On this weblog, I’ll cowl the most recent slate of bulletins throughout Microsoft Cloth and the complete Azure Information portfolio, designed to empower each developer on the planet to do extra with knowledge.
The emergence of a wholly new kind of group—reconstructed with AI—was uncovered in Microsoft’s newest annual Work Development Index report. These frontier corporations are constructing agent assistants, creating hybrid human and agent groups, and even establishing complete groups of brokers directed by people. As extra organizations start their journey to this subsequent frontier, brokers will start to function throughout each particular person and crew, with organization-wide context, automating duties and offering people with well timed, contextual insights.
Builders will probably be on the coronary heart of this agentic net. However powering these brokers would require extra than simply AI fashions. Builders might want to deliver collectively each kind of information a company produces; not simply analytical, however transactional and operational, in each structured and unstructured varieties. Take The Estée Lauder Corporations, for instance, the worldwide magnificence firm skilled an agent on their structured client perception knowledge to offer their groups with actionable intelligence immediately. Whereas dentsu, a world advertising agency, skilled a collection of brokers on their unstructured HR and compliance knowledge to shortly reply worker questions.
Builders will want the correct instruments at their disposal to deliver collectively all this knowledge, put together it for AI, and use it to coach the brokers that can quickly develop into our digital teammates. Whether or not you have to work with analytical, operational, or transactional knowledge, we’re ensuring you might have the instruments you want. Actually, Microsoft is acknowledged as a pacesetter throughout the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Information Integration Instruments, Cloud Database Administration Techniques, Cloud AI Developer Providers, and Analytics and Enterprise Intelligence Platforms.
On this weblog, I’ll cowl the most recent slate of bulletins throughout Microsoft Cloth and the complete Azure Information portfolio, designed to empower each developer on the planet to do extra with knowledge:
- Cloth bulletins: Cosmos DB (NoSQL) in Cloth, a brand new expertise referred to as digital twin builder, and new methods to make use of Copilot to speak together with your knowledge.
- Azure Information bulletins: SQL Server 2025, PostgreSQL in VS Code with GitHub Copilot, AI Foundry integration with Azure Cosmos DB and Azure Databricks, and SAP integration with Azure Databricks.
Microsoft Cloth is our AI-powered platform designed to deliver all of your groups and knowledge collectively to perform any knowledge mission. With Cloth, our purpose is to converge all the info companies you want right into a unified, open, and extensible platform, so that you not need to manually sew collectively disconnected companies. This imaginative and prescient of a converged knowledge platform has already resonated with greater than 21,000 prospects—together with over 70 p.c of the Fortune 500—who’re utilizing Cloth at this time. And with greater than 50 p.c of our prospects utilizing greater than three workloads, most see the true worth of Cloth as a do-it-all knowledge platform.
By converging our industry-leading instruments in a single software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform, we will additionally assist builders speed up their tasks. It doesn’t matter what your knowledge mission requires, whether or not it’s managing databases, accessing real-time knowledge, or coaching machine studying fashions, Cloth has the instruments you want, which work collectively seamlessly out of the field. Since Cloth is SaaS, you may get began immediately with out the complexity of infrastructure and configuration settings you sometimes discover in knowledge platforms. Steady integration and steady supply (CI/CD) capabilities are woven into the platform together with direct integration to the instruments builders use day-after-day, like GitHub and VS Code.
And importantly, with Cloth, builders can entry and analyze any kind of information. Microsoft OneLake, Cloth’s open knowledge lake, can connect with structured and unstructured knowledge throughout any cloud or format. Cloth Actual-Time Intelligence can help your knowledge in movement. And with our most up-to-date announcement of Cloth Databases, we may also help you deliver your transactional situations to Cloth. As we speak, we’re enhancing our help to your operational, semi-structured knowledge with the addition of Cosmos DB in Cloth.
Speed up app growth with Cosmos DB in Cloth
Six months in the past we introduced Cloth Databases, a brand new class of SaaS databases constructed immediately into Cloth which might be simple to deploy and handle and immediately out there to assist builders streamline utility growth. We began with SQL databases in Cloth, which you’ll be able to provision in seconds to your structured knowledge and are extremely out there and safe by default.
