Exploring the Future of AI Agents with Microsoft Foundry
Why Agentic AI Matters AI agents are no longer a distant vision—they’re here and transforming how businesses operate. According to industry analysts: Over 1 billion AI agents are expected to be in use by 2028. 80% of organisations plan to integrate agents within the next 2–3 years. By 2026, 40% of enterprise apps will include task-specific AI agents. Why this surge? Agents address critical challenges such as inefficiencies in manual processes, human error, lack of visibility, and scalability issues. They enable autonomous decision-making, with projections suggesting that by 2028, half of day-to-day work decisions will be made autonomously. From Chatbots to Intelligent Agents As Mary Joe highlighted, early chatbots relied on rigid rules and regular expressions, often leading to frustrating user experiences. The introduction of large language models (LLMs) changed the game, making interactions more natural. But true autonomy, where systems act on our behalf, required more than conversational AI. Agentic AI combines: Reasoning and planning capabilities. Tools and APIs for real-world actions. Memory for learning and improving over time. This evolution moves us beyond simple input-output interactions to intelligent systems that can execute workflows, validate data, and deliver outcomes. Microsoft Foundry: Your Platform for Building Agents Microsoft Foundry offers a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) approach for creating AI agents, striking a balance between control and ease of use. Key components include: Model Catalogue: Access models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, and more. Foundry Agent Service: Build and customise agents with integrated tools. Foundry IQ: Knowledge grounding for accurate responses. Control Plane: Ensures safety, trust, and observability in production. Whether you need full control (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) or simplicity (Software-as-a-Service via Copilot Studio), Foundry provides flexibility for diverse scenarios. What Makes an AI Solution Agentic? Unlike traditional AI apps that perform narrow tasks (e.g., extracting text from receipts), agentic solutions: Analyse inputs using LLMs and system instructions. Integrate tools for actions like file search, code execution, or API calls. Retain memory for contextual learning. Operate autonomously across workflows. Real-World Use Cases Agentic AI unlocks new possibilities across industries: Expense Management: Automate claims and approvals. Employee Onboarding: Personalised learning paths and skills navigation. Customer Support: Intelligent assistants for FAQs and troubleshooting. Data Analytics: Interactive insights and reporting with Fabric agents. Multi-agent systems can coordinate complex tasks, with specialised agents handling subtasks under a central orchestrator. Getting Started with Microsoft Foundry Creating your first agent is simple: Sign in at https://ai.azure.com and create a Foundry project. Select a model (e.g., GPT-4.1 mini) and configure deployment options. Customise instructions to define your agent’s persona and tasks. Add tools like file search or code interpreter for extended functionality. Test and iterate using the agent playground, then export code to Visual Studio Code for deployment. For detailed guidance, explore the https://learn.microsoft.com/training. Follow the skilling plan for this series Plans | Microsoft Learn Get started with AI Agents https://aka.ms/ai-agents-fundamentals Join the Community Stay connected and keep learning: Discord: Engage with developers building agents. https://aka.ms/foundry/discord GitHub Discussions: Share ideas and troubleshoot. https://aka.ms/foundrydevs Office Hours: Get direct support from product teams. Final Thoughts Agentic AI is reshaping the way we work, enabling systems to act, learn, and collaborate. With Microsoft Foundry, developers have the tools to build secure, scalable, and intelligent agents today not tomorrow. Join the sessions at https://aka.ms/AzureSkilling-Ignite/25AI Dev Days 2025: Your Gateway to the Future of AI Development
What’s in Store? Day 1 – 10 December: Video Link Building AI Applications with Azure, GitHub, and Foundry Explore cutting-edge topics like: Agentic DevOps Azure SRE Agent Microsoft Foundry MCP Models for AI innovation Day 2 – 11 December Agenda: Video Link Using AI to Boost Developer Productivity Get hands-on with: Agent HQ VS Code & Visual Studio 2026 GitHub Copilot Coding Agent App Modernisation Strategies Why Join? Hands-on Labs: Apply the latest product features immediately. Highlights from Microsoft Ignite & GitHub Universe 2025: Stay ahead of the curve. Global Reach: Local-language workshops for LATAM and EMEA coming soon. You’ll recognise plenty of familiar faces in the lineup – don’t miss the chance to connect and learn from the best! 👉 Register now and share widely across your networks – there’s truly something for everyone! https://aka.ms/ai-dev-daysHow to Ask Copilot to Improve Tone and Clarity in Microsoft Word
While working in a word document and trying to make your writing sound more polished, professional, or simply easier to understand. Most of us want our writing to be clear and confident now as Microsoft has introduced a powerful tool to help us get there: Copilot in Microsoft Word. https://dellenny.com/how-to-ask-copilot-to-improve-tone-and-clarity-in-microsoft-word/
Feature Request: Add Search Functionality in Copilot Chat History
Hi everyone, I’d like to suggest a feature for Microsoft Copilot that I believe would significantly improve usability and productivity: searching within chat history. Currently, users cannot search past conversations inside Copilot. This makes it difficult to retrieve previous answers, references, or technical instructions—especially in long or complex chats. Adding a search bar or keyword filter would allow users to quickly locate relevant messages without scrolling manually. This feature would be especially helpful for developers, IT professionals, and anyone using Copilot for technical troubleshooting or documentation. It would also reduce repeated questions and improve continuity across sessions. Please consider adding this capability in future updates. If others agree, feel free to upvote or share your use cases. Thanks!Overview of Copilot solutions and Key Benefits
