IT Training

My 30th Course: Google Firebase Studio Foundations (Vibe Coding)

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Ive reached a milestone with my 30th course recently published on Pluralsight. This course is titled Google Firebase Studio Foundations. This was a course topic I suggested to the teams at Pluralsight since Vibe Coding is seeing so much growth and this solution is used for that. It is my 6th AI related course. Firebase Studio is Google’s full stack AI-powered development environment that streamlines the process of prototyping and building apps from idea to deployment.

In this course, Google Firebase Studio Foundations, you’ll start by learning the basics of vibe coding with Firebase Studio. First, you’ll explore how the Gemini AI Agent fits into the development workflow. Next, you’ll discover how to speed up backend, frontend, and mobile app development with AI assistance. Finally, you’ll take an app idea from concept to a working deployment on Firebase App Hosting. By the end of this course, you’ll have the skills needed to confidently use Firebase Studio to build and run modern apps.

I brought this topic forward because I was excited about the opportunity to author a course that showcases what Firebase Studio can do in the vibe coding space. I also wanted to raise awareness about the platform since it can be used for free, and developers can expand to a generous number of workspaces at no cost through a Google Developers account. I packed this course with demos as we work through vibe coding an app.

This course is ideal for beginners and aspiring developers who want to prototype, build and deploy apps with Google Firebase Studio. Ideal learners include students, early-stage founders, and tech professionals curious about AI-assisted development.

These are the topics in the course:

Get Started with Firebase Studio

  • Intro and Overview
  • Introduction to Vibe Coding
  • Introduction to Firebase Studio
  • Demo: Exploring Firebase Studio

Development with Firebase Studio

  • Intro and Overview
  • Accelerating Development with Vibe Coding
  • Demo: Generating a Full App with the Firebase Prototyper

From Idea to Running App with Firebase Studio

  • Vibe Code to Deployment
  • What Is Firebase App Hosting?
  • Deploying the App | 6m
  • Demo Part 1: Deploy App to Firebase App Hosting
  • Demo Part 2: Deploy App to Firebase App Hosting

If you need to build a web or mobile app, whether you know how to code or not, you will want to check out my new course here: https://www.pluralsight.com/courses/google-firebase-studio-foundations.

I hope this course serves as a valuable resource in your Vibe Coding, AI, and app building journey. Thank you for your continued support, and Be sure to follow my profile on Pluralsight so you will be notified as I release new courses! 

Here is the link to my Pluralsight profile to follow me:

https://www.pluralsight.com/authors/steve-buchanan

Update

I posted about this milestone on LinkedIn. Something really cool happened. The former CEO and founder of Pluralsight Aaron Skonnard commented on the post congratulating me. This means a lot coming from the founder of Pluralsight.

The link to the post is here if you want to check it out: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7436863573412335617.

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Speaking at Open Source North 2025 on Multi-Cloud

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I am excited to share that I will be speaking at this year’s Open Source North conference on May 29, 2025, at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.

This year, I’m teaming up with my fellow Jamf, Levi McCormick (Director of Engineering at Jamf), for a session that is very close to our daily reality: Multi-Cloud Without the Marketing or Designing for Multi-Cloud Without Losing Your Mind.

Why this talk? In the cloud industry, “Multi-Cloud”, “Cloud Native”, and “Iac via Terraform” are often sold as magic pills for redundancy, cost savings, unifaction and more across clouds. But for the people actually building and maintaining these systems, it can often feel like a recipe for complexity and technical debt.

At Jamf, Levi and I work on our infrastructure efforts across AWS, Azure, and GCP. We’ve learned—sometimes the hard way—what works, what doesn’t, and where the “hype” version of cloud differs from the “production” version. We wanted to build a session that focuses on the practical:

  • How to design for portability without over-engineering.
  • Managing identity, networking, and security across different providers.
  • Avoiding the “lowest common denominator” trap.
  • Keeping your sanity while managing three different clouds.

Open Source North is a great local event to the MN Tech scene because of the high-caliber community and the focus on real-world engineering. Whether you are a cloud veteran or just starting to look at a second provider, we’d love to see you there.

The Details:

If you’re attending, please connect on LinkedIn or find us after the session. We’d love to hear how your team is tackling these same challenges!

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Guest on Code To Cloud Podcast – AI, Cloud, Career Resilience, and Farming

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I’m excited to share that I recently sat down again with former colleuage at Microsoft Kevin Evans on the “Code to Cloud” podcast for a conversation titled “AI, Cloud, and Career Resilience.” It has been a couple of years since I was on as a guest on his podcast. This discussion was super fun and goes all over the place from personal finance (Dave Ramsey we are coming for the top spot!), leaving tech to farm, to the recent layoffs at Microsoft, what AI means for all of us, and more.