Nevertheless, as brokers tackle more and more complicated duties, the power to deliver collectively semi-structured knowledge like textual content, paperwork, emails, and graphs will show crucial for AI coaching. Which is why we’re thrilled to announce we’re increasing Cloth Databases to deal with semi-structured knowledge with the preview of Cosmos DB in Cloth. In line with a current Bloomberg CIO research, Azure Cosmos DB was the best choice for constructing generative AI purposes.1 Actually, OpenAI selected Azure Cosmos DB because the database to help the trillions of database transactions and petabytes of information wanted to help the five hundred million customers who use ChatGPT weekly.2
We’re taking this industry-leading database expertise and bringing it to Cloth. With Cosmos DB in Cloth, builders can deploy a high-performance database with only a few clicks whereas nonetheless experiencing enterprise-grade dynamic scalability and 99.999% reliability. With help for each SQL and NoSQL fashions, builders now have the flexibleness to construct AI purposes grounded in operational, transactional, and analytical knowledge. Better of all, Cosmos DB knowledge is immediately out there in OneLake for analytics like close to real-time sentiment evaluation for chat purposes. Take a look at these new capabilities in motion:
You’ll be able to strive Cosmos DB in Cloth at this time or be taught extra by studying the Cosmos DB in Cloth weblog.
Carry the bodily world to the digital world with digital twin builder in Cloth
Together with your knowledge accessible in Cloth, we’re additionally bringing you extra instruments to investigate and uncover insights out of your knowledge. One of the vital thrilling new instruments known as digital twin builder, now in preview. Digital twin builder is a robust new functionality that permits organizations to create, handle, and visualize digital replicas of bodily and logical entities at scale. In-built Cloth Actual-Time Intelligence, digital twin builder offers an easier, no-code or low-code approach to construct and handle digital representations of real-world objects and processes.
With digital twin builder, you possibly can join, map, and handle digital replicas of bodily and logical entities, whether or not they’re bodily property like equipment, logical entities like prospects, or dynamic processes like manufacturing and logistics. You should use this digital twin to reinforce deep analytics, carry out what-if evaluation, and automation your processes. If you wish to be taught extra, you possibly can learn extra about digital twin builder in Cloth right here, and you may also begin your 60-day Microsoft Cloth free trial as effectively. Take a look at the next video of digital twin builder in motion:
Empower everybody to ask questions on their knowledge in Energy BI and Microsoft Copilot Studio
Insights are solely impactful after they attain those that can use them to tell selections. That’s why making knowledge extra accessible by way of chat experiences is among the quickest rising AI experiences. A skilled agent can allow groups to easily ask questions on their knowledge, offering a extra accessible and interactive approach to uncover insights.
Chat together with your knowledge by way of Copilot in Energy BI
Now, we’re thrilled to announce a brand new standalone, full-screen Copilot expertise in Energy BI which permits everybody to speak with the info they’ve entry to. With over 30M month-to-month energetic Energy BI customers and embedded experiences within the apps we use day-after-day, like Microsoft 365, Energy BI has develop into the default supply of information and insights for a lot of enterprise customers. Within the coming weeks, customers will have the ability to open Copilot on their house display and ask broader questions on their knowledge. Copilot will mechanically search throughout a number of experiences and semantic fashions to intelligently retrieve essentially the most related knowledge you might have entry to and reply your questions. You’ll be able to even entry this Copilot in Energy BI expertise immediately from Microsoft Groups, so that you don’t have to interrupt up your regular circulation of labor to get solutions. Take a look at the next demo to see how this works:
I’m excited to share that we’re working to increase Copilot in Energy BI capabilities into Microsoft 365 Copilot with Energy BI agent, permitting customers to seek out content material, ask questions, and visually discover and analyze knowledge with out leaving Microsoft 365 Copilot.
Join Cloth knowledge brokers to Microsoft Copilot Studio
In Cloth, you possibly can create knowledge brokers—digital enterprise analysts which allow you to have interaction in pure language conversations about your knowledge in OneLake. Constructing on this functionality, we’re excited to deliver these knowledge brokers into Copilot Studio. As soon as added to your agent in Copilot Studio, they are often deployed throughout Microsoft Groups and Microsoft 365 Copilot to purpose over complicated datasets, get insights immediately from knowledge in OneLake (respecting knowledge entry permissions), and take motion. Your brokers may even automate duties like sending emails or triggering workflows, making it simpler for customers to work together with enterprise knowledge and make data-driven actions in context.
