Geert van der Cruijsen
CEO Zure Netherlands
Uden, The Netherlands
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Geert van der Cruijsen is the CEO of Zure Netherlands, helping companies improve how they build software by combining strong engineering culture with modern technology. He focuses on DevOps, cloud-native development, architecture and AI, enabling teams to work more autonomously and deliver faster through smart platforms and better ways of working. Geert is a long-time Microsoft MVP and an active member of the tech community, frequently sharing knowledge through talks, content and mentorship.
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Sovereign cloud on Azure: reducing risk and staying in control
Governments and organisations across Europe are questioning how to use hyperscalers like Azure while staying compliant and in control. What are the real risks, and how can we reduce them without giving up cloud benefits?
This session looks at legal and technical challenges of using US-based cloud providers in the EU. We will cover Azure capabilities like confidential computing, customer-managed keys and sovereign landing zones, and show how architecture choices can improve flexibility.
And don’t worry, it’s not just legal talk. We will also show practical technical decisions that help you stay in control and keep risks manageable, whether you are building apps or advising on strategy.
Multi-agent architecture patterns in practice
Building AI agents is one thing. Getting them to coordinate effectively is something else. In this session, we’ll look at architecture patterns for designing multi-agent systems that can solve real business problems.
Geert will show practical examples and live demos using C#,, Semantic Kernel, Azure AI Agent Service, the Agent2Agent protocol, and MCP. You’ll see how agents can communicate, share context, and split responsibilities across workflows. We’ll discuss patterns that work, common pitfalls and how to get the best results of making AI Agents work together.
This session is for developers who already know the basics of AI applications and want to bring them into production with confidence.
Making your existing applications ready for AI agents integration
AI agents are getting better at completing full business tasks & processes. But they need a way to work with your existing business applications & data.
This session shows you to get your current business applications ready for this. Using Model Context Protocol (MCP), you can make your current .NET APIs and Azure Functions available to AI agents with minimal changes. You will see how to extend your application so agents can ask questions, take actions, and work with your data.
We will walk through the theory of how works, talk about pitfalls & patterns and the session is full of demos showing you how to get your current application ready to connect with AI systems.
After this session you'll have some clear steps of making your own business applications ready to be interacted with by AI Agents
Letting agents control your webbrowser. What could go wrong?
2025 is the year of Agents. Last year, we mostly built applications that created text or searched through your business data with RAG. Now, we're giving generative AI more power by using agents. What makes agents different is their ability to perform tasks or run actions themselves.
In this talk, we'll look at one specific agent as an example: an agent that uses a web browser just like a human would. While a browser agent can be a powerful tool in your AI agent toolbox, the principles you'll learn from this agent can apply to connecting any kind of system, service, or API.
We'll talk about a new protocol called MCP (Model Context Protocol), explaining how it enables seamless connections between AI agents and virtually any system or API.
In this session you'll learn to understand the broader application of MCP for agent integration or making your own applications MCP ready, and discover when it's smart to use these agents, when you shouldn't, and what could possibly go wrong.
10 CNCF projects every Azure engineer should know
The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) hosts a overwhelming number of projects, making it challenging to identify the ones that truly matter for Azure Engineers. In this session, we’ll highlight 10 essential CNCF projects that every Azure-focused professional should know. These tools are invaluable for building scalable, resilient, and efficient cloud-native solutions on Azure. Whether it’s managing Kubernetes, automating deployments, or enhancing observability, this session provides insight in how these projects can streamline your workflows and enhance your impact as an Azure engineer.
AI agents in action: tool execution using MCP with Semantic Kernel
AI agents are evolving from text-based assistants into systems capable of performing real-world tasks. The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that allows AI models to interact with external tools, data sources, and services through a common interface.
In this session, we will explore how MCP enables AI agents to execute actions beyond their initial context. We will demonstrate how to implement MCP in agents built with Semantic Kernel using C#, and how these agents can use tool calling to complete tasks. We will also touch on how MCP fits into the Azure AI Agent Service and how it supports scalable, secure agent design in enterprise scenarios.
