Leading cloud architecture, transformation and optimization initiatives for enterprise customers and building top-notch tools and solutions for better cloud adoption.
● Cloud and AI solutions architecture
● Global Technical Lead for Azure Arc and hybrid cloud adoption
● Core maintainer for Azure Landing Zones (ALZ)
● Core maintainer for the ALZ subscription vending Bicep module
● Developed multiple Bicep modules for the Azure Verified Modules library
● Co-author if the Azure Advisor cost optimization workbook
● Author of multiple Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF) guidance
● Speaker at multiple events, like Microsoft Ignite and PowerShell Conference Europe.
2020 - 2023
Sr. Cloud Solution Architect Engineering - Tech Strategy Team
Microsoft
Leading content and tool development for cloud adoption, governance and hybrid cloud
● Led the authoring of the Cloud adoption framework landing zone accelerator for Azure Arc Data Services
● Authored a reference architecture on the Azure Architecture center around Disaster recovery for Azure Arc SQL Managed Instance
● Led the development of field content to support customer engagements around security, governance and management of hybrid and multi-cloud solutions
● lead engineer for `ArcBox for DataOps` developing the reference architecture for the Azure Arc-enabled SQL Managed Instance landing zone accelerator
● Authored a Microsoft Learn Module on Azure Monitor Workbooks
● Lead Core maintainer for the Azure Arc Jumpstart project
2021 - 2022
Sr. Customer Engineer, Apps & Infra, Global Technical Team
Microsoft
Leading content development for the Well-architected and Cloud adoption frameworks
● Reduced the time and cost of the Azure Well-Architected assessments deliveries by ~40% by building the cost optimization workbook
● Led the authoring of the Azure Arc-enabled servers Enterprise scale landing zone accelerator focusing on two design areas (Cost governance and Management)
● Contributed to authoring the Arc-enabled Kubernetes Enterprise scale landing zone accelerator by leading the Cost governance design area
2018 - 2021
Subject Matter Expert - FastTrack center for M365
Microsoft
Lead for Windows and Microsoft 365 deployment and design engagements for enterprise customers in EMEA
● Engaged with customers across EMEA region to act as a trusted advisor to customers , helping them modernize their management of Windows 10 , Office 365 and Edge using Microsoft Endpoint Manager
● Built a Windows virtual desktop sandbox to provide self-service training environments for my team modern workplace
● Contribute to provide business and technical insights to our Engineering teams through deep analysis documents
2013 - 2018
Domain Infrastructure & Messaging System Team Leader
QNB Group
Lead for Microsoft solutions
● Led the PCI DSS certification journey by securing and hardening our Windows environment (Desktops and servers)
● Developed a cross-platform mobile application to direct customers to the nearest branches or ATMs with ATM systems integration
● Deployed an azure test environment for Exchange and CRM
● Developed automation runbooks using orchestrator to automate different tasks in the data center
● Introduced Configuration manager to the environment to automate patching, application and operating system deployment and hardware inventory
2013 - 2018
Senior System Administrator
Société Générale
System administrator for Microsoft solutions
● Reduced number of help desk requests by developing a bot-like application which empowers the end users to troubleshoot and solve their the most common problems they face day-to-day
● Automated the migration of Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2007 using PowerShell and custom developed applications
● Developed an internal portal to allow self-service password reset
Architected the Azure AI solution for one of the educational entities in Egypt on top of the Azure AI platform, a strategic initiative to bring AI-powered educational assistance to students across Egypt.
Key Achievements
Platform architecture - Led the complete architecture of the solution helping the customer to build their solution on Azure instead of directly using OpenAI Enterprise and leveraging another cloud provider
Infrastructure-as-Code - Built the entire solution using IaC principles for reproducibility and governance
High Availability - Ensured enterprise-grade availability and data security for a national-scale deployment
Technical Implementation
Azure OpenAI Service for LLM capabilities
Azure AI Search for intelligent document retrieval
RAG architecture for accurate, contextual responses
Infrastructure-as-Code (Bicep) for deployment automation
Enterprise security controls and data protection
Impact
This project enables millions of Egyptian students to access AI-powered educational assistance, representing a significant digital transformation initiative.
Technologies Used
Azure OpenAI Service
Azure AI Search
Bicep Templates
Azure Virtual Networks
Azure Key Vault
Azure Monitor
Azure Application Gateway
Azure API Management
Azure Container Registry
Project Overview
The Azure Arc Jumpstart is designed to provide a “zero to hero” experience so you can start working with Azure Arc right away!
