The AI panic: Azure admins worry that AI will eliminate their jobs. The reality is more nuanced: AI will automate the tasks bad admins rely on (clicking through the portal, copy-pasting from Stack Overflow) while amplifying what good admins already do (understanding systems, debugging complex issues, architecting solutions).
After implementing Azure OpenAI and AI Foundry in production, I've learned that enterprise AI requires three layers Microsoft doesn't emphasize:
- Cost reality first β Azure OpenAI looks cheap until you hit production scale. $50K/month AI bills are common without proper governance.
- RAG complexity β Retrieval-Augmented Generation isn't "just add a vector database." It's data governance, chunk strategies, and embedding model selection.
- Role transformation β AI creates new roles (AI Admin, Prompt Engineer, RAG Architect) while eliminating manual work from existing ones.
This hub contains the Azure OpenAI pricing models, AI Foundry implementation patterns, and career guidance I've learned from deploying AI at enterprise scale. Real costs, real patterns, and real career advice.