Jay Gordon

About Jay Gordon

Senior Program Manager at Microsoft focused on cloud platforms, developer experience, and adoption, with an emphasis on Azure Cosmos DB. My career spans cloud infrastructure, data platforms, and developer ecosystems, and I specialize in translating complex distributed systems into practical guidance that helps people build real applications.I’ve spent years working across the cloud stack—from hands-on infrastructure and platform engineering roles to developer advocacy and, now, cross-functional program leadership. This background allows me to bridge product, engineering, and community, bringing cloud technologies to life in ways that resonate with developers, customers, and partners.In my current role, I work at the intersection of cloud technology, AI, and developer enablement. I collaborate closely with product, developer relations, marketing, and field teams to drive awareness and adoption through content, events, and community programs. A growing focus of my work is agentic coding and AI-assisted development, helping lower the barrier to entry so more people feel empowered to create applications, regardless of background or experience level.A significant part of my work involves leading and contributing to large-scale, first-party cloud events and community initiatives. I support and help shape flagship experiences such as Azure Cosmos DB Conf, and I regularly present, demo, and participate in technical sessions at events like Microsoft Ignite and Microsoft Build. These efforts connect developers directly with cloud platforms, real-world use cases, and the teams building the technology.I’m deeply engaged with developer communities across social platforms, open forums, and live programming, and I maintain a strong feedback loop between developers and product teams. I also track and report on engagement and performance across content, events, and social channels to understand what’s resonating, guide strategy, and continuously improve how cloud platforms are communicated and adopted.

Experience

1. Senior Program Manager

   Microsoft

   Feb 2022 — Present · New York, NY, US

   Senior Program Manager on the Azure Cosmos DB team driving adoption of cloud data platforms through developer enablement, technical programs, and community engagement. I work across engineering, product management, developer relations, marketing, and field teams to help developers build modern, AI-enabled, cloud-native applications on Azure Cosmos DB.My focus is reducing time-to-value by translating platform capabilities such as vector search, AI and hybrid search, Azure Cosmos DB, and Azure DocumentDB (with MongoDB compatibility) into practical, build-oriented guidance. I emphasize real application development using tools such as GitHub Copilot Chat, MCP servers, and agent-based application patterns.I lead planning and execution for Azure Cosmos DB Conf, including vendor sourcing, budget ownership, CFP workflows, speaker development, and end-to-end production. This includes delivering the first conference keynote with a live technical demo, building the event’s standalone website, and introducing post-event evaluation to guide future iterations.I support and present at first-party events such as Microsoft Ignite and Microsoft Build, working directly with speakers to recreate demos, refine prompts, test AI-assisted workflows, and troubleshoot live behaviors.I operate Cosmos DB’s technical content ecosystem across DevBlogs, YouTube, GitHub, and developer-facing social channels. Through an organic, developer-first content strategy with no paid placement, I helped grow the Azure Cosmos DB YouTube channel from approximately to over subscribers over three years.I also maintain internal dashboards and metrics reporting for developer engagement and own the Azure Cosmos DB release tracker to align engineering milestones with developer-facing assets. I maintain a tight feedback loop with the developer community to inform product direction.

Education

• College Of Staten Island

  Communications

Skills

• Servers
• Linux
• System Administration
• Data Center
• Cloud Computing
• Red Hat Linux
• Unix
• Virtualization
• Networking
• Apache
• Troubleshooting
• Freebsd
• Operating Systems
• Technical Support
• San
• Centos
• Storage Area Networks
• Nagios
• Dns
• Server Architecture
• Vmware
• Redhat
• Hardware
• Ubuntu
• Firewalls
• Windows Server
• Security
• Tape Backup
• High Availability
• Saas
• Vmware Esx
• Amazon Ec2
• Linux System Administration
• System Monitoring
• Bash
• Technical Documentation
• Nginx
• Xen
• Project Planning
• Cluster