Microsoft Databases and Microsoft Cloth: Your unified and AI-powered information property

At present, I’m thrilled to announce the subsequent era of Microsoft’s databases: SQL Server 2025, Azure Doc DB, Azure Horizon DB, and Cloth Databases, every redesigned to satisfy the calls for of AI.

As AI reshapes each {industry}, one fact stays fixed: information is now not simply an asset—it’s your aggressive edge. The tempo of AI calls for simple information entry, sooner insights, and the flexibility to iterate with out friction. But many organizations are held again by fragmented information estates and legacy techniques. Microsoft Cloth was designed to satisfy this second—to unify your information, simplify your structure, and speed up your path to changing into an AI-led group.

That mission is gaining traction at outstanding pace. Since Cloth launched two years in the past, it has grown sooner than every other information and analytics platform within the {industry}. Greater than 28,000 prospects—together with 80% of the Fortune 500—now depend on Cloth, and its ecosystem continues to broaden as companions construct options to unravel probably the most advanced information challenges.

One other leap ahead throughout Microsoft Databases and Microsoft Cloth

As Cloth turns into the central connection level for information, we’re strengthening the database layer on the coronary heart of your information property—guaranteeing you will have the dimensions and efficiency required for AI.  

Microsoft already gives one of many {industry}’s most complete database portfolios, and we’re increasing it even additional—whereas deeply integrating these capabilities into Cloth. I’m excited to announce the overall availability of SQL Server 2025, Azure DocumentDB, and SQL database and Cosmos DB in Cloth, together with the preview of our latest addition, Azure HorizonDB. With these new choices, you have a world-class database choice to construct as soon as and deploy on the edge, as platform as a service (PaaS), and even as software program as a service (SaaS). And since our whole portfolio is both Cloth-connected or Cloth native, Cloth serves as a unified hub on your whole information property. Under I’ll cowl how these new databases are purpose-built to help your AI initiatives.  

Deploy the subsequent era of Microsoft Databases

Modernize your SQL property with SQL Server 2025, now usually obtainable

Microsoft has been shaping the SQL panorama for greater than 35 years. Now, with the discharge of SQL Server 2025 into common availability, we’re introducing the subsequent evolution—one which brings developer‑first AI capabilities on the edge, inside the acquainted T‑SQL expertise. Smarter search combines superior semantic intelligence with full‑textual content filtering to uncover richer insights from advanced information. AI mannequin administration utilizing mannequin definitions in T-SQL permits seamless integration with in style AI providers akin to Microsoft Foundry.

Enterprise reliability and safety stay best-in-class. Enhanced question efficiency, optimized locking, and improved failover assist guarantee greater concurrency and uptime for mission‑important workloads. With strengthened credential administration by way of Microsoft Entra ID by way of Azure Arc, SQL Server 2025 is safe by design. Your information can also be immediately accessible on your AI and analytics in Microsoft OneLake with mirroring for SQL Server 2025 in Cloth, now additionally usually obtainable.

SQL Server 2025 is probably the most vital launch for SQL builders in a decade. And the response to our preview has been overwhelming, with 10,000 organizations collaborating, 100,000 databases already deployed, and obtain fee two occasions greater than SQL Server 2022. If you wish to be part of all those that’ve already adopted SQL Server 2025, obtain it at present.

Azure DocumentDB: MongoDB-compatible, AI-ready, and constructed for hybrid and multi-cloud

We’re excited to announce Azure DocumentDB, a brand new service constructed on the open-source, MongoDB-compatible DocumentDB commonplace ruled by the Linux Basis. The primary Azure managed service to help multi-cloud and hybrid NoSQL, Azure DocumentDB can run constantly throughout Azure, on-premises, and different clouds.

Azure DocumentDB offers you the liberty to embrace open supply whereas reaching scale, safety, and ease. It’s AI-ready, with capabilities like vector and hybrid search to ship extra related outcomes. Prompt autoscale meets demand, and unbiased compute and storage scaling retains workloads environment friendly. Safety and availability is commonplace, with Microsoft Entra ID integration, customer-managed encryption keys, 35-day backups included, and a 99.995% availability service-level settlement (SLA). And shortly, enhanced full-text search will add options like fuzzy matching, proximity queries, and expanded language help, making it even simpler to construct clever, search-driven apps.