Learn extra in regards to the new chat together with your knowledge expertise in Energy BI and keep tuned for when the Cloth knowledge brokers integration with Copilot Studio turns into out there within the coming weeks.
Remodel your knowledge right into a aggressive benefit with Azure Information
For many years, databases have been the spine for managing enterprise info—enabling environment friendly storage, retrieval, and evaluation that energy the world’s purposes. And now, as we shift into the AI period, databases have gotten much more necessary to help our more and more AI-powered purposes.
The ODP Company, which incorporates Workplace Depot, makes use of Azure Cosmos DB along with Azure AI companies to serve HR knowledge to staff in real-time, changing turnarounds that used to take 24 hours.
We use Azure Cosmos DB to retailer HR knowledge on the profile stage. It’s the glue between our again finish and entrance finish—everybody who logs in will get a profile, and the mannequin reads and writes to it in actual time to take care of context.
—Mick Feller, Distinguished Engineer, The ODP Company
The ODP story is only one of many, with prospects like Docusign, BNY Mellon, and Mondra equally utilizing Azure Databases to gasoline their AI tasks.
We’re working laborious to additional enrich our Database choices so that they sustain with AI mannequin innovation and proceed fueling your AI purposes. As we speak, we’re excited to unveil main bulletins throughout each our industry-leading SQL and open-source database choices, designed to help builders in crafting clever purposes.
Construct AI apps securely from floor to cloud with SQL Server 2025
For over 35 years, SQL Server has been an {industry} chief in offering safe, high-performance knowledge administration. Now, we’re thrilled to announce SQL Server 2025 is formally in public preview.
Our latest model of SQL Server is purpose-built to securely help your AI purposes, remodeling right into a vector database in its personal proper. SQL Server makes use of built-in filtering capabilities together with a vector search, with versatile interfaces for AI fashions deployed regionally or within the cloud, simplified workflows with built-in vector embedding, and help for well-liked frameworks like LangChain, Semantic Kernel, and Entity Framework Core.
SQL Server 2025 has already resonated effectively with greater than 3,400 candidates for our personal preview program, with full adoption coming twice as quick as SQL Server 2022. You too can get began by way of frictionless integration with Cloth and Azure Arc, with help for real-time knowledge replication in Cloth by way of mirroring. See SQL Server 2025 in motion and be taught how one can get began at this time.
Carry collectively Azure PostgreSQL, VS Code, and GitHub Copilot
Open supply databases are taking part in an more and more extra crucial position in shaping the way forward for clever purposes, with PostgreSQL being the most well-liked in line with Stack Overflow’s 2024 Developer Survey.3 Microsoft is dedicated to supporting open supply and making the developer expertise higher than ever. Notably, Microsoft has essentially the most Postgres committers and contributions to the open-source group amongst all of the hyperscalers.
As we speak, we’re asserting the preview of the brand new and improved PostgreSQL extension for VS Code with GitHub Copilot in-built—designed to simplify workflows and enhance productiveness by way of AI-powered help. The PostgreSQL extension permits builders to handle databases immediately inside VS Code, whether or not they’re working in Azure, Docker containers, or on-premises environments. Now, the GitHub Copilot integration brings pure language capabilities to database growth, serving to builders design schemas, write optimized queries, and troubleshoot points with expert-level steering, proper from their editor.
We’re additionally asserting the overall availability of DiskANN on Azure Database for PostgreSQL, one of many quickest vector indexing algorithms available on the market. Builders can leverage DiskANN to construct high-performance, low-latency, and scalable generative AI purposes that surpass pgvector index sorts.
Vector search has been foundational to constructing generative AI purposes, however it has limitations on the subject of understanding some semantic relationships between enterprise knowledge. We’re making it simpler for groups creating clever purposes and brokers to unlock deeper insights from their operational knowledge by introducing generative AI-powered reasoning in PostgreSQL. These new semantic operators in Azure Database for PostgreSQL, now in preview, leverage LLMs immediately inside the database that will help you unlock deeper relational context from knowledge.
