Проблемы Microsoft Azure начались с гонки за ИИ, по словам бывшего инженера: "Эти сбои накапливались".

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Microsoft's Azure cloud platform problems stem from AI, according to a former engineer: "Those disruptions built up."

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By Kevin Okemwa published 8 April 2026

An ex-Microsoft engineer recently detailed how Azure continues to struggle to deliver.

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An ex-Microsoft engineer recently detailed how Azure’s rushed launch, talent exodus, and AI hype left Microsoft’s cloud fragile and struggling to compete.

"Remont is in a pickle," said Ben Reitzes, an analyst at Melius Research, following Microsoft's rough quarter, which saw it lose about a quarter of its market value. But the tech giant is still pushing its AI ambitions, planning a massive $146 billion infrastructure investment in 2026. That's nearly double what they spent last year, even though investors are getting a bit nervous about the profitability of this whole AI thing. 🤖

Azure is like Microsoft's cash cow, raking in billions every year by offering cloud services, software, and more to businesses worldwide. It's all about subscriptions and pay-as-you-go pricing.

But it hasn't all been smooth sailing for Azure. Axel Rietschin, who used to work on Azure Core Compute and also spent eight years on Windows Base Kernel, recently spilled the beans in a series of essays (via The Register). He explained how Microsoft basically crammed Azure onto the market back in 2008 to go head-to-head with AWS.

Rietschin claims that Microsoft's rush to launch Azure, the subsequent talent drain, a lack of focus on software quality and testing, no clear architectural vision, and just plain bad execution have all plagued the service. They were so focused on getting it out the door that they skipped out on building stability and supporting their own people.

"This foundational fragility, rooted in rushed decisions and wishful thinking about how fast the platform could grow and stabilize, led to small but ongoing disruptions," Rietschin explained. "Over time, those disruptions built up."

The fallout? Governments have apparently been quite unhappy with Microsoft's Azure services. Rietschin even suggested that this might have played a role in pushing Microsoft's multi-billion dollar deal with OpenAI into a new agreement, costing them their first dibs on being OpenAI's main cloud provider. ☁️

Azure never operated as smoothly or independently as promised. What Microsoft presented to the world, and to its most demanding customers, was a sophisticated system perpetually on life support.

Axel Rietschin, Ex-Microsoft Engineer

Rietschin believes OpenAI's $11.9 billion deal with CoreWeave was a clear signal that they weren't too impressed with Microsoft's Azure. And get this: in 2024, federal cybersecurity folks apparently trashed Microsoft 365 Government Community Cloud High (GCC High), calling it "garbage." 🗑️

During Microsoft's financial report for FY26 Q2, they admitted they're facing huge capacity issues, which is causing a major backlog in commercial bookings. They also dropped a bombshell: OpenAI accounts for about 45% of these commitments. 🤯

While some talk about AI replacing jobs, Rietschin argued that just laying people off isn't the answer. He told The Register that Microsoft execs should bring back senior tech folks to actually improve development training. Mentoring and coaching from long-time Microsoft engineers, he believes, would have a much bigger long-term impact. His main point? The company's biggest problem is the loss of knowledge due to high employee turnover. 🧑‍🏫

Even Bill Gates admitted that AI might take over most tasks, but he thinks software engineers will hang in there because the field is just too complex for AI to fully handle – for now. 🤔

But as we see everywhere, AI is gobbling up more and more jobs, even the tricky ones. The scary part? The risks of AI writing code without human oversight are pretty serious. 😱

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Kevin Okemwa

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Kevin Okemwa is a seasoned tech journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya with lots of experience covering the latest trends and developments in the industry at Windows Central. With a passion for innovation and a keen eye for detail, he has written for leading publications such as OnMSFT, MakeUseOf, and Windows Report, providing insightful analysis and breaking news on everything revolving around the Microsoft ecosystem. While AFK and not busy following the ever-emerging trends in tech, you can find him exploring the world or listening to music. 🎶

Azure never operated as smoothly or independently as promised. What Microsoft presented to the world, and to its most demanding customers, was a sophisticated system perpetually on life support.

Axel Rietschin, Ex-Microsoft Engineer