ai

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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Docker Model Runner Blog Post

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I’ve been spending a lot of time blogging on Pluralsight lately, and one of my recent posts covered a topic I’m genuinely excited about: running large language models (LLMs) locally. Specifically, I explored a tool called Docker Model Runner that makes this process more accessible for developers.

In the post, I broke down a few key ideas.

Why Run an LLM Locally

There’s a lot of momentum around cloud-hosted AI services, but running models locally still has its place. For many developers it means more control, quicker experimentation, and the ability to work outside of a cloud provider’s ecosystem.

Tools in This Space

Before zeroing in on Docker Model Runner, I broke down other ways developers are running models locally. The landscape is quickly evolving, and each tool has trade-offs in terms of usability, performance, and compatibility with different models.

Why Docker Model Runner

What really stood out to me with Docker Model Runner is how it lowers the barrier to entry. Instead of wrestling with environment setup, dependencies, and GPU drivers, you can pull down a container and get straight to experimenting. It leans into Docker’s strengths of portability and consistency, so whether you’re on a desktop, laptop, or even testing in a lab environment, the experience is smooth and repeatable.

For developers who are curious about LLMs but don’t want to get bogged down in infrastructure, this tool is a great starting point.

If you want the full breakdown and step-by-step details, you can check out my Pluralsight blog here:
👉 https://www.pluralsight.com/resources/blog/ai-and-data/how-run-llm-locally-desktop

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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 28th Pluralsight Course Published! Agentic AI Safety and Alignment

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I’m excited to announce the release of my 28th Pluralsight course, and it’s a timely one as its about a topic that’s becoming more important by the day: Agentic AI Safety and Alignment.

As AI agent adoption accelerates, developers and product teams are under increasing pressure to ensure these systems behave responsibly. It’s no longer enough to build capable AI agents, they must also operate safely, ethically, and in alignment with your organization’s values.

That’s exactly what this course is about.

🧠 Why This Course Matters

The rise of autonomous AI agents brings incredible potential. but also significant risk. From runaway costs to prompt injection attacks, the stakes are high. In this course, I cover:

  • Prevent unintended behaviors
  • Embed ethics and safety checks into agents
  • Guard against issues like prompt injection
  • Keep human oversight (human in the loop)
  • Avoid unexpected bills or policy violations

To balance the theory and practice, I run through some demos using Microsoft Co-Pilot Studio and Flowise. You’ll see how to put in safety checks, define agent constraints, implement value alignment, and put in controls that keep your agentic AI safe.

📘 Official Course Description

“As companies rapidly adopt autonomous AI agents, developers and product leads face growing pressure to ensure these systems operate safely and align with organizational values. In this course, Agentic AI Safety and Alignment, you’ll gain the ability to design and deploy agentic AI systems that are both effective and ethically sound. First, you’ll explore how to identify potential risks and prevent unintended behaviors in autonomous agents. Next, you’ll discover how to embed your organization’s values by integrating rules and safety checks into your agent design. Finally, you’ll learn how to apply guardrails that keep agents aligned and under control. When you’re finished with this course, you’ll have the skills and knowledge needed to build AI agents that operate responsibly and stay true to your company’s principles.”

If you’re building, leading, or managing AI agent systems, this course will help you. Check out the course here:

https://www.pluralsight.com/courses/agentic-ai-safety-alignment

I hope this course serves as a valuable resource in your AI 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

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First Docker.com Blog Post – Using Gordon (AI) to Containerize Your Apps and Work with Containers

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I’m excited to share that my first official blog post as a Docker Captain has been published on the Docker blog! It’s an honor to contribute to a platform that’s been so foundational in shaping how we build, ship, and run applications today. This first piece dives into Ask Gordon, Docker’s new AI assistant that helps developers go from source code to a running container with less friction and guesswork.

In the post, I walk through how Ask Gordon makes it easier to containerize your applications, even if you’ve never written a Dockerfile before. By analyzing your source code and asking a few smart questions, Ask Gordon generates everything you need to build and run your app in a containerized environment. It’s good for beginners getting started with containers and equally valuable for experienced devs looking to speed up repetitive setup tasks.

