1. Microsoft announced updates to Azure AI Studio and Copilot Studio to focus on generative AI-powered apps and experiences.
2. Azure AI Studio now allows developers to build generative AI-powered apps using pay-as-you-go inference APIs and includes tools to train, debug, and monitor apps in production.
3. Copilot Studio introduces Copilot agents for orchestrating tasks, as well as extensions and connectors for customizing AI-powered copilots in Microsoft 365 and Teams.
Microsoft’s focus at Build conference is generative AI with updates to Azure AI Studio and Copilot Studio. Azure AI Studio lets customers combine AI models with their data to build chat assistants, while Copilot Studio connects AI-powered Copilot with third-party data. Azure AI Studio allows developers to build generative AI-powered apps using pay-as-you-go inference APIs. New capabilities let customers train and debug apps and monitor them for usage and quality. It now integrates with Microsoft Purview and adds tools to prevent model jailbreaks and detect hallucinations.
Copilot Studio launches Copilot agents, AI bots that can orchestrate tasks tailored to roles and functions. These agents can navigate business workflows, learning from user feedback and seeking help when needed. Extensions and connectors in Copilot Studio allow developers to customize copilots with instructions, knowledge from databases, and actions from plugins. This enables copilots to handle tasks like expense reporting and employee onboarding.
Charles Lamanna, CVP of business applications and platforms at Microsoft, explains that developers provide tasks to copilots, equip them with knowledge and actions, and Copilot Studio orchestrates workflows behind the scenes. Extensions expand the actions Copilot can take, while connectors ground copilots with organizational knowledge from various sources. The connectors include Power Platform, Microsoft Graph, and Power Query connectors with Microsoft Fabric integrations coming soon. This enables copilots to use data sources like public websites, SharePoint, OneDrive, Dataverse tables, Microsoft Fabric OneLake, and Microsoft Graph, as well as leading third-party apps.