Attendees will learn how to:
- Connect AI agents to external tools and data sources using MCP
- Implement MCP in Semantic Kernel agents with C#
- Use Azure AI Agent Service to run agents securely at scale
This session is intended for developers and architects interested in building AI agents capable of performing actions in the real world.
No, I don’t want to use your platform!
Engineering platforms promise to simplify workflows, accelerate delivery, and empower teams, but what happens when the very users they’re designed for actively resist adopting them? Beneath the frustration lies a powerful truth: platforms often fail because they’re built with good intentions but miss the mark on developer needs.
In this session, we’ll explore platform adoption from the user’s perspective, unpacking the key reasons why engineers might reject a platform. From rigid workflows and poor developer experience to a lack of trust or misaligned incentives, we’ll examine the real-world friction points that prevent success.
Attendees will gain practical insights into how to better understand user needs, foster collaboration between platform teams and developers, and make iterative improvements that address real-world challenges. This session will provide a view on building platforms that engineers genuinely find useful and want to adopt.
Life After Code: Developers in a Post-AI World
AI is already handling many development tasks, but while it’s not yet capable of fully replacing developers, it’s evolving quickly. What happens when AI takes over most software development? This session looks forward to the future of the developer role in a post-AI world.
With coding largely automated, we’ll consider how the role of developers may evolve and what skills will be most valuable in this new era. Together, we’ll envision what the future might hold and how developers can adapt to remain impactful in an AI-driven industry.
How to Get Your Dev Team Playing at Champions League Level
Great teams don’t win by accident. They build trust, communicate clearly, and keep improving together. Software development is a team sport. Talent matters, but how people work together matters even more.
In this talk, we look at what helps teams grow. Topics include roles, leadership, feedback, goal-setting, and how company culture supports strong teamwork. Whether you lead a team or are part of one, this session will give you ideas to help your team play better together.
Accelerating Cloud-Native and AI Development with Azure Container Apps
Azure Container Apps makes it easier than ever to build and run modern cloud-native and AI-powered applications. Whether you're deploying web services or AI workloads, this fully managed platform takes the complexity out of scaling and managing containers.
In this session, we’ll show you how to get started with Azure Container Apps through hands-on demos. You’ll see how to build and deploy applications while exploring the AI capabilities that make this platform stand out. Join us to learn how Azure Container Apps can simplify your workflow and accelerate your development process.
Building Cloud-Native Self-Service Platforms on Azure
Platform Engineering is changing how organizations enable their teams to work efficiently and effectively. Self-service platforms are a key part of this, allowing teams to build, test, and deploy with minimal friction.
In this session, we’ll focus on building these platforms using cloud-native technologies to help you get started quickly. You’ll learn practical steps and strategies to define key capabilities, select the right tools, and leverage the cloud to create scalable, developer-friendly platforms. If you’re ready to empower your teams and accelerate their workflows, this session is for you.
Building an engineering culture that works
A strong engineering culture helps teams work faster, smarter, and more effectively. This session focuses on the Eight Pillars of Engineering Culture, which can help any organization tackle key bottlenecks and create a better way of working.
We’ll share practical advice on improving teamwork, building scalable platforms, and fostering a culture of innovation and learning. If you want to unlock your team’s full potential and make lasting changes, this session is for you.
The Past, Present and Future of Gen AI
Generative AI, while a new and rapidly evolving field, has already shown significant potential for business transformation. In this session, we will explore the three key levels of Generative AI: Clever Prompting, Context Enriched Generative AI, and Connected Autonomous Agents.
We'll discuss how we have progressed from the initial stages to more advanced implementations and look ahead to future possibilities.
Attendees will learn how these approaches can transform business processes, enhance user experiences, and drive innovation, while also gaining practical knowledge about the limitations and ethical considerations of GenAI to achieve impactful results in their organizations.
