Thoughts on Building Data & AI Systems — Satya Katari

In the last post, we talked about what AI agents are — systems that can reason, plan, use tools, and take real actions in the real world. Powerful stuff. Now here’s the uncomfortable follow-up question: what happens when an agent does the wrong thing? It sends an email to the wrong person. It runs a query that locks your production database. It leaks a piece of data that should never have left the system. These aren’t hypotheticals. In 2025, a growing number of companies reported AI agents accessing systems they weren’t supposed to or allowing inappropriate data access. And this… Read more

You’ve probably noticed the word “agent” showing up everywhere in the AI world. Every product launch, every conference talk, every LinkedIn post — agents, agents, agents. But most explanations either drown you in jargon or make it sound like science fiction. Let’s fix that. By the end of this post, you’ll understand what AI agents actually are, how they’re different from the chatbots you already use, and why this shift matters. A Chatbot Answers. An Agent Acts. Start here. This is the single most important distinction. A chatbot takes your input and gives you a response. You ask a question,… Read more

Every developer building an MCP server for SQL Server hits the same fork in the road within the first five minutes. Do you let the AI talk directly to your tables? Or do you route everything through stored procedures? It sounds like a small decision. It’s not. This single choice shapes the security of your data, the flexibility of your AI assistant, and how much you’ll trust the whole system six months from now. I’ve seen teams go both ways. I’ve seen both blow up. Here’s what I think after watching this play out across different projects. The Direct Table… Read more

We covered what MCP is. Now let’s trace what actually happens during a real interaction — step by step. Key idea: MCP doesn’t decide what action to take — the model decides. MCP defines how requests are structured, transmitted, and safely returned. If you’re anything like me, knowing what something is only gets you halfway. You want to know how it works. What actually happens when Claude asks GitHub for your open issues? What messages get sent? What’s happening behind the scenes? The Two Layers of MCP MCP is built in two layers. The Transport Layer is how messages physically… Read more

If you’ve been anywhere near the AI developer world lately, you’ve probably seen three letters popping up everywhere: MCP. Maybe you saw it in a tweet. Maybe your coworker mentioned it. Maybe you saw it in some tool’s changelog. By the end of this post, you’ll understand what MCP is, why it exists, and why it actually matters to you as a developer. Just the stuff you need to know. Key idea: MCP standardizes how AI applications connect to tools and data — it solves integration, not intelligence. So… What Actually Is MCP? MCP stands for Model Context Protocol. It’s… Read more

Claude is often described as a conversational AI. This article looks at what it actually helps with during everyday work. Key idea:Key idea: Claude is at its best when used as a thinking companion — an AI that works alongside you to explore ideas, challenge assumptions, and refine your thought process. AI assistants have improved significantly in recent years. Instead of responding only to fixed commands, modern systems can interpret natural language and assist with structured tasks. Claude is one such assistant, designed for conversation and practical problem solving. Language Understanding Claude processes natural language with contextual awareness rather than… Read more

AI has been evolving fast. At first, software followed strict instructions.Then came chat-based AI — systems that could answer questions and hold conversations. Now we’re entering the next stage: AI that doesn’t just respond… it works toward a goal. These systems are called autonomous AI agents. From Asking Questions to Delegating Work Tools like ChatGPT or Claude are powerful, but they still depend on a conversation loop: You ask → AI answers → You refine → AI updates You remain in control of every step. Autonomous agents change this completely. Instead of telling the system how to do something, you… Read more

OpenAI is gearing up to release its latest language model, GPT-5, which promises to bring significant advancements in artificial intelligence. Here’s an overview of what to expect: 1. Enhanced Reasoning and Accuracy GPT-5 is designed to improve upon the reasoning capabilities of its predecessors, aiming to handle complex problem-solving tasks more effectively. This enhancement seeks to reduce instances where the model might provide incorrect or misleading information, commonly referred to as “hallucinations.” 2. Multimodal Integration Building upon previous models, GPT-5 is expected to offer more seamless integration of text, images, audio, and video processing. This multimodal capability would enable the… Read more

Microsoft Fabric is a comprehensive and unified analytics platform that brings together various data services into a single ecosystem. It enables organizations to efficiently handle data engineering, analytics, machine learning, and business intelligence. Below, we explore the key terms and tools used in Microsoft Fabric to help you understand its capabilities. 1. Core Components Lakehouse A hybrid data storage architecture that merges the features of data lakes and data warehouses to provide scalable and flexible data management. Data Warehouse A structured data storage solution optimized for SQL-based analytics, supporting high-performance queries and data modeling. Data Factory A powerful ETL (Extract,… Read more

As organizations increasingly move towards cloud-based data solutions, choosing the right platform for data processing, analytics, and storage becomes critical. Microsoft Fabric, AWS, GCP, and Snowflake are among the top contenders in this space. Each offers unique capabilities, but which one is best suited for your business needs? Let’s compare them across key factors. 1. Overview of Each Platform Microsoft Fabric Microsoft Fabric is a unified analytics platform that integrates multiple services like Azure Data Factory, Synapse Analytics, Power BI, and AI/ML tools under one umbrella. It is designed for seamless data ingestion, transformation, storage, and visualization with deep integration… Read more