The Jumpstart provides step-by-step guides for independent Azure Arc scenarios that incorporate as much automation as possible, detailed screenshots and code samples, and a rich and comprehensive experience while getting started with the Azure Arc platform.
Our goal is for you to have a working Azure Arc environment spun-up in no time so you can focus on the core values of the platform, regardless of where your infrastructure may be, either on-premises or in the cloud.
My role in the Jumpstart project
Lead core maintainer of the Azure Arc Jumpstart project, which has been the cornerstone of Microsfot’s adaptive offerings. It has been a key part of most of Azure’s adaptive cloud solutions and products, it was also referenced in major event keynotes including Microsoft Ignite, Azure Hybrid event, and VMware Explore event.
Key Achievements
Core Maintainer - Active contributor to the different Azure Arc Jumpstart content and solutions
Lead engineer for multiple Jumpstart solutions like Arcbox for DataOps, Contoso Hypermarket, Contoso Supermarket and Contoso Motors. I was responsible to design the architecture for those solutions and oversee the automation, integration of the different components and alignment with the different engineers involved.
5-Year Evolution - Helped transform the project into a full engineering product with integration into the different adaptive cloud products and engineering processes
Product Innovation - Spearheaded the workstream of envisioning Jumpstart Copilot as a product manager and engineer, a new product initiative to build an intelligent chatbot for the Jumpstart project.
Architected this manufacturing industry reference implementation including:
Industrial IoT scenarios
Edge computing patterns
Cloud-to-edge connectivity
Real-time telemetry and monitoring
Jumpstart Copilot
Product Vision - Conceptualized and led the product vision for this new AI-powered assistant
Authoring the PRD - Authored the comprehensive Product Requirement Document
Cross-functional collaboration - Orchestrated alignment with engineering, legal, and design teams
Technologies Used
Azure Arc
PowerShell / Bash
Bicep
GitHub Actions
Kubernetes
Azure OpenAI services
SQL Servers
Windows and Linux servers
Overview
At Microsoft Ignite 2024, led a hands-on pre-day workshop titled “Explore Next-Gen Industrial Transformation Architecture Patterns”, teaching attendees how to build next-generation AI solution architectures for manufacturing using the Azure AI platform.
Focus: Building AI solution architectures for manufacturing using Azure services and Kubernetes across edge-to-cloud environments.
Key Topics Covered
Azure AI Platform - Deep dive into Azure’s AI capabilities for industrial scenarios
Edge-to-Cloud Architecture - Building solutions that span from edge devices to cloud
Manufacturing Use Cases - Real-world patterns for industrial transformation
Kubernetes Integration - Leveraging K8s for edge and cloud workloads
Hands-on Labs - Practical exercises building complete solutions
What Attendees Learned
How to architect AI solutions for manufacturing environments
Edge computing patterns for industrial IoT
Integrating Azure AI services with edge environments
Best practices for cloud-to-edge deployments
Real-time data processing and analytics
Technologies Demonstrated
Azure OpenAI Service
Azure AI Services
Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes
Azure IoT operations
Kubernetes (AKS, AKS Edge Essentials)
I had an incredible opportunity to participate and deliver two sessions in the PowerShell Conference Europe (PSConfEU) 2024 during the month of June in the city of Antwerp. This is a community-driven event established back in 2016, and Europe’s largest PowerShell conference. With about 300 automation experts from 35 countries meeting 45 world class speakers, and some members of Microsoft’s Engineering teams, the annual event is an opportunity for IT Professionals and developers to connect, learn and share on PowerShell and automation topics, bringing home new insights.
My sessions
Azure Arc Unleashed: Engage, Learn, and Master: Co-presented with my colleague Jan Egil Ring we delivered a 90-minutes follow-along session where we talked about the value of Azure Arc, the Azure Arc Jumpstart project and how to leverage it’s content and lots of hands-on demos.
Azure Verified Modules (AVM): The format of this session was really fun where I needed to deliver a topic using exactly 20 slides with exactly 20 seconds per slide. In this session, I talked about what is AVM, why was it created, what value does it bring and how to start using it whether you are using Bicep or Terraform.
My experience
The event was incredible with lots of very informative and interesting sessions. The cool thing is that all sessions are recorded and posted on YouTube. I highly recommend watching this year’s and previous year’s recordings, you will definitely learn a thing or two.