One of the things I appreciated most about Ask Gordon is how it bridges the gap between the developer’s intent and the actual container configuration. Rather than copy-pasting snippets from docs or Stack Overflow, the AI gives you context-aware Dockerfiles, Compose files, and clear next steps for your app. It’s a great example of how AI can elevate the developer experience without overcomplicating things.

This is just the beginning of my journey as a Docker Captain, and I’m looking forward to sharing more tutorials, insights, and real-world use cases that can help developers simplify their container workflows. If you haven’t checked it out yet, give my new post a read here:
👉 Containerize Your Apps with Ask Gordon

A big thanks to the Docker team for the warm welcome and opportunity!

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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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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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Student Minority Day at the Microsoft Innovation Hub 2025

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Another highlight from last week is that BAM Midwest hosted another successful Student Minority Day at the Microsoft Innovation Hub in Minnesota! 🎉

At this event, we welcomed 90+ high school students from around the Twin Cities. The day included a keynote by Dieumerci Christel Founder, a hands-on AI workshop with Microsoft Copilot, a Financial Literacy Workshop, and a Career Panel featuring:

🎤 Jote Taddese Tadesse – VP at Optum

🛡️ Peju Nordvik MS, CISA Nordvick – Cybersecurity at Microsoft

🤝 Ahman Airitam Amiritan – Deal Manager at Microsoft

💡 Haftom Dessalegn – AI Hardware Engineer at Microsoft

For lunch, we enjoyed some amazing Jamaican food from Nanny’s Jamaican Kitchen.

The students stayed engaged, asked thoughtful questions, and had the chance to network with Microsoft and other tech professionals. It’s always inspiring to see the next generation of talent getting excited about tech and their future careers! 🚀

I’m honored to be part of the BAM MW team! 🙌 Kudos to Sosena Alemayehu, Lovell Davis, Dontavis Funderburk, Mattea Hullander (Nybo), Ahman Airitam, Peju Nordvik MS, CISA, Robin Tinnie, and Corey Bullard for the incredible work and impact you’re making. 💪

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Rise & Future of AI & Its Benefits to Founders Panel

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✨✨ This past weekend, I had the incredible honor of participating as a panelist in the “Rise & Future of AI & Its Benefits to Founders“ session during BIPOC Startup Week 2.0. This session brought together a diverse group of innovators, thinkers, and entrepreneurs to explore the profound impact AI is having on the startup ecosystem and how founders can harness its power to drive success.

Sharing the stage with Mustafe Artan, MBA, CSM, was inspiring. Mustafe brought his deep expertise to the conversation, and together we unpacked the many dimensions of AI—its opportunities, its challenges, and the practical steps founders can take to embrace it. 🙌

The session was expertly hosted by Octavia Treadway, who ensured the discussion was engaging and inclusive. Octavia’s thoughtful moderation set the tone for a dynamic exchange of ideas, and I am grateful for her role in creating such a welcoming space for dialogue.

One of the highlights for me was engaging with the audience—fellow founders, technologists, and visionaries—about how AI can empower their businesses. Whether we discussed automating processes, uncovering actionable insights, or scaling operations efficiently, the energy in the room was palpable. 🤖✨

Returning to the University of St. Thomas – Opus College of Business campus 🏫 was a personal highlight. As a familiar and inspiring space for growth and learning, it served as the perfect backdrop for an event centered on innovation and the future of work.

A huge kudos to Charlotte ABiOdun Epée-WillSuN 🇳🇬🇨🇲🇬🇭🇹🇬🇺🇸 for her vision and effort in organizing this event. Her dedication to uplifting BIPOC founders and fostering collaboration within the tech and startup community is nothing short of remarkable. Events like these are essential to driving inclusivity and innovation in our industry.

As I reflect on the weekend, I am reminded of the immense potential AI holds for transforming businesses and lives. It’s not just about the technology; it’s about empowering people to solve problems, create opportunities, and shape a better future.

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