Automating complex cloud test environments on demand at scale @ ASML
At ASML we build the most complex machine in the world. This machine also needs software to run and has a platform to communicate with the outside world. Next to hardware teams, we have hundreds of teams working on the software and we want to make their life easier in testing and qualifying their software for actual releases into the factories at customers where our machines run in production.
Managing these complex test environments can be a pain especially if you have to do this at the scale we operate on at ASML (Think thousands of devs and then thousands of VMs). In this session we’ll discuss some of the concepts of how we use the power of the cloud to dynamically spin up test clusters on demand at scale on multiple clouds meeting demands from both developers & our security department.
Join us to uncover the principles, strategies, and technologies that make it possible to automate and scale complex cloud test environments on demand. Discover how these advancements can empower your teams, streamline your operations even if you’re not working on the most complex machine in the world.
The AI Ensemble: Orchestrating AI Agents with .NET & Orleans
Building generative AI solutions can be split into 3 levels, starting with clever prompting to add some LLM magic to your application towards the second level where you add capabilities on your own data. The third level introduces the paradigm of connected agents - autonomous entities that communicate and collaborate to achieve complex goals.
This session will delve into the details of building AI applications at this advanced tier, utilising the robust capabilities of Microsoft .NET & Orleans. Microsoft Orleans, with its Actor model foundation, emerges as a particularly effective framework for orchestrating the interactions of these agents.
By leveraging the .NET ecosystem, developers can craft scalable, resilient AI-driven solutions that fully exploit the potential of connected agents, setting a new standard for intelligent applications.
Unleashing AI's Potential with Azure: A Hands-On Exploration for Software Developers
Dive into the world of Artificial Intelligence on Azure in this comprehensive, full-day workshop designed for software developers. Whether you're just starting out or looking to deepen your understanding, this workshop offers a unique opportunity to explore Azure's AI capabilities.
Participants will gain foundational knowledge about the vast possibilities within Azure's AI landscape. The workshop covers a range of topics including Azure AI Services (formerly Cognitive Services), Azure OpenAI, Azure Machine Learning, and Prompt Flow.
Topics covered:
- Azure AI Services
- Azure OpenAI Studio
- GPT 3.5, 4 and other models, which to use when
- Azure AI Studio
- Prompt engineering
- Azure Machine Learning prompt flow
- Azure cognitive search
- Azure Document Intelligence Service
- Azure AI Search
This interactive workshop combines theoretical insights with hands-on labs, providing a balanced learning experience while making a lot of fun!
Prerequisites:
- A laptop capable of installing software
- A GitHub account for cloning hands on labs
- Visual Studio Code pre-installed
- preferably bring your own Azure OpenAI Key
This workshop is designed for software developers of any skill level, although some prior experience with Azure will be beneficial.
Join us to unlock the power of AI with Azure and take your skills to the next level!
Building AI first applications using Semantic Kernel & C#
Semantic Kernel is an open-source SDK by Microsoft to build AI First applications and AI agents. Enabling developers to seamlessly integrate existing code with AI models from OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, and Hugging Face.
This talk explores the role of Semantic Kernel in AI orchestration, giving you the capabilities to create copilot-like experiences. We will showcase how Semantic Kernel empowers developers to build intelligent agents effortlessly, facilitating the automation of complex tasks by combining AI-generated responses with diverse programming languages. With Semantic Kernel, you can even allow an LLM to create a complex plan that can be executed locally, going far beyond what you might think LLMs can do.
The talk also highlights Semantic Kernel's extensibility, allowing the integration of memories, AI models, and plugins, making it a key player in the landscape of AI development.
Sustainable Software Engineering; Coding For a Greener Tomorrow
In our increasingly digital era, the ecological footprint of technology and software development is a critical yet often overlooked concern. In this session, we will demonstrate how to redefine the paradigms of software engineering through the lens of sustainability & the impact software has on our world.
Attendees will gain insights into the principles of Sustainable Software Engineering, an emergent discipline that incorporates environmental thinking into each stage of the software development lifecycle. We will delve into practical, actionable strategies, demonstrating how to build greener, more energy-efficient applications without compromising functionality or innovation.
