PowerShell Summit: It’s Never Just About the Script

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I just got back from PowerShell Summit, and while I expected to leave with a few new tricks up my sleeve, I didn’t expect to come home thinking so deeply about leadership, visibility, and what it actually means to create business value.

“Any improvement not at the constraint is an illusion.”

— Dr. Eli Goldratt

I went into the Entra ID and M365 as Code with DSC workshop with Raimund Andree and Gael Colas thinking I was going to learn how to keep my tenant clean using DSC and automation. I thought I was there for technical hygiene. A roadmap. Maybe a few Git tricks.

And of course, I learned plenty. They covered managing tenant configurations in source control, building out release pipelines, handling Dev/Test/Prod workflows, and treating your environment like a product. But what actually stuck with me wasn’t the tooling. It was the way they talked about why we do this.

Because here’s the thing — even if I’m committing changes to Git, if it’s not part of an automated pipeline, it’s still manual. I’m just lifting and shifting. I’ve moved the problem somewhere else without actually solving it.

It’s not enough for something to be versioned. If the process isn’t automated, self-documenting, and collaborative, it’s not bringing real value. The work might look cleaner, but the constraint is still there.

This isn’t about the technology. It never was. The tech helps us solve problems faster, more consistently, and with better visibility, but it’s not the solution. The value comes from building systems that scale, systems that make things better not just for me, but for my whole team.

After the session, I got to talk with Gael and Raimund. We talked about visibility. About how silos don’t just slow things down — they keep people out. And how the real work isn’t just making things function, it’s making sure everyone can see and contribute to that function. That’s what unlocks business value. That’s what scales. That’s what builds trust.

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And honestly, what made it all stick wasn’t just the content. It was the people.

This community is built on folks who show up for each other. People like Lucas, who just dropped his own post that perfectly captured what it feels like to come back and realize you're still part of something. It reminded me that the best part of this space isn’t the sessions or the tech. It’s the shared commitment to doing better work, together.

There were so many conversations that kept echoing after I left. Late-night chats in the hotel lobby. Quiet moments between sessions where someone would casually drop a piece of wisdom that completely reframed how I thought about my own work. Everyone I talked to brought something different — a new tool, a smart workaround, a shift in mindset.

People were generous with their time. Open with their stories. And deeply invested in helping others grow. That doesn’t happen everywhere. But it happens here.

I walked away feeling like I had learned more from the humans in the room than from any single slide deck. Which honestly? Feels exactly right.

But what changed?

I stopped thinking about automation as something to do after the work is done. Automation is the work. If it's not automated, it doesn't scale. If it's not visible, it doesn't invite collaboration. And if it's not solving a real problem, it's just maintenance in disguise.

I left PowerShell Summit with more than technical ideas — I left with a clearer sense of what kind of engineer I want to be. One who builds for people. One who shares the work. One who leaves the system better than I found it.

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