Model Mondays S2E13: Open Source Models (Hugging Face)
1. Weekly Highlights 1. Weekly Highlights Here are the key updates we covered in the Season 2 finale: O1 Mini Reinforcement Fine-Tuning (GA): Fine-tune models with as few as ~100 samples using built-in Python code graders. Azure Live Interpreter API (Preview): Real-time speech-to-speech translation supporting 76 input languages and 143 locales with near human-level latency. Agent Factory – Part 5: Connecting agents using open standards like MCP (Model Context Protocol) and A2A (Agent-to-Agent protocol). Ask Ralph by Ralph Lauren: A retail example of agentic AI for conversational styling assistance, built on Azure OpenAI and Foundry’s agentic toolset. VS Code August Release: Brings auto-model selection, stronger safety guards for sensitive edits, and improved agent workflows through new agents.md support. 2. Spotlight – Open Source Models in Azure AI Foundry Guest: Jeff Boudier, VP of Product at Hugging Face Jeff showcased the deep integration between the Hugging Face community and Azure AI Foundry, where developers can access over 10 000 open-source models across multiple modalities—LLMs, speech recognition, computer vision, and even specialized domains like protein modeling and robotics. Demo Highlights Discover models through Azure AI Foundry’s task-based catalog filters. Deploy directly from Hugging Face Hub to Azure with one-click deployment. Explore Use Cases such as multilingual speech recognition and vision-language-action models for robotics. Jeff also highlighted notable models, including: SmoLM3 – a 3 B-parameter model with hybrid reasoning capabilities Qwen 3 Coder – a mixture-of-experts model optimized for coding tasks Parakeet ASR – multilingual speech recognition Microsoft Research protein-modeling collection MAGMA – a vision-language-action model for robotics Integration extends beyond deployment to programmatic access through the Azure CLI and Python SDKs, plus local development via new VS Code extensions. 3. Customer Story – DraftWise (BUILD 2025 Segment) The finale featured a customer spotlight on DraftWise, where CEO James Ding shared how the company accelerates contract drafting with Azure AI Foundry. Problem Legal contract drafting is time-consuming and error-prone. Solution DraftWise uses Azure AI Foundry to fine-tune Hugging Face language models on legal data, generating contract drafts and redline suggestions. Impact Faster drafting cycles and higher consistency Easy model management and deployment with Foundry’s secure workflows Transparent evaluation for legal compliance 4. Community Story – Hugging Face & Microsoft The episode also celebrated the ongoing collaboration between Hugging Face and Microsoft and the impact of open-source AI on the global developer ecosystem. Community Benefits Access to State-of-the-Art Models without licensing barriers Transparent Performance through public leaderboards and benchmarks Rapid Innovation as improvements and bug fixes spread quickly Education & Empowerment via tutorials, docs, and active forums Responsible AI Practices encouraged through community oversight 5. Key Takeaways Open Source AI Is Here to Stay Azure AI Foundry and Hugging Face make deploying, fine-tuning, and benchmarking open models easier than ever. Community Drives Innovation: Collaboration accelerates progress, improves transparency, and makes AI accessible to everyone. Responsible AI and Transparency: Open-source models come with clear documentation, licensing, and community-driven best practices. Easy Deployment & Customization: Azure AI Foundry lets you deploy, automate, and customize open models from a single, unified platform. Learn, Build, Share: The open-model ecosystem is a great place for students, developers, and researchers to learn, build, and share their work. Sharda's Tips: How I Wrote This Blog For this final recap, I focused on capturing the energy of the open source AI movement and the practical impact of Hugging Face and Azure AI Foundry collaboration. I watched the livestream, took notes on the demos and interviews, and linked directly to official resources for models, docs, and community sites. Here’s my Copilot prompt for this episode: "Generate a technical blog post for Model Mondays S2E13 based on the transcript and episode details. Focus on open source models, Hugging Face, Azure AI Foundry, and community workflows. Include practical links and actionable insights for developers and students! Learn & Connect Explore Open Models in Azure AI Foundry Hugging Face Leaderboard Responsible AI in Azure Machine Learning Llama-3 by Meta Hugging Face Community Azure AI Documentation About Model Mondays Model Mondays is your weekly Azure AI learning series: 5-Minute Highlights: Latest AI news and product updates 15-Minute Spotlight: Demos and deep dives with product teams 30-Minute AMA Fridays: Ask anything in Discord or the forum Start building: Watch Past Replays Register For AMA Recap Past AMAs Join The Community Don’t build alone! The Azure AI Developer Community is here for real-time chats, events, and support: Join the Discord Explore the Forum About Me I'm Sharda, a Gold Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador focused on cloud and AI. Find me on GitHub, Dev.to, Tech Community, and LinkedIn. In this blog series, I share takeaways from each week’s Model Mondays livestream.Introducing support for Graph data in Azure Database for PostgreSQL (Preview)
