This week, I had the incredible opportunity to attend Microsoft Ignite 2025 in San Francisco. It was a jam-packed week filled with sessions, hands-on labs, and countless conversations with peers and Microsoft employees. Events like Ignite are where the future of technology comes alive—you get to see firsthand the innovations shaping our industry and hear directly from the teams building them. The energy was electric, and the depth of content was inspiring.
There’s so much to absorb at Ignite, and honestly, I only managed to scratch the surface of the announcements and innovations coming from Microsoft. With the sheer volume of information, I found myself rapidly jotting down notes and bullet points on topics I wanted to explore further. In this post, I’ve pulled together some of the highlights that stood out to me—along with links to official Microsoft articles and insights from technology advocates. These resources will be my starting point for a deeper dive in the coming days, and I hope you find something here that sparks your curiosity and inspires you to dig in as well. I have organized them by technology area, to help you jump to things that might interest you most.
Microsoft 365 Copilot & Agents
Work IQ
Work IQ is the intelligence layer behind Microsoft 365 Copilot, designed to understand your role, workflows, and organizational context. It uses your work patterns and data to deliver proactive, personalized assistance, making Copilot smarter and more relevant. This feature aims to transform productivity by anticipating needs and streamlining tasks across Microsoft 365 apps.
Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Agents
These new agents allow users to create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations directly from Copilot Chat using natural language prompts. They guide users through clarifying questions and enable seamless transitions from chat-based creation to in-app refinement. This integrated workflow accelerates content creation while maintaining enterprise-grade security and compliance.
Copilot App Builder
App Builder lets users create apps and workflows using natural language, without coding expertise. Employees can build dashboards, automate tasks, and deploy solutions securely within Microsoft 365. This capability democratizes app development, enabling rapid innovation while maintaining governance through Copilot Studio.
Agent 365
Agent 365 is the centralized control plane for managing AI agents across the enterprise. It provides registry, access control, observability, and security features to prevent agent sprawl and enforce compliance. Integrated into the Microsoft 365 admin center, it ensures organizations can scale agent deployments responsibly.
Security & Governance
Security Copilot in Microsoft 365 E5
Security Copilot is now included with Microsoft 365 E5, bringing AI-driven defense into daily workflows across Defender, Entra, Intune, and Purview. It introduces autonomous security agents for proactive threat detection and response. Customers receive built-in compute capacity for typical scenarios, making advanced security accessible without extra cost.
Azure AI & Foundry
Anthropic Models in Foundry
Microsoft Foundry now supports Anthropic’s Claude models alongside GPT models, offering enterprises greater flexibility for complex reasoning tasks. Claude models are optimized for multi-document research, coding, and agentic workflows, and integrate with Foundry’s governance and observability features. This partnership strengthens Azure’s position as a multi-model AI platform.
New Model Router in Foundry
The model router intelligently selects the best AI model for each prompt, balancing cost and performance. It now supports Anthropic models and GPT-5, enabling dynamic routing for complex tasks. Organizations can configure routing profiles and subsets to optimize compliance and efficiency.
Foundry Control Plane
The Foundry Control Plane provides unified governance for AI agents, models, and tools across Azure. It offers fleet-wide visibility, compliance monitoring, and cost optimization, helping enterprises scale AI responsibly. Features include guardrails, anomaly detection, and centralized observability for multi-agent environments.
Azure HorizonDB
Azure HorizonDB is a PostgreSQL-based cloud database engineered for mission-critical and AI-driven workloads. It integrates AI-native capabilities like filtered vector search and semantic ranking directly into the database. With enterprise-grade security and multi-zone replication, HorizonDB is built for organizations creating high-performance, AI-ready applications at scale.
AKS Automatic is Now GA
AKS Automatic is now generally available, simplifying Kubernetes cluster management with automated scaling, patching, and cost optimization. It reduces operational overhead and accelerates deployment for containerized workloads. This feature is ideal for organizations seeking efficiency in cloud-native environments.
Power Platform
Source Code Integration with Git
Power Platform now supports native Git integration for application lifecycle management. Developers can sync solutions with repositories, enabling version control and CI/CD workflows. This update bridges low-code development with enterprise-grade DevOps practices.
Monitoring and Alerts
Admins can now configure real-time alerts for Power Platform environments, improving governance and operational resilience. Alerts cover performance, security, and compliance events, helping organizations respond quickly to issues.
API & MCP Ecosystem
API Center
API Center centralizes API discovery, documentation, and lifecycle management across Azure. It simplifies governance and accelerates integration by providing a single pane of glass for all APIs. This feature supports MCP-based workflows for agentic systems.
Azure MCP Server is Now GA
Azure MCP Server is now generally available, enabling standardized agent-to-agent communication. It supports secure, real-time interactions between agents and enterprise systems, forming the backbone of multi-agent architectures.
Agent-to-Agent Protocol in APIM
API Management now supports an agent-to-agent protocol, allowing agents to exchange data and orchestrate workflows securely. This capability enhances interoperability in distributed AI environments.
GitHub & Developer Tools
GitHub Agent HQ
Agent HQ introduces a unified command center for managing AI agents within GitHub. It integrates with VS Code and enterprise governance tools, enabling developers to orchestrate multiple agents seamlessly. This marks a major step toward agent-native development workflows.
GitHub Spec Kit
Spec Kit promotes spec-driven development by providing templates and best practices for defining agent behaviors. It helps teams standardize agent design and improve collaboration across projects.
Connecting with the Microsoft Azure MVP Community
One of the highlights of Ignite was getting to meet and talk with the Microsoft Azure MVP team and several MVP members in person. These are individuals who dedicate countless hours to sharing knowledge, building community, and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with Azure. Their passion for technology and commitment to helping others succeed is truly inspiring.
Wrapping Up
Ignite 2025 was an incredible experience—one that reinforced how fast the industry is moving toward agentic workflows, AI-native platforms, and integrated cloud ecosystems. From HorizonDB’s AI-powered database capabilities to Copilot’s expanding role in productivity and security, the future is about intelligent, connected systems that empower people and organizations to do more with less friction. I’m excited to see how these innovations will shape the way we work and build in the coming year.
Drew Grubb - Runtime Development 