Hook up with Azure AI Foundry immediately from Azure Cosmos DB and Azure Databricks
For builders designing and customizing AI apps and brokers, we’re asserting that you may now use Azure Cosmos DB accounts to energy AI options in Azure AI Foundry.
Prospects can now securely retailer and handle the dialog threads between customers and AI brokers of their Azure Cosmos DB accounts, utilizing the Azure AI Foundry SDK. This allows brokers to recall the content material of earlier thread conversations and messages and choose up conversations the place they left off. Threads storage is now typically out there.
Coming quickly, builders will have the ability to use the info saved of their Azure Cosmos DB accounts to energy AI options in Azure AI Foundry. Prospects can quickly join and entry their Azure Cosmos DB knowledge utilizing Azure AI Foundry in utility code, and Azure Cosmos DB would be the first Azure database capable of energy brokers and fashions in Azure AI Foundry with real-time, operational knowledge.
We’re additionally asserting the general public preview of Azure AI Foundry connection for Azure Databricks. This connection facilities on two key situations: enabling Foundry Brokers to make use of AI/BI Genie and run Azure Databricks Jobs. These capabilities can improve information retrieval and increase how Foundry Brokers ship contextual solutions grounded in enterprise knowledge, the place a lot of the world’s knowledge resides. And, if you wish to be taught extra about all the Azure AI Foundry bulletins, you possibly can learn their weblog right here.
Increasing our Databricks and SAP partnership
We’re thrilled to deepen our longstanding partnership with SAP and Databricks, supporting SAP’s newest improvements with the launch of SAP Enterprise Information Cloud (BDC) and SAP Databricks on Azure, anticipated in Q3 2025. SAP Databricks is a core element of SAP Enterprise Information Cloud (BDC) that permits customers to leverage analytics capabilities of Databricks tailor-made to SAP workloads. Now builders can innovate on prime of the core enterprise knowledge operating of their SAP purposes. When operating on Azure, SAP Databricks will probably be powered by Microsoft’s first get together Azure Databricks service. This integration permits SAP Databricks to profit from strong scalability, efficiency, safety, and the Azure integrations prospects count on from native Azure companies.
Join your Azure Databricks knowledge to Cloth
You should use mirroring to entry your Azure Databricks Unity Catalog tables in OneLake, at present in preview, and hold them in sync in close to real-time. Merely add your Azure Databricks workspace URL, choose the catalog, and Cloth creates a shortcut for each desk within the chosen catalog. Study extra by watching this video or by viewing the documentation.
Transferring ahead with knowledge and AI improvements in Azure
With these bulletins, we’re evolving our knowledge choices alongside our AI improvements to maintain tempo on this new period. These new improvements are designed to assist builders break down silos and combine their knowledge into AI purposes, regardless of the kind of knowledge or the place it lives inside a company.
Watch these bulletins in motion at Microsoft Construct
Be part of us at Microsoft Construct from Might 19 to 22, 2025, to see all of those bulletins in motion throughout the next periods:
- BRK206: Microsoft Cloth for Builders: Construct scalable knowledge and AI options.
- BRK204: What’s new in Microsoft Databases: Empowering AI-Pushed App Dev.
- BRK202: Scale and safe MongoDB-compatible apps with Azure Cosmos DB.
- BRK203: Get sooner LLM responses and low app latency with Azure Managed Redis.
- BRK205: What’s coming in Cloth Automation and CI/CD.
- BRK207: SQL Server 2025: The Database Developer Reimagined.
- BRK208: Constructing AI brokers for actionable insights with knowledge in Cloth.
- BRK209: Constructing actual options with Actual-Time Intelligence in Cloth.
- BRK210: Construct AI apps and unlock the ability of your knowledge with Azure Databricks.
- BRK211: Constructing superior agentic apps with PostgreSQL on Azure.
- BRK212: Design scalable knowledge layers for multi-tenant apps with Azure Cosmos DB.
- BRK213: Allow superior AI situations with Unified Information Estates in Microsoft Cloth.
Enroll now for our upcoming safety webinars:
References
2 Forbes, ChatGPT Hits 1 Billion Customers? ‘Doubled In Simply Weeks’ Says OpenAI CEO
