responsiveX founder and longtime VSLive! speaker will help shape the 2027 event lineup, starting with Las Vegas, March 22–26, 2027
WOODLAND HILLS, CA, UNITED STATES, October 27, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The developer education conference series that has trained Microsoft-focused engineers for more than three decades is bringing in fresh leadership to steer its next chapter. Visual Studio Live! has tapped a veteran of its own stage to help decide what developers will learn in 2027 and beyond.
Woodland Hills, CA — October 23, 2026 — Visual Studio Live! (VSLive!), the long-running training conference series for developers working with Microsoft .NET, Visual Studio, and Azure, today announced that Eric D. Boyd has been named Conference Co-Chair. Boyd, Founder and CEO of responsiveX, a Microsoft Foundry and Azure MVP, and a Microsoft Regional Director, joins the conference leadership team to help guide technical content, identify emerging topics, and shape speaker lineups across the VSLive! event series, beginning with VSLive! Las Vegas 2027, March 22–26, at Planet Hollywood Las Vegas Resort & Casino.
Bringing Deep Technical Expertise and a Passion for Developer Education
Boyd is no stranger to the VSLive! stage, having spoken at the conference for years and staying deeply embedded in the Microsoft developer ecosystem. His background spans cloud computing, application development, and AI—he has built applications on Microsoft Azure since 2008 and co-authored Step-by-Step Azure SQL Database for Microsoft Press.
His path into technology began three decades ago at a web development startup, and he has since worn many hats: developer, consultant, technology executive, and business owner. That mix of hands-on coding and organizational leadership gives him a clear view of both the technical hurdles and the practical realities developers face when adopting new tools.
“Eric has been a valued part of the VSLive! community for years, and we’re excited to welcome him to our conference leadership team,” said Brent Sutton, Vice President, Live! 360 Events, 1105 Media. “He’s an outstanding speaker who has a real talent for making complex technical topics approachable and relevant. He’s deeply involved in the Microsoft developer community, stays on top of evolving technologies, and is genuinely passionate about sharing his knowledge and helping other developers succeed. That combination of technical expertise, industry connections, and commitment to developer education makes him a great fit to help shape our future VSLive! agendas and ensure we’re delivering the practical, forward-looking training our attendees expect.”
Work on the 2027 agenda is already underway, with Boyd collaborating alongside the VSLive! conference leadership team to pinpoint timely subjects, evaluate session proposals, and introduce new perspectives into the programming. His input arrives at a moment when developers are grappling with rapid changes in AI, cloud infrastructure, and modern software delivery methods.
“VSLive! has been part of my career for sixteen years, so I’m honored to help shape what comes next. Developers are being asked to adopt AI, agents and new cloud patterns faster than ever. Our job is to cut through the hype with practical, hands-on sessions from people who build this stuff every day, so attendees go home with skills they can apply and use immediately.” said Eric D. Boyd, Conference Co-Chair, Visual Studio Live!
Helping Shape the Future of VSLive!
Before he takes on the co-chair role in Las Vegas, Boyd will appear as a featured speaker at Live! 360 Tech Con 2026, running Nov. 15–20, 2026, at the Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando. There, VSLive! is one of six co-located conferences, and Boyd’s sessions will tackle emerging developer technologies such as Python and AI, enterprise AI architectures, and AI-assisted software development.
At VSLive! Las Vegas 2027, Boyd will lead a full-day pre-conference hands-on lab on Monday, March 22, titled Agentic SDLC: Building an AI Software Factory with GitHub Copilot, Claude, and Codex.
VSLive! Las Vegas, March 22–26, marks the first event of the 2027 series with Boyd as Conference Co-Chair. The rest of the year will bring VSLive! Austin (May 2–6), VSLive! & AILive! @ Microsoft HQ in Redmond, Wash. (Aug. 2–6), and VSLive! Orlando as part of Live! 360 (Nov. 14–19).
Registration for VSLive! Las Vegas 2027 is open at vslive.com.
About VSLive!
For over 30 years, Visual Studio Live! (VSLive!®) has offered practical, expert-led training for developers, software architects and engineers working across the Microsoft stack. Its in-person conferences and virtual training cover AI and agents, GitHub Copilot, .NET, C#, Azure, Blazor, cloud-native development, data and DevOps, taught by Microsoft insiders, MVPs and industry experts. VSLive! is produced by Live! 360 Events, an 1105 Media, Inc. company. Learn more at vslive.com.
About responsiveX
responsiveX is a Microsoft-focused technology consultancy that helps organizations turn hard problems into measurable business outcomes. For nearly 15 years, its team of experts has helped clients modernize legacy platforms, build cloud-native products on Azure, put AI to work, adopt agentic software development, and strengthen security and software delivery. Learn more at responsiveX.com.
About Eric Boyd
Eric Boyd is the founder and CEO of responsiveX, a Microsoft Regional Director, and a 16-time Microsoft MVP for Azure and Foundry. A veteran Visual Studio Live! speaker and keynoter, Boyd brings nearly 30 years of experience in software architecture, application development, cloud, and AI. Learn more at EricBoyd.com.
Why it matters: As AI tools and agentic workflows transform how software gets built, developer conferences must evolve or lose relevance. Boyd’s appointment signals VSLive! is betting on hands-on, hype-free training to keep its audience equipped for a rapidly shifting technical landscape.
David Seymour
Live! 360 Events
+1 949-266-9176
dseymour@1105media.com
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