Join us to embark on a mission to save the world - one line of code at a time. Let's create software that drives human progress and respects and preserves our precious planetary resources.
Responsible AI: With great power comes great responsibility
AI is taking a larger footprint in our industry every day. It’s time to think about ethical considerations and the impact of AI done wrong or good can have in the AI landscape and on our society. In this session we’ll talk about AI decision-making processes and their broader impacts on individuals, society, and businesses.
With real-life examples and actionable steps, discover how to implement Responsible AI practices within your organisation. Explore the role of leadership in fostering a culture of Ethical AI and ensuring that the great power of AI is met with a heightened sense of responsibility. Join us in this session that equips developers and IT leaders to navigate the evolving landscape of AI with ethical clarity and strategic insight.
DevOps ❤️ Platform Engineering
Discover the synergy between DevOps and Platform Engineering in this session that explores their shared mission of accelerating business value delivery. Platform Engineering, the new kid on the block, aims to achieve similar outcomes as DevOps, often causing misconceptions of competition. This talk sheds light on the true nature & goals of Platform Engineering and how it can be the missing link in making DevOps teams even more productive. By seamlessly integrating Platform Engineering in DevOps and SRE practices, we unlock new dimensions of productivity, scalability, and reliability.
5 Common Platform Engineering Mistakes
Platform engineering plays a critical role in making developers more productive and delivering business value while maintaining security and compliance. However, it's not uncommon for platform teams to become bottlenecks that impede progress rather than driving it forward.
Join us for this session as we explore the top 5 common mistakes in platform engineering that can lead to inefficiencies and bottlenecks. We'll examine practical strategies for avoiding these mistakes and building a high-performing engineering department that delivers results while ensuring security and compliance. Whether you're an experienced platform engineer, just starting out or a engineering working with a platform team, you'll leave this session with valuable insights for enhancing your Organization’s productivity and effectiveness.
Azure Platform Engineering: What, why and how?
Platform engineering is a new hype in the software engineering landscape in the same space as DevOps, Agile & SRE. Is Platform engineering the new silver bullet to make everything work better?
In this session Geert will explain what Platform Engineering is, why there is a need for it and how it compares to DevOps & SRE. He'll give you a good overview and starters on how to implement this yourself in your organization to improve productivity, governance & security on Azure
Azure Container Apps: Advanced features
Kubernetes is a popular choice for building cloud-native applications, but managing it can be a challenge. Fortunately, Azure Container Apps offers a serverless PaaS abstraction over Kubernetes that delivers many of the same benefits without the hassle of managing Kubernetes itself.
Join us for this session as we explore the advanced capabilities of Azure Container Apps for building advanced cloud-native solutions. We'll cover essential topics such as zero downtime deployments, high availability, and dynamic scaling up and down to zero, among others. With practical examples and tips, you'll learn how Azure Container Apps can be a really good alternative to Kubernetes when building cloud-native applications.
Building Microservice applications using .Net on Azure Container Apps
Kubernetes has all the hype but do you actually need all this complexity for your distributed application? There is a big trend happening by cloud providers to provide all the features Kubernetes brings without the complexity and Azure Container Apps is Microsofts take at this.
In this workshop you'll learn how you can build and deploy containerized applications using Azure Container apps from scratch using .Net.
It includes all the nice features it brings such as blue/green deployments, Dapr & autoscaling using Keda. Join this workshop to get ready to deploy your own microservice applications using Azure Container Apps
Azure Container Apps: The Future of Microservices in Azure
Kubernetes has all the hype but do you actually need all this complexity for your distributed application? There is a big trend happening by cloud providers to provide all the features Kubernetes brings without the complexity and Azure Container Apps is Microsofts take at this.
In this Session Geert will talk you through how you can build and deploy containerized applications using Azure Container apps from scratch including all the nice features it brings such as blue/green deployments & autoscaling. Join us to see if this can be the future of Microservices on Azure.
Azure cloud governance for DevOps organizations
Azure.. Often seen as just another layer of infrastructure where you can apply the same governance as you did for your on premises infrastructure.