Azure DocumentDB is now usually obtainable, so you possibly can strive it at present. You may as well study extra about Azure DocumentDB and all of the Azure Database information by studying Shireesh Thota’s, Company Vice President of Azure Databases, announcement weblog.

Azure HorizonDB: PostgreSQL designed on your mission-critical workloads

PostgreSQL has develop into the spine of recent information options because of its wealthy ecosystem, extensibility, and open supply basis. Microsoft is proud to be the #1 PostgreSQL committer amongst hyperscalers, and we’re constructing on that management with Azure HorizonDB.

Now in early preview, Azure HorizonDB is a totally managed, PostgreSQL-compatible database service, constructed to deal with the dimensions and efficiency required by the trendy enterprise. It goes far past open supply Postgres, with auto-scaling storage as much as 128 TB, scale-out compute as much as 3,072 vCores, <1 millisecond multi-zone commit latency, and enterprise safety and compliance. Vector search is built-in, together with built-in AI mannequin administration and seamless connectivity to Microsoft Foundry so you possibly can construct trendy AI apps. Mixed with GitHub Copilot, Cloth, and Visible Studio Code integrations, it supplies an clever and safe basis for constructing and modernizing purposes at any scale. To study extra about Azure HorizonDB, learn our announcement weblog.

Speed up app growth with Cloth SaaS Databases, now usually obtainable

We’re additionally releasing a brand new class of SaaS databases, each SQL database and Cosmos DB in Cloth, into common availability. Information builders now have entry to world-class database engines inside the similar unified platform that powers analytics, AI, and enterprise intelligence.

Cloth Databases are designed to streamline your utility growth. You’ll be able to provision them in seconds, they usually don’t require the same old granular configuration or deep database experience. They supply enterprise-grade efficiency, are safe by default with options like cloud authentication, customer-managed keys, and database encryption, and are available natively built-in into the Cloth platform, even utilizing the identical Cloth capability models for billing.

With Cloth databases, builders now have the pliability to construct purposes grounded in operational, transactional, and analytical information. Collectively, these choices make Cloth a developer-first information platform that’s streamlined, scalable, and prepared for contemporary information purposes.

Be taught extra by studying Shireesh Thota’s, Company Vice President of Azure Databases, announcement weblog.

All of your databases related into Cloth

We’re making it simpler than ever to work together with your whole Microsoft database portfolio in Cloth, providing you with a single, unified place to handle and use all of your information. Constructing on our present mirroring help for Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL MI, we’re now saying the overall availability of mirroring for Azure Database for PostgreSQL, Azure Cosmos DB, and SQL Server variations 2016–2022 and 2025. With these databases mirrored instantly into Cloth, you possibly can eradicate conventional extract, remodel, and cargo (ETL) pipelines and make your information immediately prepared for analytics and AI.

Getting your information property prepared for AI with Microsoft Cloth

Selecting the best database is important, nevertheless it’s just the start. The foremost alternative lies in driving frontier transformation, the place information turns into the inspiration for an AI-native enterprise. We advocate specializing in three core steps:

• Unifying your information property to eradicate silos and complexity.
• Creating semantic which means so your information is prepared for AI.
• Empowering brokers to behave on insights and remodel operations.

On this part, I’ll dive into the most recent enhancements to Microsoft Cloth that assist you to obtain each step of your information journey. This consists of expanded interoperability in OneLake with SAP, Salesforce, Azure Databricks, and Snowflake, the introduction of Cloth IQ—a brand new workload that provides semantic understanding—and enhanced agentic capabilities throughout Cloth that will help you construct richer, AI-powered information experiences.

That is the way forward for information, and it’s already inside attain. With Cloth and our database improvements, Microsoft helps organizations transfer seamlessly from perception to motion—unlocking the complete potential of your information and the AI constructed on high of it.

