I have been to my fair share of PowerShell + DevOps Summits over the years. Each year I catch up with long-time friends, meet new folks, and dive into learning something new in PowerShell.
One thing I noticed right off the bat was the enthusiasm in every room. It was contagious. Having so many passionate, brilliant minds in the same space was awesome — and it made the conference that much more enjoyable.
Here are a few takeaways I gathered from this year’s event.
1. PowerShell recognizes community leaders
On day one, PowerShell recognized three individuals for their contributions to the PowerShell community. Congrats to these winners:
Rob Sewell: Don Jones Leadership Award
Justin Grote: Jeffrey Snover Innovation Award
Andrew Pla (yes, that Andrew Pla!): Sean Kearney Spirit Award
All three awards are well deserved, but of course I was a little extra pumped for Andrew Pla. Working with him was a highlight of my career, and I could not be any more excited to see him get recognized for his work in the PowerShell community.
2. DSC 3.0 breaks away from PowerShell
At Monday’s panel of State of the Shell, we learned about a lot of great things coming down the pipeline for the future of PowerShell 7.6. The most interesting to me was Desired State Configuration (DSC) 3.0, which Microsoft launched in March 2025. DSC is now its own application and no longer based on PowerShell. You can learn more about these changes in Microsoft’s formal announcement of DSC 3.0.
3. Don’t sleep on Bicep
Also of note is Bicep, a domain-specific language that uses declarative syntax. Many people I look up to are diving into Bicep with gusto. If you’re interested in Infrastructure as Code (IAC) and want to expand your skill set, I recommend taking some time to learn Bicep. It seems like it will have a significant impact going forward.
4. Learn how to run PowerShell in Azure
The session titled “The Many Ways to Run PowerShell in Azure” changed the way I approach authenticating to Azure. (It also heavily uses Bicep. I told you to learn it!) Turns out managed identities are way cooler than I thought, and automating your processes will be a lot easier if you set them up correctly.
5. IT careers take more than being the smartest guy in the room
Jeffrey Snover gave some solid career advice. Being great at the tech is a fantastic start, but if you want to be a force multiplier for others (and not just a smart guy in the room), you have to grow additional skills. If you steamroll those in your way to implement your vision, at a certain point in your career, you will hit a wall. Once you start enabling and empowering those around you, you elevate both your career and your impact.
The 2025 PowerShell + DevOps Global Summit left me a little smarter — and a bit exhausted, if I’m being honest. (And yes, my wife mentioned this is the one week a year that I show enthusiasm for talking to people. She appreciates knowing that I am capable of human interactions outside of family or work.)
PowerShell + Devops Global Summit also restored my love for IT, which is no small feat. It’s an amazing conference, and I definitely encourage you to experience it firsthand in 2026.
