On this weblog, I’ll cowl the newest slate of bulletins throughout Microsoft Material and the whole Azure Information portfolio, designed to empower each developer on the planet to do extra with knowledge.
The emergence of a wholly new sort of group—reconstructed with AI—was uncovered in Microsoft’s newest annual Work Pattern 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 shall 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 sort of knowledge a corporation produces; not simply analytical, however transactional and operational, in each structured and unstructured kinds. Take The Estée Lauder Corporations, for instance, the worldwide magnificence firm educated an agent on their structured shopper perception knowledge to offer their groups with actionable intelligence immediately. Whereas dentsu, a worldwide advertising agency, educated a set of brokers on their unstructured HR and compliance knowledge to rapidly reply worker questions.
Builders will want the fitting 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 turn into our digital teammates. Whether or not you must work with analytical, operational, or transactional knowledge, we’re ensuring you’ve gotten the instruments you want. The truth is, Microsoft is acknowledged as a pacesetter throughout the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Information Integration Instruments, Cloud Database Administration Programs, Cloud AI Developer Companies, and Analytics and Enterprise Intelligence Platforms.
On this weblog, I’ll cowl the newest slate of bulletins throughout Microsoft Material and the whole Azure Information portfolio, designed to empower each developer on the planet to do extra with knowledge:
- Material bulletins: Cosmos DB (NoSQL) in Material, a brand new expertise known 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 Material is our AI-powered platform designed to deliver all of your groups and knowledge collectively to perform any knowledge venture. With Material, our purpose is to converge all the info companies you want right into a unified, open, and extensible platform, so that you not should 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 % of the Fortune 500—who’re utilizing Material at this time. And with greater than 50 % of our prospects utilizing greater than three workloads, most see the true worth of Material 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 initiatives. It doesn’t matter what your knowledge venture requires, whether or not it’s managing databases, accessing real-time knowledge, or coaching machine studying fashions, Material has the instruments you want, which work collectively seamlessly out of the field. Since Material is SaaS, you will 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 by day, like GitHub and VS Code.
And importantly, with Material, builders can entry and analyze any sort of knowledge. Microsoft OneLake, Material’s open knowledge lake, can hook up with structured and unstructured knowledge throughout any cloud or format. Material Actual-Time Intelligence can help your knowledge in movement. And with our most up-to-date announcement of Material Databases, we will help you deliver your transactional eventualities to Material. As we speak, we’re enhancing our help to your operational, semi-structured knowledge with the addition of Cosmos DB in Material.
Speed up app improvement with Cosmos DB in Material
Six months in the past we introduced Material Databases, a brand new class of SaaS databases constructed straight into Material which might be simple to deploy and handle and immediately obtainable to assist builders streamline software improvement. We began with SQL databases in Material, which you’ll provision in seconds to your structured knowledge and are extremely obtainable and safe by default.
Nevertheless, as brokers tackle more and more complicated duties, the flexibility 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 Material Databases to deal with semi-structured knowledge with the preview of Cosmos DB in Material. In line with a latest Bloomberg CIO examine, Azure Cosmos DB was the best choice for constructing generative AI purposes.1 The truth is, OpenAI selected Azure Cosmos DB because the database to help the trillions of database transactions and petabytes of knowledge 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 Material. With Cosmos DB in Material, 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 pliability to construct AI purposes grounded in operational, transactional, and analytical knowledge. Better of all, Cosmos DB knowledge is immediately obtainable in OneLake for analytics like close to real-time sentiment evaluation for chat purposes. Try these new capabilities in motion:
You possibly can attempt Cosmos DB in Material at this time or study extra by studying the Cosmos DB in Material weblog.
Carry the bodily world to the digital world with digital twin builder in Material
Together with your knowledge accessible in Material, we’re additionally bringing you extra instruments to investigate and uncover insights out of your knowledge. One of the vital thrilling new instruments is 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 Material Actual-Time Intelligence, digital twin builder supplies a less complicated, no-code or low-code technique to construct and handle digital representations of real-world objects and processes.