You can listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or watch the full episode on YouTube.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1jMf7mRZNxew6trsWt8e96

Apple Podcasts link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-cloud-and-career-resilience-with-steve-buchanan/id1788423999?i=1000729123487

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmo7MdmGj-s

In this post, I wanted to share some of the highlights, key takeaways, and a few behind-the-scenes thoughts from recording.

On the podcast, Kevin and I dug into several topics, especially in today’s rapidly evolving tech landscape. Some of the themes we touched on are:

Leadership & owning your narrative
I shared lessons I’ve learned in leadership like how to set vision, how to manage through change, and how leaders can help their teams navigate ambiguity.
We also talked about taking control of your narrative rather than letting circumstances or others define it for you.

My journey in tech
We walked through my career path over the years. The ups, the challenges, the moments of uncertainty. And I shared about recently being laid off from Microsoft, pivoting roles, and how those moments shaped and continue to shape my approach to owning my career.

Career resilience and mindset
One of the things I emphasized is that resilience is not just bouncing back, it’s proactively preparing, adapting, and taking charge of your trajectory. We talked about strategies to stay relevant: continuous learning, building a network, personal branding, and leaning into uncertainty instead of resisting it.

AI + Cloud: Opportunities and disruption
We explored how AI is weaving into cloud-native infrastructure and application stacks, and what that means for technologists.
We also addressed how to stay grounded amidst hype and understanding what’s real, what’s emerging, and how to plug into it in a practical, impactful way.

Key Takeaways and Advice for You

If you are reading this, here are a few of the ideas I hope will stick with you:

Do not wait for perfect context. The ideal job or environment might not exist yet. Instead, start shaping it yourself. Build the skills, forge relationships, and create momentum where you are.

Be purposeful in how you show up. Your personal brand is not about vanity. It is a vector for opportunities, trust, and alignment. Share your journey, your thinking, your work, even when it feels vulnerable.

Stay curious with humility. In fields like AI and cloud, change is constant. Curiosity keeps you relevant and humility keeps you open to learning when you do not know the answer.

Focus on bridges, not walls. Whether you are navigating careers, organization changes, or technical disruption, build bridges between peers, between domains, and across teams. Avoid insulating yourself.

Your resilience is in your habits. It is not just how you react in a crisis. It is how you cultivate consistency, reflection, incremental growth, and adaptability.

Behind the Mic; A Few Reflections

Recording with Kevin is always fun. His questions push guests to think more deeply than just the “what happened” stories. It was gratifying to revisit earlier chapters in my career after recently being laid off and exploring themes like uncertainty, adaptation, and ownership recurred over time.
I always find it special when conversations like these inspire me as much as I hope they inspire listeners and the host as well! Preparing, sharing, and telling stories helps us all get a little more confident in this unknown tech market.

If you have 45 to 60 minutes to spare, I encourage you to give the episode a listen! You will find not just stories from me but hopefully a few ideas or sparks you can take into your own path!

You can also watch the episode right here:

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Im Speaking at BITCON 2025 – Easiest Way to Run LLMs Locally: Meet Docker Model Runner

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🎤 I’m excited to share that I’ll be returning to BITCON in a week! I will be speaking at BITCON 2025, a gathering focused on Black voices in technology, innovation, and community. You can check out the full speaker lineup here: BITCON 2025 Speakers. The conference this year is virtual and its free. You can check out the site here: https://bitcon.blacksintechnology.net

The conference has a ton of great speakers lined up from some of the largest tech companies such as Google, Microsoft, and more. And to top it off the keynote this year is Kelsey Hightower! You dont want to miss this one.

My Session: “The Easiest Way to Run LLMs Locally: Meet Docker Model Runner”
Docker Captain: Steve Buchanan DMR session

At BITCON, I’ll be presenting “The Easiest Way to Run LLMs Locally: Meet Docker Model Runner”. In this session, I’ll look at:

  • Why run LLMs locally? The benefits in terms of cost, privacy, latency, and control
  • How Docker Model Runner simplifies things — containerizing large models, managing dependencies, and lowering friction
  • Demo and walkthrough — showing you step by step how to get a model up and running on your own machine or server
  • Best practices, pitfalls, and tips — what I’ve learned building and deploying these systems
  • Q&A / hands-on help — to get you started with your own setup

My goal is that attendees leave with a concrete, reproducible process they can apply right away.

