In this episode, Scott Hanselman and Mark Russinovich explore how AI-assisted vibe coding is changing the way complex software gets built, debugged, and refined. Mark walks through real-world experiments using AI to tackle difficult engineering problems, including gRPC shared memory, Win32 UI work, and major new features coming to ZoomIt. The conversation digs into where AI meaningfully accelerates development, where it still requires careful human oversight, and how tools like screenshots, debug output, MCP servers, and multimodal feedback loops are reshaping modern developer workflows. The result is an honest, technical discussion about productivity gains, limitations, and the evolving role of human judgment in AI-driven software engineering.

Takeaways:

• Debug output and screenshots are critical for helping AI understand
• Faster iteration often leads to more polished software, not just quicker results
• Concurrency and low-level systems problems remain difficult for AI to solve without supervision

Who are they?

View Scott Hanselman on LinkedIn

View Mark Russinovich on LinkedIn

Watch Scott and Mark Learn on YouTube

Listen to other episodes at scottandmarklearn.to

Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at microsoft.com/podcasts

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Scott Hanselman and Mark Russinovich pull back the curtain on what really goes into a large-scale conference talk, using their recent Ignite session as a case study. They reflect on the balance between educational and soft talks, the importance of credibility and audience expectations, and why not every talk needs a rigid takeaway to be valuable. The conversation traces a playful but technically deep journey through computing history, from early machine code and Altair systems to modern Azure infrastructure, massive virtual machines, and experimental demos that intentionally blur the line between serious engineering and creative exploration. Along the way, they share behind-the-scenes lessons about live demos, pacing, risk, and why delight, curiosity, and a bit of silliness still matter in technical storytelling.

Takeaways:

• Setting expectations early helps the audience judge a talk on the right terms
• Credibility can come from perspective, not just authority
• Risky demos work when the fundamentals are solid

Who are they?

View Scott Hanselman on LinkedIn

View Mark Russinovich on LinkedIn

Watch Scott and Mark Learn on YouTube

Listen to other episodes at scottandmarklearn.to

Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at microsoft.com/podcasts

Produced by Microsoft & Hangar Studios

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Scott Hanselman and Mark Russinovich dive into where they get their tech news and how their habits have evolved from the early days of blogging and RSS to today’s AI-focused email newsletters. They reminisce about the heyday of blogs, the rise and fall of Google Reader, and Mark’s old NT Internals mailing list, which once had nearly 90,000 subscribers. They compare curated sources like Techmeme, The Verge, and The Information, and discuss how AI-driven newsletters have replaced RSS as the primary way they stay informed. The conversation also features a fun moment when Scott looks back at his 20-year-old blog posts and finds references to Mark’s tools that helped launch part of his career.

Takeaways:

• Tech news consumption has shifted from RSS feeds to curated AI-driven newsletters
• Blogging is still valuable as a personal knowledge archive, even decades later
• How tech history lives in old URLs, broken links, and archived posts

Who are they?

View Scott Hanselman on LinkedIn

View Mark Russinovich on LinkedIn

Watch Scott and Mark Learn on YouTube

Resources:

Techmeme: https://www.techmeme.com

– A leading tech news aggregator for technology business and breakthrough news.

The Verge: https://www.theverge.com

– Consumer technology news site covering tech, science, art, and culture.

The Information: https://www.theinformation.com

– A subscription-based publication focused on technology and business news.

The Rundown AI: https://www.therundown.ai

– Daily AI newsletter delivering news and practical applications in 5 minutes.

Superhuman: https://www.superhuman.ai

– Daily newsletter on AI tools, trends, and productivity tips.

The Neuron: https://www.theneuron.ai

– Daily AI newsletter with trends, tools, and tutorials for professionals.

The Batch: https://www.deeplearning.ai/the-batch

– Weekly newsletter curated by Andrew Ng’s team, focused on AI research and industry updates.

Turing Post: https://www.turingpost.com

– Newsletter exploring AI/ML trends, research, and interviews.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.