Generative AI for Beginners - A 12-Lesson Course
Are you fascinated by the world of Artificial Intelligence and its endless possibilities? Are you a beginner eager to dive into the realm of Generative AI? If so, you're in the right place! In this blog post, we're excited to introduce you to a comprehensive 12-lesson course designed to teach you everything you need to know to start building Generative AI applicationsMicrosoft Learn Launches a New Series on Generative AI for Innovators
Do you have a great idea for a startup, but don’t know how to turn it into reality? Do you want to learn how to use the latest AI technologies to create innovative products and services? If yes, then you should check out the new series on Microsoft Learn: Generative AI for Innovators. This series will teach you how to use powerful AI tools such as GPT-4 and DALL-E, to generate novel and creative solutions for various domains and challenges. You will also learn how to use AI to quickly prototype and test your product, and how to build a sustainable and profitable business model for your startup. Whether you are a beginner or an expert, this series will help you unleash your entrepreneurial potential and make your startup dreams come true. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from the best and join the generative AI revolution!AlphaLife Sciences powers regulatory-compliant AI workflows with PostgreSQL on Azure
by: Maxim Lukiyanov, PhD, Principal PM Manager and Sharon Chen, CEO and Founder at AlphaLife Sciences In life sciences, every document is deeply interconnected and highly regulated. Each clinical trial, regulatory submission, safety report, or protocol amendment is expected to stand up to rigorous audit. For AlphaLife Sciences, that challenge became an opportunity to rethink how AI could support expert human judgment. At Microsoft Ignite, AlphaLife Sciences CEO and Founder Sharon Chen shared how her team is building an AI-powered content authoring platform on top of Azure Database for PostgreSQL, designed specifically for the demands of regulated life sciences workflows. She also explained why the team is excited about Azure HorizonDB as a new PostgreSQL service that is built to meet the needs of modern enterprise workloads. This post explores how AlphaLife Sciences uses PostgreSQL as more than a data store. It’s a semantic foundation for compliant, auditable AI agents. Bringing AI into regulated workflows Life sciences organizations are under constant pressure. R&D pipelines are growing and patent windows are shrinking. A single clinical study report can take six months or more to complete, involving multiple teams and hundreds of source documents. Building efficiency into these processes is critical, but only if it doesn’t compromise accuracy, traceability, or compliance. That’s where many AI solutions fall short. Generating text is one thing, but generating verifiable, version-controlled, regulation-aware content is another. AlphaLife Sciences needed agents that could: Work across massive volumes of structured and unstructured data (Word, PDF, Excel, PowerPoint) Maintain full traceability from generated content back to source documents Support audits, amendments, and regulatory review Minimize hallucinations in a zero-tolerance environment Integrate naturally into the tools writers already use Bringing data, search, and AI together in one system At the core of AlphaLife Sciences’ platform is Azure Database for PostgreSQL. The team chose it for flexibility, extensibility, and for how well it supports modern AI workloads. Instead of stitching together separate systems for SQL queries, vector search, text indexing, and metadata tracking, AlphaLife Sciences consolidated everything into PostgreSQL. One of its flagship use cases is clinical trial protocol authoring, a process that typically involves: Designing trial objectives and endpoints Pulling references from previous studies Writing and revising hundreds of pages of structured content Managing multiple rounds of amendments and regulatory feedback With AI agents backed by PostgreSQL, that workflow changes dramatically. When a writer generates a protocol section, the system can automatically retrieve relevant references from a centralized document pool, using semantic search rather than manual lookup. Writers select the sources they want, apply rules or prompts, and let AI draft the section - complete with citations tied back to the original documents. Reviewers can inspect the source, adjust the output, or insert it directly into the document. For protocol amendments, the platform allows teams to upload inputs (Word or Excel), analyze which sections are affected, and generate structured suggestions. Changes are clearly