With digital twin builder, you’ll be able to join, map, and handle digital replicas of bodily and logical entities, whether or not they’re bodily belongings 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 study extra, you’ll be able to learn extra about digital twin builder in Material right here, and it’s also possible to begin your 60-day Microsoft Material free trial as effectively. Try 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 chat experiences is among the quickest rising AI experiences. A educated agent can allow groups to easily ask questions on their knowledge, offering a extra accessible and interactive technique to uncover insights.
Chat together with your knowledge by 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 by day, like Microsoft 365, Energy BI has turn into the default supply of knowledge and insights for a lot of enterprise customers. Within the coming weeks, customers will have the ability to open Copilot on their dwelling display screen and ask broader questions on their knowledge. Copilot will routinely search throughout a number of studies and semantic fashions to intelligently retrieve probably the most related knowledge you’ve gotten entry to and reply your questions. You possibly can even entry this Copilot in Energy BI expertise straight from Microsoft Groups, so that you don’t have to interrupt up your regular circulate of labor to get solutions. Try 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 Material knowledge brokers to Microsoft Copilot Studio
In Material, you’ll be able to create knowledge brokers—digital enterprise analysts which allow you to interact 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 straight 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 Material knowledge brokers integration with Copilot Studio turns into obtainable within the coming weeks.
Rework your knowledge right into a aggressive benefit with Azure Information
For many years, databases have been the spine for managing enterprise data—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 vital 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 degree. 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 initiatives.
We’re working arduous to additional enrich our Database choices in order 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, reworking 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 domestically 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 non-public preview program, with full adoption coming twice as quick as SQL Server 2022. You too can get began by frictionless integration with Material and Azure Arc, with help for real-time knowledge replication in Material by mirroring. See SQL Server 2025 in motion and study how one can get began at this time.
Carry collectively Azure PostgreSQL, VS Code, and GitHub Copilot
Open supply databases are enjoying an more and more extra crucial position in shaping the way forward for clever purposes, with PostgreSQL being the most well-liked based on 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 probably the most Postgres committers and contributions to the open-source neighborhood 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 inbuilt—designed to simplify workflows and increase productiveness by AI-powered help. The PostgreSQL extension permits builders to handle databases straight 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 improvement, serving to builders design schemas, write optimized queries, and troubleshoot points with expert-level steerage, 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 in the marketplace. Builders can leverage DiskANN to construct high-performance, low-latency, and scalable generative AI purposes that surpass pgvector index varieties.
Vector search has been foundational to constructing generative AI purposes, but it surely has limitations in relation to 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 straight inside the database that will help you unlock deeper relational context from knowledge.
Hook up with Azure AI Foundry straight from Azure Cosmos DB and Azure Databricks
For builders designing and customizing AI apps and brokers, we’re asserting you can 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 decide up conversations the place they left off. Threads storage is now typically obtainable.
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 software 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 eventualities: enabling Foundry Brokers to make use of AI/BI Genie and run Azure Databricks Jobs. These capabilities can improve information retrieval and develop 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 study extra about the entire Azure AI Foundry bulletins, you’ll be able to 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 part 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 high of the core enterprise knowledge working of their SAP purposes. When working on Azure, SAP Databricks shall be powered by Microsoft’s first social gathering Azure Databricks service. This integration permits SAP Databricks to learn from sturdy scalability, efficiency, safety, and the Azure integrations prospects count on from native Azure companies.
Join your Azure Databricks knowledge to Material
You should use mirroring to entry your Azure Databricks Unity Catalog tables in OneLake, at the moment in preview, and hold them in sync in close to real-time. Merely add your Azure Databricks workspace URL, choose the catalog, and Material 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 corporation.
Watch these bulletins in motion at Microsoft Construct
Be a part of us at Microsoft Construct from Could 19 to 22, 2025, to see all of those bulletins in motion throughout the next periods:
- BRK206: Microsoft Material 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 Material Automation and CI/CD.
- BRK207: SQL Server 2025: The Database Developer Reimagined.
- BRK208: Constructing AI brokers for actionable insights with knowledge in Material.
- BRK209: Constructing actual options with Actual-Time Intelligence in Material.
- 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 eventualities with Unified Information Estates in Microsoft Material.
Join now for our upcoming safety webinars:
References
2 Forbes, ChatGPT Hits 1 Billion Customers? ‘Doubled In Simply Weeks’ Says OpenAI CEO
