Somewhere between the last meeting of the year and that first “ok, now what?” moment, I always try to pause.
Not to celebrate. Not to optimise. Just to look back and be honest.

2025 was full. Busy. Sometimes chaotic. But also very much on purpose. Less chasing, more choosing. And that made all the difference.

Speaking: Practical Stories From the Field

Speaking remained a constant factor in 2025. And honestly, I still enjoy everything around the session more than the session itself.

This year I had the privilege to speak at events like Workplace Ninja US and Experts Live Netherlands, as well as smaller community meetups and internal sessions. Different stages, same goal: talk about things that actually happen when theory meets reality.

Some of the sessions I spent most time on this year:

Security Copilot in Entra and Intune: The Ultimate Trio for Cybersecurity and Maybe World Domination
What Zombies Can Teach You About Security Baselines
Demystifying Cloud Security: Unlocking Certificate-Based Authentication and PKI Best Practices
Houston, We Have a Solution: Microsoft Cloud PKI

The real value never sits in the deck.
It lives in hallway chats, the “we tried that too”, and the quiet “oh… that explains a lot” moments. That’s the stuff that sticks.

Writing: Thinking Out Loud

I kept writing in 2025. Sometimes structured. Sometimes slightly ranty. Always honest.

Most blog posts came straight from the field. Things that broke. Things that confused customers. Licensing questions that kept coming back. Designs that looked great on paper but fell apart in real life.

Topics ranged from:

Cloud PKI with certificate-bases authentication
MacOS posts, from introduction to how to enroll and managing
The new Windows LAPS policy settings
NIS2 with Microsoft Security
The importance of RBAC
Windows Shared PCs

Writing is still how I slow my thinking down. If I can’t explain it clearly, I probably don’t understand it well enough yet.

Community: The Quiet Constant

Community isn’t just stages and blog views. 2025 proved that again.

A lot of the meaningful work happened quietly:

Sharing scripts, templates, and baselines on GitHub
Helping someone shape their first session abstract
Internal knowledge sessions with colleagues

Some of the best feedback I received this year never showed up publicly. Just a short message saying something worked. That’s more than enough.

Teaching Keeps You Honest

Explaining things to others has a funny side effect. It exposes every shortcut you take in your own thinking.

Teaching in 2025 reminded me of something simple:
If something feels “too complex to explain”, that’s usually a design problem. Not a communication one.

Looking Ahead

I’m heading into 2026 with the same intent.
Keep sharing what I learn. Keep simplifying where possible. Keep showing up. Even when it’s messy.

More sessions. More writing. More conversations.
And hopefully enough space to pause again next year.

Thanks, Honestly

If we talked in 2025. At a conference. After a session. Through a blog post. On GitHub. Or via a random message. Thank you.

This year wasn’t defined by features or tools.
It was defined by people, conversations, and shared learning.

And that’s exactly why it was a good year.

That is it for now. Until next time. 👋

Jeroen Burgerhout ☁️ | MVP

2025 - Pausing Before the Next Sprint