Co-authored the Azure Advisor cost optimization workbook in collaboration with the Azure Advisor product group to help customers identify cost-saving opportunities and recommendations.
Key Achievements
Product Group Collaboration - Worked directly with Azure Advisor team
Wide Adoption - ~1,800 monthly active users
Cost Savings Impact - Scaled this workbook to be used by the field in customer engagements, helping hundreds of customers optimize their Azure spend
40% Reduction - Reduced time and cost of Well-Architected assessment deliveries by ~40% by using this workbook
Training & Enablement - Conducted training sessions, webinars, and bootcamps to level-up the field on this new tool
Impact Metrics
Metric
Value
Monthly Users
~1,800
Cost Categories
Storage, compute, networking, data, containers, and more
Technologies
Azure Workbooks
Azure Advisor API
Kusto Query Language (KQL)
Azure Monitor
Azure Resource Graph
Project Overview
Core maintainer for Azure Landing Zones (ALZ) and leading the feature alignment workstream to track, prioritize, and implement new Azure features across the different ALZ workstreams.
Key Achievements
Implemented new features and enhancements - Including defaulting to zone resiliency, multi-region guidance, brownfield migrations and more
Accelerated Delivery Velocity - Cut feature intake and release cycle from quarters to weeks
~12 Features Released - Led the release of approximately 12 new features and capabilities (new and replaced deprecated ones)
Improved Cross-Team Collaboration - Enhanced coordination between ALZ workstreams and Azure product teams
Faster Azure Adoption - Enabled customers to leverage and adopt new Azure capabilities/services once they are generally available according to best practices and recommendations.
Authored multiple articles - on the Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF) documentation, highlighting real customer scenarios on transitioning to Azure Landing Zones with an average of 2,360 monthly page views. Providing guidance and best practices on transitioning existing Azure environments to ALZ
Impact Metrics
Metric
Value
New Features Released
~12
Delivery Cycle Improvement
Quarters → Weeks
Feature Alignment Workstream
As the lead for the feature alignment workstream, responsibilities include:
Tracking - Monitoring new Azure feature announcements
Prioritization - Assessing impact and urgency of new capabilities
Implementation - Coordinating development across ALZ workstreams
Deprecation - Managing the lifecycle of features being replaced
Responsibilities
Code contributions (Bicep, PowerShell) and code reviews
Feature planning and prioritization
Documentation and best practices
Community support and engagement
Coordination with Azure product teams
Technologies
Bicep
Networking
Security
GitHub Actions
Azure Policy
There is a growing demand in enterprises to deploy AI models and agents on their own infrastructure whether its on-premises or in the cloud, the main platform enabling this transformation is Kubernetes. Organizations doing that are usually looking for:
🔐 Data control & sovereignty (regulated industries)
⚙️ Infrastructure-level control and customization (GPUs, scheduling, scaling)
📉 Cost predictability at scale for sustained inference workloads
🧩 Platform consistency, where AI is just another workload on K8s
🛠️ Edge deployments for latency-sensitive and air-gapped scenarios
I had a great conversation with Nicholas Chang on the Microsoft Community Insights Podcast on that topic showcasing a demo deploying AI models on AKS with the Kubernetes AI Toolchain Operator (KAITO).
Project Overview
Worked as part of a virtual team to create the Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes Enterprise Scale Landing Zone Accelerator, leading the cost governance design area and building the sandbox reference architecture.
Key Achievements
Microsoft Build 2022 Announcement - Solution announced at Microsoft’s flagship developer conference
Cost Governance Lead - Led the design area for cost management, detailing the best practices for optimizing costs when deploying Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes at scale like cost allocation strategies, budget management and alerts, resource optimization recommendations
Sandbox Development - Contributed to building the hands-on sandbox solution for the product, including solution automation via Bicep and PowerShell
Technologies Used
Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes
Azure Policy
Azure Cost Management
Bicep
GitOps (Flux)
Defender for Containers
K3ss
Kubernetes
PowerShell
Project Overview
Acted as global tech lead for Azure Arc, restructuring field content to align with FY25 priorities and building comprehensive hands-on training materials that drove significant business impact.
Key Achievements
Global Leadership - Tech lead for Azure Arc across all regions
Content Restructuring - Aligned field content with FY25 priorities, by building new deliveries, workshops, decks and tools for the field, customers and partners
Workshop Development - Built a comprehensive 2-days hands-on workshop that helps customers experience the full Azure Arc capabilities in a contained sandbox environment for evaluation and skilling-up purposes.
