Cloud Cultures, Episode 1 — Poland Microsoft | Executive Producer | Season 1 (Pilot)

Poland was the first episode of Cloud Cultures, and in many ways, the one that set the template for everything that followed. Our host, Microsoft executive Corey Sanders, was conducting a business trip across five countries in seven days, which meant we had roughly three hours of his time at each stop. To make the most of every minute and bring genuine local credibility to each episode, I developed the co-host model: pairing Corey with a local Microsoft colleague who could independently capture stories, add an insider perspective, and effectively double our coverage. It worked well enough that it shaped the structure of the entire pilot season.

Poland's episode weaves together three distinct stories: a shoe retailer that launched 50 digital projects the day pandemic lockdowns began, a digital-first bank building a culture where mistakes are not just tolerated but expected, and a Ukrainian refugee using a Microsoft-sponsored skilling program to rebuild her life and career in Warsaw. That last interview, conducted over pierogies at a quietly perfect restaurant I sourced for the setting, became one of the most emotionally resonant moments in the series. One wrinkle: we learned the day before the shoot that our subject wasn't comfortable speaking English. Fortunately, our Polish-born DP stepped in to translate on the fly, one of many lessons absorbed on this first production.

I also directed this episode, and brought in the hyperlapse technique that became a visual signature of the series, an approach that hadn't yet found its footing in corporate marketing. Finding the right hyperlapse creator and integrating it into the show's language was one of the early creative bets that paid off across all twelve episodes.

The finale, a walkthrough of Microsoft's newly opened Polish Digital Valley datacenter, presented its own challenge. Security protocols at a functioning Microsoft facility are stringent even for the people who built it, requiring careful coordination to maintain the cinematic quality we'd established everywhere else.

About Cloud Cultures Microsoft | Executive Producer | 12 Episodes across 3 Seasons

Cloud Cultures began as a question: what if Microsoft's global infrastructure story was told not through data centers and technical specs, but through the people and cultures those capabilities actually serve? I was part of the core team that developed the series from the ground up - shaping its structure, branding, tone, and production - before taking ownership as executive producer once production began.

A three-episode pilot proved the concept decisively. Microsoft immediately ordered five additional episodes, expanding the series to two full seasons, then commissioned a third before our host — a Microsoft executive — moved on from the company. Twelve episodes. Twelve countries. A multi-million dollar, multi-year production that earned Telly, Hermes, American Advertising, and Cascadia Creative Awards, including two Platinum Hermes and a Telly Gold.