Why It Matters

Large language models (LLMs) are powerful, but running them locally has often felt out of reach for smaller teams, indie devs, or people in resource-constrained environments. With the right tooling (like Docker Model Runner), we can lower that barrier—unlocking more experimentation, more privacy, and more control over where and how inference happens.

I believe this aligns well with the mission of BITCON: elevating voices, demystifying advanced tech, and making it accessible. I hope this talk helps bridge a gap for folks who want to explore AI locally without getting lost in infrastructure.

I am excited to be speaking at BITCON again. To learn more about my session check it out here:

BITCon Session: The Easiest Way to Run LLMs Locally: Meet Docker Model Runner

BITCON is free! Be sure to register today: HERE

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Recent Blog Posts: MCP Servers, Dev, Multi-cloud Mastery, and Cloud Engineer Resumes

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This is a shorter post, but I wanted to take a moment to share what I’ve been working on lately. Over the past few months I’ve been publishing a steady stream of blog posts on Pluralsight, covering topics across cloud, AI, JavaScript, and beyond. There’s a lot happening in tech right now, and I’ve been fortunate to collaborate with the Pluralsight team to dive into some of these exciting areas:

Check out an overview the blog posts and use the the following links to read more:

Behind the Buzzword: What is MCP (MCP Server)?
A breakdown of MCP servers and why they matter in the evolving landscape of AI.
👉 Read the post

How to Run an LLM Locally on Your Desktop
Exploring why and how you might want to run a large language model on your own machine, with a closer look at Docker Model Runner.
👉 Read the post

What to Emphasize on Your Resume as a Cloud Engineer
Tips on showcasing the skills that make cloud engineers stand out in today’s job market.
👉 Read the post

Multicloud Mastery: How to Train Teams in AWS, Azure, and GCP
Practical advice on enabling engineering teams to work across multiple clouds with confidence.
👉 Read the post

6 Cloud Cost Optimization Strategies and Tools for AWS, Azure, and GCP
A set of proven strategies and tools to help control and reduce cloud spend.
👉 Read the post

How to Add User Authentication to Your JavaScript App
A straightforward guide to securing your JavaScript applications with simple authentication techniques.
👉 Read the post

I’ll be continuing to publish more content in the months ahead, so stay tuned for future posts on cloud-native engineering, AI, and practical developer skills. If you found these articles useful, I’d love for you to check them out and share them with your network.

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Steve Buchanan on the SuperHuman Mindset Podcast

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I recently had the honor of being a guest on the SuperHuman Mindset Podcast, hosted by my good friend and respected CISO and Cybersecurity expert Felix Asare. I have always loved the name of this show because it perfectly captures its mission.

About the Podcast

The podcast dives deep into the minds of extraordinary people who break barriers, push limits, and achieve what many might think is impossible. Each episode uncovers the mindset, habits, and stories behind their success, with the goal of inspiring you to unlock your full potential and elevate every aspect of your life.

Felix is intentional about the guests he brings on. Past guests have included:

  • Former Ghanaian President John Kufuor
  • CISO Amy Bogac
  • Physician Dr. Kambiz Farbakhsh
  • Team USA Gold Medalist Chrissy Holm
  • Many more inspiring individuals

To be invited among such an incredible lineup is something I really consider an honor.

What We Talked About

In this episode, Felix and I went beyond tech and had a wide ranging conversation that touched on:

  • Where AI is heading and how to stay plugged in
  • Authoring books and creating courses including how I overcame imposter syndrome to publish my first one
  • The Modern Developer Experience and Cloud Native trends
  • What it takes to reach the next level in tech
  • What drives me personally and professionally
  • Advice for those working their way to the top

It was one of those conversations that flowed naturally, blending personal stories with big picture insights.

Watch or Listen

You can check out the full episode here:

SuperHuman Mindset Podcast – YouTube

If you are interested in tech, mindset, or just hearing stories of pushing past limits, I think you will enjoy this one.

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My 27th Pluralsight Course: “Generative AI Concepts for DevOps” Has Published

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I am excited to share that my 27th overall course and 3rd AI related course has published! This course is titled “Generative AI Concepts for DevOps“.

This course will help you to learn how to integrate generative AI into DevOps workflows for tasks such as generating IAC code in YAML Terraform scripts, and more. Here are the modules in the course:

Here is the full description of the course: Generative AI is revolutionizing how DevOps teams approach software development and operations by offering powerful tools to automate tasks, optimize workflows, and tackle challenges with remarkable speed and precision.

In this course, Generative AI Concepts for DevOps, you’ll learn how generative AI can help DevOps teams work faster and smarter by exploring key tools, understanding how they fit into workflows, and applying them to real-world DevOps problems.