Impact Metrics
Metric
Value
Workshop Deliveries
350+ worldwide
Unified Consumed Revenue
~$2.6M
Workshop Duration
2 Days (Hands-on)
Technologies
Azure Arc
Kubernetes
Azure Policy
Azure Monitor
Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Join us on this event where we will walk you through a demo-packed session on how you can leverage the different solutions like Azure Landing Zones, Azure Verified Modules, Azure Proactive Resiliency Library and Azure Monitor Baseline Alerts in a coherent way to start, get and stay resilient throughout your Azure Journey. We will demonstrate how you can:
🏠 Start your Azure Journey with resiliency as the default in your foundational platform.
🛠️ Build and deploy resilient workloads that are aligned with the Well-architect Framework out of the box using Infrastructure-As-Code.
🔭 Assess and remediate resiliency gaps in your existing workloads.
📈 Create and monitor a baseline for your workloads to stay resilient and performant.
Azure Verified Modules (AVM) is an initiative to consolidate and set the standards for what a good Infrastructure-as-Code module looks like.
Modules will then align to these standards, across languages (Bicep, Terraform etc.) and will then be classified as AVMs and available from their respective language specific registries.
AVM is a common code base, a toolkit for our Customers, our Partners, and Microsoft. It’s an official, Microsoft driven initiative, with a devolved ownership approach to develop modules, leveraging internal & external communities.
Azure Verified Modules enable and accelerate consistent solution development and delivery of cloud-native or migrated applications and their supporting infrastructure by codifying Microsoft guidance (WAF), with best practice configurations.
Key Achievements
Authored 6 resource modules for the Azure Verified Modules (AVM) Bicep library, contributing to the standardization of Infrastructure-as-Code across the Azure ecosystem with massive adoption.
6 Resource Modules Authored - Contributing to the AVM Bicep library with modules like:
Github and Azure DevOps private runners
Deployment scripts
Azure Subscription Vending
Azure Load testing
Azure Privileged Identity Management
Massive Adoption - ~44K+ Azure deployments to date
Built a pattern module for deploying Self-hosted runners for both GitHub and Azure DevOps. This module serves as:
Foundation for Application Landing Zone - Will be used as the foundation of the future Application Landing Zone workstream
CI/CD Enablement - Enables organizations to run pipelines on their own infrastructure
Security & Compliance - Provides secure, self-managed compute for DevOps
Technologies
Bicep
Azure Resource Manager
GitHub Actions
Azure DevOps
PSRule for Azure
Pester (Testing)
Project Overview
Led the authoring of the Cloud Adoption Framework Landing Zone Accelerator for Azure Arc Data Services, demonstrating how to deploy data services on top of Arc-enabled Kubernetes clusters (K3s and AKS).
Key Achievements
3 Design Areas Authored - Led the development of BCDR, Upgradability, and Governance principles
ArcBox for DataOps - Acted as lead engineer developing the reference architecture for the sandbox reference implementation
Reference Architecture - Published on Azure Architecture Center for disaster recovery scenarios
Multi-Platform Support - Demonstrated deployment on K3s and AKS clusters
Design Areas Led
1. Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery (BCDR)
High availability patterns for Arc-enabled SQL MI
Failover strategies across Kubernetes clusters
Data replication and backup approaches
2. Upgradability
Version management strategies
Rolling update patterns
Zero-downtime upgrade procedures
3. Governance Principles
Policy enforcement for data services
Compliance and security controls
Resource organization and tagging
Technologies Used
Azure Arc-enabled Data Services
Azure Arc-enabled SQL Managed Instance
Kubernetes (K3s, AKS)
Azure Policy
Bicep / ARM Templates
GitOps
Azure AI Landing Zones for Azure Container Apps
Project Overview
Authored the Azure AI Landing Zone design for Azure Container Apps, providing a reference architecture that helps organizations deploy AI applications and agents securely, consistently, and at enterprise scale on Azure.
The design extends Azure Landing Zone principles to AI workloads, integrating governance, networking, identity, security, observability, and platform operations into a unified architecture for production-ready AI deployments.