In this session Geert will prove you that to use the full speed and agility of the cloud you'll require a completely different approach that embraces DevOps and autonomous teams. Does this mean it will be less secure? Join this session to find out why it doesn't have to be less secure and how to create a cloud environment that both DevOps teams and security officers will love.
Overcoming your fears as a developer
Being a software engineer can be a great job with often cool challenges that brings joy to many. But for many developers either junior or senior there are also many fears. Fear of not being good enough, Fear of not knowing everything about a new technology that your company just embraced, Fear of breaking production and gaining a bad reputation within the company and many other fears.
In this talk Geert will discuss these different fears with you, the developers to see how you can overcome these fears and things like imposter syndrome both from the developer side but also how you and your organisation can help your colleagues overcome their fears. Join us for tips and stories from junior to senior developers that should be relatable for your past, present or future.
Better architecture without architects
As a developer, have you ever had to implement an architecture thought up by an architect not in your team? Have you worked in an environment where you needed to propose changes in a CAB? Do you have architects in your organization who don't code? If you answer yes to any of the questions this session is for you!
In this session Geert will talk about how DevOps organizations with autonomous teams work faster and build better architecture without the need of enterprise architects or complex processes before decisions are made. Come discuss the future of architecture with us in this session. Architects & Developers are welcome!
Chaos Engineering: The fine art of breaking stuff in production on purpose
Have you ever been called out of bed because the high available system you run wasn't that high available as everyone thought? Or did you spend weekends doing manual fail over tests together with everyone in your team on standby?
These are things Chaos Engineering is trying to avoid. The idea of Chaos Engineering is that teams are in in control of their production environment. Being in control allows you to do experiments in production like killing servers, increase network latency or databases to see how your system is able to recover from it without impacting end users.
In this session we'll cover the basics of chaos engineering, practices of creating an architecture and system that allows for experimenting in production and how you can start doing this in your own environments.
A practical approach to Service Level Objectives
Service Level Objectives are a great way to embed quality & resilience into your software development lifecycle. But how do you start with this within your company?
In this session Geert will talk you through the why and what about Service Level Objectives (SLOs) & Service level Indicators (SLIs) and how you can start using them.
Come join this session to learn about making resilient & high available software products real & measurable!
CloudBrew 2024 - A two-day Microsoft Azure event Sessionize Event
.NET Developer Conference '24 Sessionize Event
Live! 360 Tech Con Orlando 2024 Sessionize Event
2024 All Day DevOps Sessionize Event
Techorama 2024 Netherlands Sessionize Event
Azure AI Summer Jam Sessionize Event
Azure & AI Lowlands 2024 Sessionize Event
IglooConf 2024: Midsummer Sessionize Event
Experts Live Netherlands 2024 Sessionize Event
Techorama 2024 Belgium Sessionize Event
2023 All Day DevOps Sessionize Event
Techorama Netherlands 2023 Sessionize Event
Developer Week '23 Sessionize Event
dotnetdays 2023 Sessionize Event
devCampNoord Sessionize Event
Future Tech 2023 Sessionize Event
2022 All Day DevOps Sessionize Event
Techorama Netherlands 2022 Sessionize Event
KCDC 2022 Sessionize Event
Future Tech 2022 Sessionize Event
Techorama 2022 BE Sessionize Event
TEQnation 2022 Sessionize Event
AzureLive 2022 Sessionize Event
TheCloudFirst Sessionize Event
Azure Lowlands Sessionize Event
NDC Oslo 2020 Sessionize Event
Cloud DeveloperDays 2020 Sessionize Event
Future Tech 2020 Sessionize Event
Microsoft Techdays 2020 Sessionize Event
CloudBrew 2019 - A two-day Microsoft Azure event Sessionize Event
Techorama Netherlands 2019 Sessionize Event
NDC Oslo 2019 Sessionize Event
ITCamp 2019 Sessionize Event
Global AI Bootcamp - Belgium Sessionize Event
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