Time to follow my Dream – I’m joining Microsoft!!!!
Tags: uncategorized, microsoft
Published: 2022-01-08 15:09:13

---
title: Time to follow my Dream – I’m joining Microsoft!!!!
published: true
date: 2021-10-10 15:02:22 UTC
tags: Uncategorized,Microsoft
canonical_url: https://chris-ayers.com/2021/10/10/time-to-follow-my-dream-im-joining-microsoft/
---

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I’m so excited to announce that I’m joining Microsoft! I’ll be joining the Fast Track for Azure – Apps team as a Senior Customer Engineer. My first day will be October 25th, the 20th anniversary of the release of Windows XP. It’s been quite a journey to get here.

I’ve been enthralled with technology since my parents brought home our first computer in the mid 1980’s. I’ve had lots of different roles over the years, though it feels like the last 5-6 years really started me on the trajectory to Microsoft.

The change for me started with joining a consulting firm. I got more exposure to different solutions and technologies. I started attending MeetUps, User Groups, and conferences. I started speaking and blogging. I really found a passion for sharing with others.

While on a long-term project, I met Esteban Garcia, someone I now consider a mentor. He was helping setup our DevOps pipelines, and I was impressed by how he helped everyone. After a few years I joined him at Nebbia Technology, his small 12 person consulting company focused on DevOps and Azure. Esteban had a phenomenal team with an amazing culture that I was able to join and learn from.

Nebbia Technology was acquired by New Signature, a 500 employee consulting company focused on the Microsoft ecosystem. Esteban continued to lead our team as it grew into the Intelligent Cloud (Azure, DevOps, App Mod) team of New Signature. As our team grew, I talked with Esteban about growing as a leader. He helped motivate me, guide me, and offered feedback on how to be a better consultant and team member. I became our DevOps Capability Lead, doing pre-sales, building technical offerings and standards.

New Signature was acquired by Cognizant in 2020, along with 10th Magnitude (another consulting firm), forming the new Cognizant Microsoft Business Group. As Esteban moved to another role in New Signature, they needed a replacement to lead the team. This was a time of amazing growth for me. With Esteban’s help, I transitioned into the Regional Lead for Intelligent Cloud.

The last year has been a huge change for me. I broadened my knowledge in a lot of areas, and got a lot better at presenting. I focused on being a good leader for my team. Some of the team came with me from Nebbia, some from New Signature, and some I hired, but we came together. Culture has always been the key for me: caring for family, transparency, honesty, seeing beyond the work, and growth. I’ve made sure the team has opportunities to learn, grow, and pursue their dreams. I consider all of the friends.

I will be available to mentor them even as I follow my dream. This role takes me back into delivery. I get to help customers as they adopt azure, educating them, and gathering their feedback. I get to work with the Azure product teams. I also get to keep blogging, creating documentation, and samples that can help everyone. All the things I love to do, it feels like such a good fit for me.

I’M. GOING. TO. MICROSOFT. I can’t stop smiling.

And it wouldn’t be possible without my family, my friends, my mentor, and my team.

**Thank you all.**