First, you’ll explore the foundational concepts of transformer-based generative AI models and self-attention mechanisms in DevOps. Next, you’ll dive into the tools and platforms for generative AI, such as GitHub Copilot, Duet AI, Amazon Q, and more, learning how they can be integrated into DevOps workflows using YAML and manifests. Finally, you’ll discover how to apply generative AI techniques to solve DevOps challenges, leveraging tools and platforms like Terraform and Kubernetes to drive efficiency and innovation.

By the end of this course, you’ll be equipped with the knowledge and tools to harness generative AI in your DevOps workflows, driving greater efficiency, scalability, and innovation in your operations.

You can access this new course here:

http://www.pluralsight.com/courses/generative-ai-concepts-devops

I hope this course serves as a valuable resource in your tech education. Thank you for your continued support, and Be sure to follow my profile on Pluralsight so you will be notified as I release new courses! 

Here is the link to my Pluralsight profile to follow me:

https://www.pluralsight.com/authors/steve-buchanan

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Tech Together Podcast: My Journey to Microsoft, Prince’s Studio, the Future of Tech, and Navigating AI

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I recently had the opportunity to be a guest on a new podcast series brought to you by Tech Together, a collaboration between CreateMPLS and Genesys Works Twin Cities. Hosted by Shannon Seaver and Allison Barman.

This is the third episode in the series and it’s titled: “Tech Together with Steve Buchanan: Navigating Careers and Embracing Change in Technology.”

This wasn’t just another podcast recording, it was an experience. 🎧 We recorded at a studio inside Urban Ventures in Minneapolis, a space funded by Prince himself. I even got to check out one of his guitars, signed by the legend.

In this episode, I sit down with Shannon and Allison to talk about my journey in tech, from my early days navigating bootcamps and building a network, to eventually landing at Microsoft. We unpack the highs and lows, the importance of persistence, lifelong learning, and what it takes to grow a career in today’s tech landscape.

We also dive into the future of tech, covering the impact of AI, the need for more collaboration across the industry, and why computer science education for all is more critical than ever. As I shared in the episode:
“Give 200%. Share knowledge. Stay ready for what’s next.”

We wrapped things up with a fun rapid-fire Q&A session. Shoutout to Shannon and Allison for making it such a thoughtful and enjoyable conversation. 🙌

🎙️ Check it out for insights and tips on how to elevate your tech journey and navigate the evolving AI-driven world:
👉 Listen here on Spotify

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My 9th Book – The Modern Developer Experience Published on O’Reilly!

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I’m thrilled to share that my latest book, The Modern Developer Experience (ISBN: 9781098169695), is now available on O’Reilly! 🎉It is a shorter book known as a report with 4 chapters total. You can read the book on O’Reilly’s learning platform.

I am excited about this book because in today’s fast-paced tech world, developers don’t just write code, they navigate cloud platforms, cloud native tools and frameworks, integrate AI, automate workflows, and collaborate across teams to drive innovation. This book is a deep dive into the evolving role of developers and how modern tools, frameworks, and methodologies are shaping the future of software engineering.

Here is the offical book description:

DevOps has delivered transformative changes to tooling and processes, but with it comes new layers of complexity. More modern frameworks and tools, like containers, Docker, Kubernetes, Platform Engineering, GitOps, and AI can accelerate development, but understanding their unique challenges (and how to address them effectively) can make the difference between a team that struggles and one that thrives.

This report explores how organizations can improve the developer experience (DevEx) by reducing complexity, streamlining workflows, and fostering supportive environments. Whether your organization is deeply invested in DevOps or simply looking to improve team performance, this report highlights strategies to elevate your development practices and outcomes.

Here are the chapters:
1. The Modern Developer Experience

2. Raising the Bar, Providing the Right Developer Environment

3. Using AI to Enhance DevEx

4. Developer Experience and the Secure Supply Chain

📖 Whether you’re a developer, team lead, or engineering manager, this book will help you refine your processes and create an environment where developers can thrive.

🔗 Check it out here: The Modern Developer Experience on O’Reilly

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AI Panel at University of St. Thomas

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Wrapping up an incredible week with one final event over the weekend! I was honored to be a panelist this past Saturday for the 14th Annual Kente Summit at the University of St. Thomas. 🎓

We had an engaging discussion on all things AI, with thoughtful questions from the students and great insights from my fellow panelists:

🤝 Adill Ade – Student at St. Thomas

🎥 Chris McDuffie – Distinguished Photographer and Filmmaker

💡 Ishmael Efejuku – Student at St. Thomas

Big thanks to Adrian Perryman, M.A., and Kenneth Cooper, Ph.D., for the opportunity to be part of this important conversation!

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