Welcome back to TechTalks with Manoj — the show where we unpack what’s actually powering modern cloud architecture, not just what’s trending on LinkedIn slides or vendor decks.

In today’s episode, we’re going head-to-head with two cloud giants — AWS and Azure — to break down their database ecosystems. Not from a marketing angle, but from a hands-on architect's perspective.

You’ve heard the names — RDS, Cosmos DB, Redshift, Synapse. But which of these services actually deliver under pressure? What are the hidden trade-offs that don’t show up in the pricing calculator?

This episode isn’t just about “features.” It’s about architecture, cost control, performance at scale, and making the right calls when you're staring at an SLA, a backlog of tickets, and a production system you can’t afford to break.

Here’s what we’re getting into:

* The core differences between AWS and Azure’s relational and NoSQL offerings

* DynamoDB vs. Cosmos DB — performance, cost predictability, and real-world suitability

* Data warehousing done right — Redshift vs. Synapse Analytics from an architectural lens

* Migration nightmares and what nobody tells you about moving from Oracle

* Why customer support may quietly decide your cloud loyalty

* And how to avoid costly missteps in multi-cloud or hybrid database strategies

If you're building cloud-native, cost-sensitive, and future-ready systems — this one’s for you.

Let’s dive in.

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Welcome back to TechTalks with Manoj — the show where we unpack the tech that’s actually shaping modern systems — not just trending on social feeds.

In today’s episode, we’re diving deep into a service that doesn’t get nearly enough credit: Azure AI Search.

You’ve probably heard of vector search. Maybe semantic search. But Azure AI Search? It’s doing all of that — and then some — powering everything from hybrid retrieval to LLM grounding, and transforming how enterprises mine value from unstructured data.

This isn’t “just” search. It’s an intelligent retrieval engine — stacked with full-text, vector, semantic, and hybrid capabilities — plus a built-in AI enrichment pipeline that turns PDFs, blobs, and images into knowledge-ready chunks.

Here’s what we’re covering:

* The full retrieval stack — from Lucene to vectors to semantic reranking

* How hybrid search + semantic captions give LLMs real-world grounding

* When to use built-in vs custom enrichment, and how to host your own skills

* Why Reciprocal Rank Fusion (RRF) changes the game for RAG precision

* Practical tips for scaling, caching, and index tuning in production

* Security, compliance, and when not to use Customer Managed Keys

* And how to build an enterprise-grade, RAG-ready architecture using Azure AI Search, OpenAI, and your own data lake

If you're building copilots, internal bots, or search experiences that actually work — Azure AI Search is your silent MVP.

Let’s get into it.

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Welcome back to TechTalks with Manoj — the podcast where we cut through the buzz and get straight to how AI, cloud, and architecture are reshaping the way we build.

In today’s episode, we’re going beyond OCR. Because Azure AI Document Intelligence isn’t just reading documents — it’s transforming how enterprises extract, process, and act on information.

This isn’t some toy OCR engine. We’re talking full-stack, production-grade document intelligence — with prebuilt models, custom pipelines, RAG-ready layouts, and integrations that hook straight into Cosmos DB, Azure Search, and OpenAI.

Here’s what we’re unpacking:

* The full Document Intelligence Stack — from OCR to layout to neural models

* Where and when to use template vs neural vs composed models

* How confidence scores drive automated workflows — and when to keep a human in the loop

* Why Markdown output is your secret weapon in RAG pipelines

* Real-world use cases across finance, legal, healthcare, and more

* Strategic tips for cost control, compliance, and scaling with PTUs

* And how to stitch all this into your enterprise architecture — the smart way

Whether you're automating invoices, parsing contracts, or powering AI copilots with knowledge from scanned PDFs — this episode gives you a blueprint.

If you’re serious about building intelligent systems that scale — this is your playbook.

Let’s dive in.

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.