How I got started leading database teams with Shireesh Thota | Talking Postgres Ep29

From dreaming of driving a bus to leading database engineering at Microsoft. In Episode 29 of Talking Postgres with Claire Giordano, Shireesh Thota traces his path to becoming CVP of Azure databases—rooted in a love of math, early BASIC programming, and a certainty that he’d become an engineer. We dig into the shift from engineer to manager (if only people came with documentation); why it’s so important for Microsoft to contribute to the PostgreSQL open source project—not just consume it; and whether Shireesh has a favorite database (hint: it better be Postgres.) Chapters: ⏩ 00:00 Music ⏩ 02:11 How it started ⏩ 05:12 Becoming manager the old-fashioned way ⏩ 06:56 “I managed like how I coded” ⏩ 12:01 Social capital & face time ⏩ 20:46 Databases are the microcosm ⏩ 23:00 Wanted to be a bus driver ⏩ 30:35 What is your favorite database (and why?) ⏩ 39:05 Contributing to Postgres open source ⏩ 43:31 Postgres insights from customers ⏩ 50:23 New VS Code extension for PostgreSQL! 📜 Full transcript available at: https://talkingpostgres.com/episodes/... ✅ Listen to more episodes of Talking Postgres: https://talkingpostgres.com 💥 Subscribe to Talking Postgres, so you never miss an episode: https://talkingpostgres.com/subscribe Links mentioned in this episode: 🔹 Blog post excerpt: Why we have a Postgres open source contributor team at Microsoft: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/b... 🔹 Podcast episode: Leading engineering for Postgres on Azure with Affan Dar:    • Leading engineering for Postgres on Azure ...   🔹 New VS Code extension for PostgreSQL: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/... 🔹 POSETTE talk introducing Microsoft’s VS Code extension for Postgres:    • Introducing Microsoft's VS Code Extension ...   🔹 About PGConf.dev 2025 talk on “The trouble with extensions” by Marco Slot:   / marcoslot_the-trouble-with-extensions-acti...   🔹 Podcast episode: How I got started as a developer (& in Postgres) with David Rowley:    • How I got started as a developer (& in Pos...   🔹 Book: Who Moved My Cheese: https://www.amazon.com/Who-Moved-My-C... 🔹 Calendar invite: LIVE recording of Ep30 of Talking Postgres to happen on Wed Aug 6, 2025: https://aka.ms/TalkingPostgres-Ep30-cal #TalkingPostgres #podcast #PostgreSQL