Key Features
Enterprise-Ready AI Platform - Design guidance for production AI workloads
Secure-by-Default Architecture - Integrated identity, networking, and security controls
Scalable Application Platform - Built on Azure Container Apps for modern AI applications and agents
Governance & Compliance - Alignment with Azure Landing Zones and Cloud Adoption Framework
Observability & Operations - Centralized monitoring, logging, and operational insights
Reusable Architecture Patterns - Standardized deployment model for AI solutions
Architecture Components
Azure Container Apps
Azure Monitor and Log Analytics
Azure Key Vault
Azure Container Registry
Hub-and-Spoke Network Architecture
Enterprise Landing Zone Integration
Technologies
Azure Container Apps
Azure AI Services
Azure Landing Zones
Azure Key Vault
Azure Monitor
Azure Container Registry
Project Overview
Built the Azure Governance Visualizer accelerator, simplifying deployment and automating upgrades to help customers gain better visibility into their Azure governance posture.
Worked as part of a virtual team to create the Azure Arc-enabled Servers Enterprise Scale Landing Zone Accelerator, leading the authoring of two critical design areas and contributing to IP development for our field resources.
Key Achievements
2 Design areas authored - Led Cost Governance and Management design areas detailing design considerations and recommendations for implementing the solution at scale.
Managed IP Development - Contributed to envisioning, building, and managing new IP based on the landing zone accelerator to provide a scalable method where our field resources can have a repeatable method of guiding customers to adopt the accelerator
Sandbox Development - Contributed to building the hands-on sandbox solution for the product, including solution automation via Bicep and PowerShell
Technologies Used
Azure Arc-enabled Servers
Azure Policy
Bicep
Azure Monitor
Azure Automation
Azure Update Management
Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Project Overview
Lead maintainer of the Azure Landing Zones subscription vending Bicep module, enabling automated and standardized subscription provisioning at scale.
Key Achievements
Migration to Azure Verified Modules(AVM) - Successfully migrated the module from the public Bicep registry to AVM
16+ Releases - Delivered continuous improvements and new features
Massive Adoption - 18K+ deployments across 125 tenants as of 2025
Watch the new live stream with Gregor Suttie Azure Arc Jumpstart project, where we talked about the Azure Arc Jumpstart project and how it can help you ramp up on the different Azure Arc technologies and how to get cool sandbox environments for your testing and demos.
I had a great conversation with Dinant Paardenkooper on his YouTube channel “AZ-Security” about the Azure Governance Visualizer (AzGovViz) where talked about Azure governance and security and how AzGovViz can help customers take control of their environment, reduce risk and get the visibility they need.
We have recently launched Jumpstart Agora 🏛️ which is a marketplace of various “cloud to edge” industry scenarios, designed to provide an end-to-end user experience. In this video, I talk to Lior to explain how we designed Agora software delivery process from cloud to edge, going through GitOps, CICD, GitHub Actions and much more.
Check out the Jumpstart Agora announcement blog 📢here
Watch the new Azure Arc Jumpstart lighenging episode, where I joined Lior Kamrat to talk about the new ArcBox flavor for Azure Arc-enabled SQL Managed Instance. For more information see this blog post and to deploy the new flavor and explore other Azure Arc scenarios, visit the Azure Arc Jumpstart project.
Watch my Azure Arc session Build Azure outside of Azure during the Welsh Azure User Group event on March 2023, where I explain what Azure Arc is, what problems does it solve and dive into the different Azure Arc services with really cool demos. I also take time to walk you through the Azure Arc Jumpstart project and how it can help you kickstart your Azure Arc learning or deployments.
Watch my Azure Arc session Build Azure outside of Azure during the Festive Tech Calendar event on December 2022, where I explain what Azure Arc is, what problems does it solve and dive into the different Azure Arc services with really cool demos. I also take time to walk you through the Azure Arc Jumpstart project and how it can help you kickstart your Azure Arc learning or deployments.
Watch the new Azure Arc Jumpstart Lightning episode, where I joined Lior Kamrat to talk about at scale Azure Arc-enabled servers onboarding using Configuration Manager. Lots of cool demos included 🕹️🕹️
Contributed as a technical reviewer for the book “Mastering Microsoft Endpoint Manager”, ensuring technical accuracy and quality of content for readers worldwide.
Key Achievements
Technical Reviewer - Ensured accuracy of technical content
1,300+ Copies Sold - In the first month of publication
Quality Assurance - Validated code samples, configurations, and procedures
Contribution Areas
As a technical reviewer, responsibilities included:
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AI Summary
This is AI-generated content. For more details about Seif's work and expertise, please check the portfolio section or his resume.
Azure 
AKS 
Azure Arc 
Kubernetes 
GitHub 
PowerShell 
AI 
Microsoft Foundry 
Bicep 
