Accelerate your AI journey and discover new resources at Microsoft Ignite 2024

In the fast-evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, developers and data scientists need access to a comprehensive suite of tools and services that not only accelerate the development of AI-enabled applications but also easily fold into their existing workflows.

Today, we announced Azure AI Foundry, our unified AI app platform that includes both our Azure AI Foundry portal (formerly Azure AI Studio), and code-first unified SDK experiences with pre-built app templates for developers.  Azure AI Foundry SDK enables Developers to access Azure AI directly from the world’s most loved developer tools – GitHub, Visual Studio, and Copilot Studio to build their own agents, among other templates, tools, and services to accelerate and support your AI development journey. From accessing pre-built models and APIs to developing custom solutions from scratch, Azure AI tools and services aims to provide everything you need to build intelligent, scalable applications.

See below as we explore the most recent updates and announcements that are helping to redefine the future of AI development, and learn how they can seamlessly integrate with Visual Studio Code and GitHub.

Check out the latest announcements

There are six really cool items for AI developers being discussed at Ignite this week. These extensions, tools, services, and templates are designed to enhance AI application development, streamline generative AI operations (GenAIOps), and boost coding productivity with AI-powered assistance.

GitHub Copilot for Azure

GitHub Copilot for Azure in VS Code is a Copilot extension in VS Code that enhances your GitHub Copilot experience and is designed to help streamline the process of developing for Azure. It seamlessly integrates with GitHub Copilot Chat in VS Code enabling developers to learn, build, deploy, troubleshoot and manage applications on Azure. Learn more about how to streamline your Azure workflow with GitHub Copilot.

AI App Templates

AI app templates speed up development and simplify production, integrating with GitHub Codespaces, VS Code, and Visual Studio. Use GitHub Copilot for Azure to get template suggestions based on your AI use case. Experience flexibility with various models, frameworks, and solutions from vendors like Arize and LangChain, and deploy full apps or components, provision resources across Azure and partner services, with security recommendations included. Explore AI app templates and get started.

GenAIOps

GenAIOps involves managing foundation models in production. Azure AI integrates with GitHub to automate the development lifecycles of AI-infused applications, ensuring efficient prompt engineering and deployment. The GenAIOps Maturity Model helps organizations assess and improve their capabilities. Learn more about how to unlock the power of GenAIOps from development to production.

Azure AI Foundry SDK

The unified Azure AI Foundry SDK empowers developers to innovate with AI through a unified toolchain for building, testing, and deploying applications with enterprise-grade control. The SDK can be integrated into GitHub and Visual Studio Code to easily access Azure resources and AI capabilities from your local environment. The SDK offers model inferencing to boost productivity and efficiency, enabling organizations to change model type without needing to recode so they can responsibly evolve and scale their AI applications. Get more details on Azure AI Foundry SDK.

Azure AI Agent Service (coming soon to public preview)

Build AI agents quickly with Azure AI’s fully managed Agent Service. This new feature lets enterprise developers create, deploy, and scale AI applications to automate business processes. Use models from the Model Catalog, including OpenAI and Meta, and integrate Microsoft knowledge sources. With over 1,000 action connectors and support for Azure Functions, automate any process seamlessly. Access via SDK and customize further in environments like VS Code and GitHub. Additionally, GitHub Models provide a robust coding environment for experimenting with and customizing Azure AI models, further enhancing the capabilities of the Azure AI Foundry SDK. Read the full announcement to learn more.

OpenAI library for .NET

The official OpenAI library for .NET is now stable and generally available for use in production. This enterprise-grade client library empowers developers to integrate OpenAI’s advanced language models directly into their .NET applications. The latest stable release provides .NET developers with access to OpenAI's latest stable APIs, including Structured Outputs. The latest beta version of our library also includes support for the latest OpenAI preview features such as the popular Realtime API and much more. Try the library: Install the OpenAI .NET library and start experimenting with its features.

Check out more news and announcements from Ignite 2024.

Connect with other developers and grow your skills

The Microsoft Ignite Community Lounge offers a dynamic space for connecting with experts, engaging in discussions, and exploring various topics such as AI, security, and modern work. Attendees can participate in roundtables, learn about impactful AI initiatives, celebrate community achievements, and contribute to open-source projects. The lounge also provides opportunities to join and interact with communities that align with personal and professional interests, fostering a sense of belonging and collaboration. Find your space to connect with folks at Ignite.

Check out the Generative AI Model Selection, Evaluation, and Multimodal Integration with Azure AI Plan on Microsoft Learn. With this learning outcome-based skilling plan, you will explore the process of selecting and applying genAI models, how to benchmark and apply multimodal models, and complete evaluations to ensure performance and safety. 

Register for the Build trustworthy AI solutions on Microsoft Azure Microsoft Learn Challenge | Ignite Edition to unlock fundamental knowledge about creating secure and reliable generative AI solutions with Microsoft Azure.

Explore more resources to continue your AI journey

To learn and discover more ways to integrate Azure AI into your next project, explore The AI Show, connect with the AI Discord community, or utilize learning paths and strategies from Microsoft Learn at AI for Developers. Discover all the tools and resources needed to start building your AI-applications faster, and learn how we work with partners such as NVIDIA to provide developers and data scientists streamlined access to the necessary tools for creating, training, and deploying sophisticated AI models on a unified platform. The combined strengths of both companies ensure enhanced performance, scalability, and usability, empowering innovation without the complexities of infrastructure management. 

Until next time!

Seth Juarez, Principal Program Manager