We are excited to announce the addition of Apache AGE extension in Azure Database for PostgreSQL, a significant advancement that provides graph processing capabilities within the PostgreSQL ecosystem. This new extension brings a powerful toolset for developers looking to leverage a graph database with the robust enterprise features of Azure Database for PostgreSQL.Trusted Signing Public Preview Update
Nearly a year ago we announced the Public Preview of Trusted Signing with availability for organizations with 3 years or more of verifiable history to onboard to the service to get a fully managed code signing experience to simplify the efforts for Windows app developers. Over the past year, we’ve announced new features including the Preview support for Individual Developers, and we highlighted how the service contributes to the Windows Security story at Microsoft BUILD 2024 in the Unleash Windows App Security & Reputation with Trusted Signing session. During the Public Preview, we have obtained valuable insights on the service features from our customers, and insights into the developer experience as well as experience for Windows users. As we incorporate this feedback and learning into our General Availability (GA) release, we are limiting new customer subscriptions as part of the public preview. This approach will allow us to focus on refining the service based on the feedback and data collected during the preview phase. The limit in new customer subscriptions for Trusted Signing will take effect Wednesday, April 2, 2025, and make the service only available to US and Canada-based organizations with 3 years or more of verifiable history. Onboarding for individual developers and all other organizations will not be directly available for the remainder of the preview, and we look forward to expanding the service availability as we approach GA. Note that this announcement does not impact any existing subscribers of Trusted Signing, and the service will continue to be available for these subscribers as it has been throughout the Public Preview. For additional information about Trusted Signing please refer to Trusted Signing documentation | Microsoft Learn and Trusted Signing FAQ | Microsoft Learn.Azure for Beginners How to Launch Your First Cloud Project in 30 Minutes
Cloud computing might sound intimidating if you’re just getting started, but launching your first project on Microsoft Azure can actually be quick and beginner-friendly. Whether you’re a student, a developer testing ideas, or an IT professional exploring the cloud, Azure provides all the tools you need to spin up resources in minutes. In this guide, we’ll walk through the basics and show you how to launch your first cloud project on Azure in about half an hour. https://dellenny.com/azure-for-beginners-how-to-launch-your-first-cloud-project-in-30-minutes/How to Cut Your Azure Bill in Half Without Losing Performance
Cloud services like Microsoft Azure give you the scalability and flexibility to run nearly any workload, but they also come with a downside: costs can spiral quickly if you’re not careful. The good news? With the right strategies, you can reduce your Azure bill by up to 50% without sacrificing performance. Let’s walk through some practical steps you can apply today. https://dellenny.com/how-to-cut-your-azure-bill-in-half-without-losing-performance/Approaches to Integrating Azure Databricks with Microsoft Fabric: The Better Together Story!
Azure Databricks and Microsoft Fabric can be combined to create a unified and scalable analytics ecosystem. This document outlines eight distinct integration approaches, each accompanied by step-by-step implementation guidance and key design considerations. These methods are not prescriptive—your cloud architecture team can choose the integration strategy that best aligns with your organization’s governance model, workload requirements and platform preferences. Whether you prioritize centralized orchestration, direct data access, or seamless reporting, the flexibility of these options allows you to tailor the solution to your specific needs.