highlighted, compared against previous versions, and summarized in amendment tables. AI agents that respect the rules A recurring theme in Chen’s talk was restraint. “We don’t just need AI that can write,” she said. “We need intelligent agents that understand data structures, follow regulatory laws, and manage version control.” This is where PostgreSQL-backed AI agents shine. By grounding AI behavior in structured schemas, controlled access, and auditable records, automation works hand-in-hand with human experts. AI accelerates first drafts, consistency checks, discrepancy detection, and cross-document analysis, but final accountability stays firmly with professionals. In some cases, the time to complete processes has been reduced by more than 50%. Azure Database for PostgreSQL has become more than a database for AlphaLife Sciences. It’s a semantic knowledge base that supports: Structured and unstructured data Vector similarity search Metadata-driven traceability Compliance, security, and auditability AI agents operating safely inside enterprise constraints By grounding AI agents directly in the database, reasoning, retrieval, and generation all operate against the same governed source of truth. “AI agents are not here to replace human beings,” said Chen. “They extend structured, compliant, and auditable thinking.” What’s next for AlphaLife Sciences with PostgreSQL on Azure Looking ahead, Chen shared her excitement about Azure HorizonDB and the capabilities it brings to PostgreSQL on Azure. Features like in-database AI model management, semantic operators for classification and summarization, and faster vector search with DiskANN align closely with AlphaLife Sciences’ needs as their platform continues to scale. “We’re extremely happy to see the launch of Azure HorizonDB and the more powerful tools coming with it,” Chen said. “By putting everything together in PostgreSQL, we don’t have to rely on different systems for vector search, text indexing, or SQL queries. Everything happens in one streamlined system. The code becomes cleaner, efficiency improves, and the AI agents perform much more elegantly.” Learn more AlphaLife Sciences’ journey was featured during the Microsoft Ignite session “The Blueprint for Intelligent AI Agents Backed by PostgreSQL.” Watch the session to learn more and see a demo of how Azure Database for PostgreSQL transforms the protocol and protocol amendment process. When AI is anchored in a strong PostgreSQL foundation, innovation and compliance don’t have to compete - they can reinforce each other.Step-by-Step: Creating Customized Applications with Power Virtual Agent to Empower Your Business
In this blog, you will learn how to use the Power platform to create engaging and interactive applications with your own data. You will see how to build a Power Virtual agent that can chat with your own data. You will also discover how to integrate your agent with Power Apps and Power Pages, so you can publish your app to the web and reach a wider audience.Register today for Microsoft Build: AI Day in London. This free, one-day event 19th October
Register today for Microsoft Build: AI Day in London. This free, one-day event helps developers discover new opportunities with AI and advance their knowledge and skills to deliver more value faster with AI and Microsoft Azure. Join Microsoft product and engineering experts to share ideas and unleash creativity with the power of AI.Kickoff the 2025 Imagine Cup: Unleash Your Innovation Potential!
Get ready to embark on an exciting journey with the 2025 Imagine Cup! :party_popper: Join us live to celebrate the launch of the new season and discover Microsoft’s premier global technology competition for student founders. This event is packed with valuable insights into the competition’s structure, goals, and benefits, helping you learn how to participate and succeed.
OneDrive on Mac: OneDrive folder always opens at startup - How can I stop this?
Hello, I run the latest version of OneDrive (Version 24.132.0701.0001) on a Mac running macOS 14.5. When I start a session, the OneDrive folder always opens. How can I stop this? I want a "silent" run of OneDrive... I couldn't find any option in the preferences for this... By the way, I have the same " issue " with Windows10 and Windows11. (I consider it an issue, but maybe it's not considered an issue by Microsoft...) Many thanks in advance for any help.Skilling Up for the Future: A Guide for Students and Entrepreneur
Hello, aspiring students and entrepreneurs! If you’re looking to skill up and explore future career opportunities, you’ve come to the right place. Today, we’re going to talk about a fantastic resource that can help you on your journey: Microsoft Learn’s Career Paths.
