast to talk about growth, giving back, and building security through PowerShell. Spencer shares lessons from his journey from sysadmin to pen tester, including the importance of learning from mistakes, documenting wins, and advocating for yourself in your career. He also introduces his latest open-so...

Recorded live from SpiceWorld 2025 in Austin, Texas, this special PowerShell Podcast bar session brings together community members Jeffery Hayes, Stephen Engler, Sean Wheeler, and Steven Judd for a fun and insightful celebration of PowerShell and community. Host Andrew Pla reflects on reaching the 200-episode milestone while sharing stories about growth, learning, and the value of connection. From...

In this episode, PowerShell Podcast host Andrew Pla chats with Dan Cunningham, Strategic Innovation Leader for PowerShell App Deployment Toolkit (PSADT), about the history, architecture, and evolution of the open-source framework used for enterprise software deployment. Dan explains how PSADT simplifies installs, improves logging, enhances user experience with UI dialogs, and provides consistency...

In this milestone 200th episode of The PowerShell Podcast, Frank Lesniak returns to chat with Andrew Pla about automation, community, and what it means to “bet on yourself.” Frank shares his experiences leading cybersecurity and enterprise architecture projects, using PowerShell for AWS security automation, and developing tools to simplify complex data exports. He also discusses the upcoming Power...

Andrew's longtime friend, mentor, and PowerShell legend Josh King joins The PowerShell Podcast to celebrate the tenth anniversary and version 1.0 release of his popular open-source module BurntToast, which powers customizable Windows toast notifications. Josh shares the story behind the project’s evolution, the challenges of maintaining an open-source module with millions of downloads, and the bal...

Microsoft MVP Hailey Phillips joins The PowerShell Podcast to share her journey from systems engineer to automation innovator. She talks about IntuneStack, her new PowerShell-driven CI/CD project for Intune environments, and how it bridges the gap between systems engineering and DevOps. Hailey also reflects on her path to becoming an MVP, her experiences at MMS, and the importance of mentorship, c...

PowerShell community leader Constantin Hager joins The PowerShell Podcast to talk about his favorite tools and journey from discovering PowerShell to organizing user groups and speaking at major conferences. He talks about his early inspiration from PowerShell Conference Europe, his involvement with open-source projects like PSFramework and AutomatedLab, and how mentorship and community involvemen...

Cybersecurity, automation, and PowerShell advocate Adil Leghari returns to The PowerShell Podcast to kick off Cybersecurity Month. Adil shares insights from his career journey: from PowerShell and automation to identity and now cloud security at Palo Alto Networks. He discusses creating tools like Cyberdle and QR Check, how AI is reshaping cybersecurity, and the importance of empathy, authenticity...

Newly minted Microsoft MVP Stephen Valdinger, known as Steviecoaster, joins The PowerShell Podcast to share his journey from IT admin to community mentor and automation advocate. He talks about discovering PowerShell through Exchange, the career-changing power of automation, and his work with AutomatedLab, PowerShell Universal, and WinUI Shell. Stevie also highlights the importance of mentoring, b...

Thomas Rayner joins The PowerShell Podcast to share his journey from sysadmin and PowerShell MVP to securing Microsoft 365 as a security professional at Microsoft. He reflects on how PowerShell accelerated his career, the importance of blogging and community involvement, and why clear communication with managers is vital for growth. Thomas also offers advice for beginners, highlighting patience, p...

Patrick Meinecke, known as SeeminglyScience, joins host Andrew Pla to share his journey from sysadmin to joining the PowerShell team at Microsoft. He discusses his early community contributions, the inner workings of the PowerShell engine, and powerful but underused features like ETS and type converters. Patrick also highlights helpful modules such as PowerShell Run, ctypes, and Useful Argument Co...

In this episode, host Andrew Pla welcomes back Steven Judd, Microsoft MVP, teacher, and longtime community contributor. Together, they dive into the theme of beginnings, from starting careers in IT, to first encounters with PowerShell, and the importance of resilience while navigating the “valley of despair” in learning. Steven shares his journey from music and business studies into technology, wh...

Microsoft MVP Emanuel Palm joins The PowerShell Podcast to share his journey from managing printers in Sweden to being a Microsoft MVP who is automating the cloud with PowerShell and Azure. He talks about building the AZAuth module for OAuth authentication, using GitHub Actions for CI/CD, and the importance of blogging and community involvement. Plus, Emanuel reveals his unique side hobby... roast...

James Brundage returns to The PowerShell Podcast to talk about his new project, Turtle, which brings the classic concept of Turtle graphics into PowerShell. From simple shapes to fractals, animations, and more, James shows how PowerShell can be a powerful and fun tool for exploring programming concepts. Tune in for insights on the history of Turtle, its modern applications, and how it can inspire...

In this episode of the PowerShell Podcast, we’re live from TechMentor at the Microsoft campus with two incredible guests: longtime advocate, educator, and PM on the PowerShell team at Microsoft - Jason Helmick and newcomer Troy Brown. This special episode captures the heart of community, innovation, and the transformative power of PowerShell—from seasoned insight to beginner breakthroughs. Jason d...

In this episode, Andrew catches up with Sean Wheeler and James Petty live from TechMentor. What starts as casual conversation about conference camaraderie turns into a rich discussion on learning PowerShell, building effective profiles, AI-assisted scripting, module recommendations, and what's next for the PowerShell Summit. Whether you're new to PowerShell or a seasoned scripter, this episode off...

In this high-energy episode, returning guests Gilbert Sanchez and Jake Hildreth join Andrew for a deep dive into: Module templating with PSStucco Building for accessibility in PowerShell Creating open source GitHub orgs like PSInclusive How PowerShell can lead to learning modern dev workflows like GitHub Actions and CI/CD What begins with a conversation about a live demo gone hilariously sideways...