Copilot isn’t one-size-fits-all. Each solution addresses different organizational needs. Here’s what they do—and why they matter. Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is a conversational experience on web and mobile that delivers quick, context-aware answers from organizational data. It provides quick, context-aware answers from organizational data, improving responsiveness across departments while supporting mobile work scenarios. Microsoft 365 Copilot is an AI assistant built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams. It accelerates document creation, data analysis, and presentations and helps you catch up on meetings and messages. Copilot uses the context you already have in Microsoft 365—files, emails, chats, and calendars—through Microsoft Graph and respects the same permissions, security, and compliance your organization relies on. Microsoft Copilot Studio is a platform for extensibility and customization. It lets you build custom copilots and extend existing ones without writing code. Copilot Studio allows businesses to tailor AI to unique workflows without heavy development investment, accelerating innovation. Key benefits for organizations Copilot delivers three core benefits that impact the entire organization: Benefit How benefit achieved Example scenario Boost productivity by automating repetitive tasks. Copilot automates repetitive tasks and accelerates content creation across teams. A marketing team might use Copilot in Word to draft campaign briefs based on brand guidelines, reducing turnaround time from days to hours. Improve decision quality with data-driven insights. Copilot provides fast, data-driven insights, enabling better decisions at every level. An operations team might use Copilot in Excel to analyze supply chain data and identify cost-saving opportunities before quarterly reviews. Strengthen governance with enterprise-grade compliance. Copilot respects enterprise security and compliance standards, ensuring sensitive data stays protected. When legal teams draft contracts, Copilot uses only authorized organizational data through Microsoft Graph, maintaining compliance with internal policies and regulatory requirements.How to Use Copilot in Microsoft Edge for Web Based Workflows
The modern web workflow now is about working faster, tasks automation and gaining insights . Microsoft Edge is enhancing beyond a traditional web browser with the help of Copilot an integrated AI assistant built directly into the sidebar. This blog explains how to use Copilot in Microsoft Edge to support your web based work from summarizing articles and drafting emails to querying data and transforming workflows with automation. https://dellenny.com/how-to-use-copilot-in-microsoft-edge-for-web-based-workflows/A Guide to Prompt Coach
Prompt Coach is a ready-to-use Agent built by Microsoft, included with free Copilot (Copilot Chat) and Microsoft 365 Copilot subscriptions. Teaches how to write clear, structured prompts Reviews existing prompts and suggests improvements Creates high-quality prompts tailored to your context Checks prompts for compliance and fairness Note: Prompt Coach is not available with Microsoft personal subscriptions Why use Prompt Coach ⭐ You’re new to Copilot (or any Gen AI tool) and learning how to prompt ⭐ Your prompts aren’t giving the results you want ⭐ You want to create effective prompts on the first try rather than a “trial-and-error” approach ⭐ You want to build skills to write your own high-quality prompts How to access Prompt Coach Go to M365 home and you will find Prompt Coach under the list of Agents. Let's go through a scenario 👤 You are a Recruiter 📝 You’ve written a job description for a new role and want a quality review before publishing ❓ You are not sure what prompt to use 💡 You know the prompt should start with “Analyze the job description” Step 1 - Open Prompt Coach and ask Analyze my prompt and provide feedback on how I could improve it "Analyze the job description" Step 2 - Receive actionable feedback from Prompt Coach Step 3 - Get an improved prompt from Prompt Coach 💡Tweak and refine what Prompt Coach gives you to make the prompt match your voice, context and goals.Connecting SharePoint Data to Copilot Insights A Complete Guide to Smarter Collaboration
AI is changing the workplace very fast than any other time. Using Microsoft 365 Copilot can help organizations get the true potential of their internal knowledge. SharePoint as the backbone of content and collaboration becomes even more powerful when connected to Copilot Insights. The integration between SharePoint and Copilot Insights gives the chance to users ask natural questions about their organization’s data and receive instant, intelligent answers, with no more digging through folders or chasing document versions. In this blog, we will walkthrough exploring why connecting SharePoint to Copilot Insights matters, how to configure your tenant for maximum success.Using Copilot in Loop Components for Seamless Collaboration
Collaboration has evolved dramatically in the modern digital workplace. Teams need intelligent tools to help them think, create, and build ideas together—no matter where they are. Microsoft Loop introduces a new, dynamic way to collaborate with live components that stay updated across apps like Teams, Outlook, and Word for the web. And with Copilot built into these components, teamwork becomes even faster, smarter, and more productive. This blog explores how teams can leverage Copilot in Loop Components to streamline workflows—and walks you through technical steps to get started today. https://dellenny.com/using-copilot-in-loop-components-for-seamless-collaboration/