Unify your information property with Microsoft OneLake

Microsoft OneLake unifies all of your information—throughout clouds, on-premises, and past Microsoft—right into a single information lake with zero-ETL capabilities like shortcuts and mirroring. Alongside the extra mirroring sources for Microsoft Databases, we’re additionally introducing the preview of shortcuts to SharePoint and OneDrive. This lets you carry unstructured productiveness information into OneLake with out copying recordsdata or constructing ETL pipelines, making it simpler to coach brokers and enrich your structured information.

As soon as related to OneLake, your information turns into simply discoverable within the apps your groups use day-after-day like Energy BI, Groups, Excel, Copilot Studio, and Microsoft Foundry. At present, we’re taking {that a} step additional with native integration with Foundry IQ—the subsequent era of retrieval-augmented era (RAG). Brokers depend on context—Foundry IQ’s information bases ship high-value context to brokers by simplifying entry to a number of information sources and making connections throughout info. You should use the OneLake information supply in Foundry IQ to attach brokers to multi-cloud sources like AWS S3, on-premises sources, and structured and unstructured information.

See how shortcuts and mirroring unify your information in OneLake and gasoline the subsequent era of clever brokers in Microsoft Foundry:

Increasing OneLake interoperability with main information platforms

We’re additionally seeing nice momentum with dozens of companions exterior of Microsoft deeply integrating with OneLake, together with ClickHouse, Dremio, Confluent, EON, and lots of extra. And now, we’re thrilled so as to add new, deeper interoperability with SAP, Salesforce, Azure Databricks, and Snowflake.

First, we’re deepening interoperability with the techniques organizations depend on most, SAP and Salesforce. With the launch of SAP Enterprise Information Cloud Join for Microsoft Cloth, prospects can permit bidirectional, zero-copy information sharing between SAP Enterprise Information Cloud (BDC) and Cloth. On the similar time, we’re working with Salesforce to combine their information into Cloth utilizing the identical zero-copy strategy, unlocking superior analytics and AI capabilities with out the overhead of conventional ETL.

We’re additionally strengthening interoperability with Azure Databricks and Snowflake so you need to use a single copy of knowledge throughout platforms. By the top of 2025, Azure Databricks will launch, in preview, the flexibility to natively learn information from OneLake by way of Unity Catalog, enabling seamless entry with out duplication or advanced information motion. Trying forward, Databricks may also add help for writing to and storing information instantly in OneLake, permitting full two-way interoperability. Learn extra about this interoperability.

Our collaboration with Snowflake on bidirectional information entry continues as properly. We’re introducing a brand new merchandise in OneLake referred to as a Snowflake Database and a brand new UI in Snowflake—each designed to permit OneLake to be the native storage answer on your Snowflake information. We’re additionally bringing Snowflake mirroring to common availability, permitting you to virtualize your exterior Snowflake-managed Iceberg tables in OneLake with shortcuts created and dealt with robotically. Collectively, these improvements allow you to run any Cloth workload—whether or not analytics, AI, or visualization—instantly in your Snowflake-managed Iceberg tables.

Be taught extra about our Snowflake collaboration by studying our newest joint weblog or by watching the next demo:

Lastly, in shut collaboration with dbt Labs, we’re additionally excited to announce built-in help for his or her {industry} main information transformation functionality. Now in preview, dbt jobs in Microsoft Cloth allow you to construct, take a look at, and orchestrate dbt workflows in your Cloth workspaces. Be taught extra on this weblog.

Create semantic information to gasoline AI with Cloth IQ

As Frontier Corporations prepare brokers on their enterprise information, it’s develop into clear that high quality and context matter greater than information quantity. Brokers want enterprise context throughout relationships, hierarchies, and which means to show uncooked information into actionable perception. That’s why we’re introducing Cloth IQ—a brand new workload designed to map your datasets to the real-world entities they symbolize, making a shared semantic construction on high of your information.

