This week on SysAdmin Weekly, Andy is joined by Luke Orellana, a fellow IT war buddy from the MSP trenches who's now a Senior Engineering Manager at Microsoft (yes, that Microsoft) working with AI Agents on a daily basis!
In this episode we unpack the good, the bad, and the "seriously, who thought YAML was a good idea"? parts of Infra-as-Code from Terraform and Pulumi to PowerShell DSC and Packer pipelines. Luke drops wisdom on platform engineering, the rise of AI agents with their impact on DevOps, and how he rewrote entire Terraform libraries because apparently, sleep is optional.
Also in this episode:
- Why password resets are a scam (Forrester says $70 a pop — no thanks).
- The glorious chaos of auditors asking for 30-day resets in 2025 (because security theater must go on).
- Andy’s obsession with Linux Mint Debian Edition and the Tux shrine on his desk.
- The legendary Domino’s Pizza Terraform provider. Yes. That’s real.
We also answer critical questions like:
- Can an AI agent wreck your entire Git repo?
- Should sysadmins fear change or just automate it?
- And what’s more powerful: Terraform CDK or the sheer willpower of a sysadmin trying to avoid YAML?
Grab your favorite caffeine source, commit to main (regrets optional), and get ready to laugh, learn, and question your life choices. This one’s got code, chaos, and caffeine-fueled commentary.
Episode Resources Below!
- SysAdmin Weekly Companion Newsletter