Sync new podcast episodes from feed

Author: HeyItsGilbert

content/podcast/2026-07-20-the-powershell-podcast-jake-hildreth-on-psconf-eu-stepper-updates-and-taking-the-day-off.md

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+---
+title: The PowerShell Podcast Jake Hildreth on PSConf EU, Stepper Updates, and Taking the Day Off
+author: Andrew Pla
+authors:
+  - Andrew Pla
+  - Jake Hildreth
+date: "2026-07-20T14:00:00+00:00"
+podcast_url: "https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/gc2ywy5rrdjk2zdd/The_PowerShell_Podcast_episode_238_Jake_Hildreth78xdh.mp3"
+episode: 238
+youtube: Rqkuaeps_jM
+guid: powershellpodcast.podbean.com/950e53f7-e949-3914-9df5-f0f7d04dc416
+aliases:
+  - /2026/07/the-powershell-podcast-jake-hildreth-on-psconf-eu-stepper-updates-and-taking-the-day-off/
+---
+
+Jake Hildreth, Principal Security Consultant at Semperis and Microsoft MVP, is back on the podcast fresh off a trip to PowerShell Conference Europe, where he and Andrew co-presented a session on securing PowerShell. Jake also gave his own talk on Stepper, his open-source module for building resumable, step-by-step scripts — a tool that's grown considerably since his last appearance on the show. The two dig into what makes PSConf EU such a standout event, the refreshing lack of elitism in the PowerShell community, and the updates Jake's been shipping, including named steps, built-in logging, and secret suppression. The conversation winds into burnout, the importance of actually taking your vacation days, and how the same mindset that drives good automation — knowing when to stop and reset — applies to taking care of yourself.
+
+Key Takeaways:
+
+- Stepper has gotten some meaningful quality-of-life updates since Jake last appeared on the show, including named steps, automatic logging, and the ability to suppress secrets from logs — making it more practical for real-world production scripts.
+- PSConf EU punches above its weight as a conference experience: technically deep but genuinely welcoming at every skill level, with none of the elitism that can creep into security-adjacent events.
+- Your vacation time is a benefit, not a backlog item. Jake makes the case that getting good at separating your work time from your off time isn't a soft skill — it's a sustainability practice.
+
+Guest Bio:
+
+Jake Hildreth is a Principal Security Consultant at Semperis, a Microsoft MVP in both PowerShell and Identity/Access, and a recovering sysadmin with 25 years of IT under his belt. He's probably best known for building Locksmith, the open-source AD CS auditing and remediation tool, but he's also the creator of Stepper, Deck, BlueTuxedo, and PowerPUG! — a suite of tools designed to make identity security a little less painful for the admins who live in it. When he's not untangling Kerberos or chasing down ADCS misconfigurations, he goes by "horse" in the PowerShell Discords.
+
+Resource Links:
+
+- Jake Hildreth's Website: [jakehildreth.com](https://jakehildreth.com)
+- Jake's GitHub: [github.com/jakehildreth](https://github.com/jakehildreth)
+- Stepper (Resumable PowerShell Scripts): [github.com/jakehildreth/Stepper](https://github.com/jakehildreth/Stepper)
+- Locksmith (AD CS Auditing & Remediation): [github.com/jakehildreth/Locksmith](https://github.com/jakehildreth/Locksmith)
+- Locksmith 2 (Next-Gen AD CS Toolkit): [github.com/jakehildreth/…](https://github.com/jakehildreth/Locksmith2)
+- PowerShell Conference Europe: [psconf.eu](https://psconf.eu)