The ability of IQ lies in the way it unifies disparate information varieties beneath a single, coherent framework. Constructed upon Energy BI’s industry-leading, wealthy semantic mannequin know-how, IQ brings collectively analytical information, time-series telemetry, and geospatial info, all organized beneath a semantic framework of enterprise entities and their relationships, properties, guidelines, and actions. You’ll be able to then create operations brokers, a brand new sort of agent in Cloth, which might use this mannequin to behave as digital workforce members, monitoring real-time information sources, figuring out patterns, and taking proactive motion. As a substitute of forcing your groups and even brokers to suppose by way of tables and schemas, IQ permits you to align information with how your group operates.

In brief, Cloth IQ is designed to mannequin actuality with information, so that each perception, prediction, and motion is grounded in how your group truly operates. You’ll be able to study extra about IQ in Yitzhak Kesselman’s, Company Vice President of Messaging and Actual-Time Intelligence, announcement weblog.

As organizations scale their AI initiatives, the flexibility to attach clever brokers with enterprise-grade information is changing into a important differentiator. Cloth is making this potential with a set of built-in AI experiences: Copilot in Energy BI helps you ask questions of your information, Cloth information brokers permit deeper evaluation, and the brand new Cloth operations brokers allow you to monitor your information property and take motion in actual time. These experiences can be utilized throughout Cloth or as foundational information sources in industry-leading AI instruments like Microsoft Foundry, Copilot Studio and even Microsoft 365 Copilot to energy smarter, extra data-rich AI experiences.

Past introducing operations brokers as a part of Cloth IQ, we’re additionally increasing what information brokers and Copilot can do. Together with present integration with Microsoft Foundry and Copilot Studio, Cloth information brokers can now be embedded instantly in Microsoft 365 Copilot. This lets enterprise customers (with the fitting permissions) entry trusted information from OneLake and transforms Microsoft 365 from a productiveness suite into an clever insights platform.

They will additionally act as hosted Mannequin Context Protocol (MCP) servers, making it simple to combine with different purposes and brokers throughout the AI ecosystem. Lastly, information brokers can now purpose throughout each structured and unstructured information. Because of an integration with Azure AI Search, information groups can add their present unstructured information search endpoints as a supply in information brokers. Be taught extra the Cloth information agent enhancements by studying the Cloth AI weblog.

We’re additionally enhancing the standalone expertise for Copilot in Energy BI with a brand new search expertise. Merely describe what you want, and Copilot will find the related report, semantic mannequin, or information agent and floor the fitting solutions. This standalone expertise can also be coming to Energy BI cell so you need to use it on the go.

Check out how one can apply all of those AI experiences collectively seamlessly:

In brief, we’re redefining what it means to have an AI-powered information property. With information brokers, Copilot in Energy BI, and operations brokers in Cloth IQ, AI is now woven throughout Cloth. And with native integration to Microsoft Foundry and Copilot Studio, you possibly can simply add Cloth brokers as constructing blocks to create extra clever, knowledgeable customized brokers.

You can also see extra innovation coming to the Cloth platform by studying Kim Manis’, Company Vice President of the Cloth Platform, Cloth weblog or by trying out the extra technical Cloth November 2025 Function abstract weblog.

Mark your calendar for FabCon and SQLCon

We’re excited to announce SQLCon 2026, which can occur on the similar time and the identical location because the Microsoft Cloth Group Convention (FabCon), occurring March 16–20, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. By uniting the powerhouse SQL and Cloth communities, we’re giving information professionals in every single place a singular alternative to grasp the most recent improvements, share sensible information, and speed up what’s potential with information and AI, multi functional highly effective week. Register for both convention and luxuriate in full entry to each, with the pliability to combine and match classes, keynotes, and group occasions to suit your pursuits.

When you’re concerned about seeing these bulletins dwell, I encourage you to affix my Ignite session, “Innovation Session: Microsoft Cloth and Azure Databases – the information property for AI” both in individual or on-line without charge. I’ll not solely cowl these main bulletins however present you ways they arrive collectively that will help you create a unified, clever information basis for AI.

You may as well dive deeper into these bulletins and a lot extra by watching the remainder of the breakout classes throughout Azure Information:

Tuesday, November 18