Hey, I’m Craig.
I’m the AI Solutions Lead at HSO, a Microsoft partner. My role sits across AI strategy, presales and hands-on delivery, helping organisations turn AI from a buzzword into something scoped, governed and actually running in production on the Microsoft stack. I still build things myself, and that is what most of this blog is about.
Before HSO, I was a Senior AI Solutions Architect in regulated financial services (insurance), where I built and ran production AI workloads on Azure AI Foundry, Azure AI Search, Azure SQL, Logic Apps and Copilot Studio, with governance across DEV, UAT and PRD environments. Expect posts on what actually happens when AI meets licensing, permissions, architecture trade-offs and audit requirements.
Before that, I was a Senior Teams and Copilot SME at Microsoft, working with customers and partners to remove technical and cultural blockers across Teams, Intune, Entra ID (formerly Azure AD), Conditional Access and Purview. Before joining Microsoft, I was a Microsoft MVP specialising in Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business. My roots are in UC, with a focus on complex voice and meeting room environments, and before that I was heavily involved with Cisco and Asterisk voice.
Everything you read here is my own personal opinion and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of my current or past employers.
There’s a good chance you’ve bumped into me at a conference. I like attending as both a speaker and an attendee to stay up to date with what’s happening in the UC and AI space.
Outside of work, I enjoy 4×4’ing on beaches and in the mud, fixing whatever I broke on my car while 4×4’ing, photography and mountain biking.
I’ve also been a volunteer firefighter with the Rural Fire Service in both NSW and QLD for many years, and a member of the State Emergency Service.
If you’d like to get in touch, you can reach me by email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: au.linkedin.com/in/cchiffers
X: x.com/cchiffers
– Craig