Student Discount for Azure AZ-900 Certification
Hello, I am a student at a public university in Germany (Information Systems). I followed the steps described here to get the student discount: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/certifications/student-discounts#student-discounts However, the process does not seem to work as expected. I don’t see any option for student verification, and the exam price has not changed. I also noticed that other students reported the same issue. What can I do to verify my student status and actually receive the discount? Thank you! S.DarsijaZone redundancy is now enabled by default in Azure Container Registry
We’re excited to announce a major resiliency enhancement for Azure Container Registry (ACR): Zone redundancy is now enabled by default for all ACR SKUs in regions that support Availability Zones. This means your ACR resources are now more resilient automatically and at no additional cost. What’s Changed? Previously, zone redundancy was only available for registries using the Premium SKU. With this update, all SKUs, including Basic and Standard, now benefit from zone redundancy in supported regions. This change has been applied automatically to all new and existing registries in regions that support Availability Zones, with no action required from you. What Does This Mean for You? Zone redundancy ensures that your registry’s data is replicated across multiple physical zones within a region. This means: Improved Resilience: Your container artifacts stored in Azure Container Registry are now protected against single-zone outages. Zero Configuration Required: If your registry is in a supported region, it’s automatically zone redundant. No Extra Cost: This enhancement is included at no additional charge for all ACR SKUs. Current Experience At this time, the Azure portal and CLI may not reflect this change accurately. Specifically, the zone redundancy property in your registry’s configuration may still appear as false. However, zone redundancy is enabled for all registries in supported regions. We’re actively working to update the portal and API surfaces to reflect this new default behavior more transparently. Also, all enabled features before the migration will continue to work with this new update as expected. For a full list of regions with zone redundancy supported please see: List of Azure regions | Microsoft Learn. FAQ Q: What’s the benefit for me? A: Your registry is now more resilient to single zone failures, improving resiliency and reliability, without any changes on your part. Q: How much does this cost? A: This upgrade is included at no additional cost across all SKUs. Q: Do I need a specific SKU to benefit from this? A: No, in Availability Zone enabled regions, zone redundancy is now enabled by default on all SKUs. Q: Which regions support zone redundancy? A: You can find the full list of supported regions here: List of Azure regions | Microsoft Learn.🚀✨ Are you ready for a power-packed, productive, and inspiring October? ✨🚀
Here we go, friends! 🎉 The October Calendar is officially here, right on time, as always! 🗓️💯 This month, we’re bringing you a lineup of world-class sessions designed to help you: 🌍 Explore the https://www.linkedin.com/company/101186090/admin/page-posts/published/?share=true# ecosystem from new perspectives 💡 Gain practical skills you can apply immediately 🤝 Connect with experts and a global community of learners 🚀 Stay ahead with the latest innovations in Azure, AI, Power Platform, Security, and beyond. What makes this calendar stand out is the incredible diversity of voices and expertise it brings together. 🌍 You’ll hear from global speakers who share not just theory, but real-world experiences across different industries, giving you insights that truly matter. And the best part? ⏰ No matter where you are in the world, the sessions are scheduled across multiple time zones so you can always join in. Even better, everything is completely free and open, because learning and growth should be accessible to everyone. 💙 🔗 Check out the full list of sessions, register today, and prepare yourself for an amazing month of learning, networking, and growth. 🔥 This isn’t just another calendar, it’s your chance to grow, connect, and be inspired alongside thousands of passionate learners across the globe. 🙌 Let’s make October unforgettable together in the https://www.linkedin.com/company/101186090/admin/page-posts/published/?share=true# way! 💙 📢 https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaspersvenmozartjohansen/ 📅 October 4, 2025 06:00 PM CET 📖 Get started with a modern zero trust remote access solution: Microsoft Global Secure Access 🖇️ https://streamyard.com/watch/3APZGyZFRyQS?wt.mc_id=MVP_350258 📢 https://www.linkedin.com/in/akanksha-malik/ 📅 October 7, 2025 19:00 PM AEST 📅 October 7, 2025 10:00 AM CET 📖 Unlocking Document Insights with Azure AI 🖇️ https://streamyard.com/watch/M6qvUYdv58tt?wt.mc_id=MVP_350258 📢 https://www.linkedin.com/in/rexdekoning/ 📅 October 11, 2025 06:00 PM CET 📖 Azure Functions and network security.. Can it be done? 🖇️ https://streamyard.com/watch/RHzXr5bpYHFY?wt.mc_id=MVP_350258 📢 https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeevarajankumar/ 📅 October 7, 2025 18:00 PM AEST 📅 October 19, 2025 09:00 AM CET 📖 D365 Field Service 101 🖇️ https://streamyard.com/watch/RtDkftSxhn7P?wt.mc_id=MVP_350258 📢 https://www.linkedin.com/in/priyankashah/ 📅 October 21, 2025 19:00 PM AEST 📅 October 21, 2025 10:00 AM CET 📖 FSI and Gen AI: Wealth management advisor with Azure Foundry Agents and MCP 🖇️ https://streamyard.com/watch/Vb5rUWMBN9YN?wt.mc_id=MVP_350258 📢 https://www.linkedin.com/in/monaghadiri/ 📅 October 25, 2025 06:00 PM CET 📖 The Role of Sentence Syntax in Security Copilot: Structured Storytelling for Effective Defence 🖇️ https://streamyard.com/watch/EtPkn2EZkauD?wt.mc_id=MVP_350258
