Advancing agentic AI with Microsoft databases across a unified data estate

This week, we’re thrilled to kick off SQLCon 2026 alongside FabCon in Atlanta. Bringing together the SQL and Fabric communities offers a fantastic chance to learn, connect, and explore what’s coming next in the Microsoft databases ecosystem.

This year is particularly special as it marks the return of a Microsoft-led event in the SQL community. It highlights how SQL is constantly evolving as a key component of Fabric. It’s not merely about the latest technology; it’s about reconnecting and collaboratively shaping the future of SQL.

It’s really encouraging to witness the Microsoft SQL community thriving. User groups around the globe keep the conversations alive across the SQL landscape, with many customers using Microsoft SQL to drive daily innovations. With a robust portfolio anchored in common strategic foundations and accessible across edge, PaaS, and SaaS models, Microsoft databases provide a unified platform tailored to the modern enterprise’s needs. Whether you’re migrating, modernising, or creating cloud-native AI applications, there’s a solution for you.

Migrate and Modernise with Azure SQL

Many customers aren’t taking the plunge into modernisation all at once. Instead, they are gradually transitioning from SQL Server to hybrid and then to cloud services. They want this journey to feel familiar, predictable, and low-risk. Azure SQL is specifically designed to facilitate that journey. With a consistent Microsoft SQL foundation spanning from on-premises to the cloud, Azure SQL infuses AI capabilities directly into your database experience, while offering enterprise-grade security, high availability, and the scalability you need as your requirements evolve. Azure SQL compatibility ensures you get strong performance and low latency, all while supporting hybrid scenarios through Azure Arc.

AI agents are becoming crucial in accelerating the migration and modernisation process at Microsoft. They help customers reduce manual effort and enjoy guided experiences throughout their journey. The general availability of GitHub Copilot in SSMS 22 exemplifies this investment: you can now access the same GitHub Copilot experience you’re familiar with in Visual Studio and VS Code, directly within SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). This tool provides chat and code assistance, enabling you to write, edit, and refactor T-SQL with greater efficiency. Whether you’re a developer or a database administrator (DBA)—whether you’re just starting or you’re highly skilled—GitHub Copilot can assist with common tasks like improving queries and troubleshooting right where you work. We’re continually expanding its capabilities.

Today, we’re excited to unveil thesavings plan for databases, a flexible, spend-based pricing option that helps you save up to 35%¹ compared to pay-as-you-go pricing with a one-year commitment. This savings plan is crafted for modern, evolving database environments: customers commit to a fixed hourly spend for a year and benefit from lower prices across eligible Azure database services. Savings are automatically applied to your highest-value usage each hour, helping to lower expenses while aiding in migration, modernisation, and architectural transitions.

Build Cloud-Native AI Apps at Scale

When you transition to the cloud, the focus shifts. How can you build faster, scale effectively, and unlock additional value from your data without having to completely redesign what you’ve already established? That’s where Azure SQL Database Hyperscale comes in.

With Azure SQL Database Hyperscale, you benefit from improved price-performance, elastic scaling, and resilience for any workload—without the need or expense of rewriting T-SQL or altering operational models. Its unique architecture, based on shared storage and multiple replicas, allows you to scale reads independently of writes. Thanks to its built-in HTAP isolation, applications can tackle extensive transactional and analytical workloads without complex redesigns. Recent capabilities in public preview further enhance this foundation, including the SQL MCP Server for secure connections between SQL data and AI agents and Copilots, alongside larger 160 and 192 vCore options for high-throughput workloads.

We’re rolling out more powerful vector indexes designed for AI applications. Recent improvements boost vector search performance and efficiency with no need for changes to your existing code. With support for full insert, update, and delete operations, vector indexes remain current in real time, enabling dynamic applications. Features like quantisation, iterative filtering, and closer integration with query optimisation result in faster, more reliable outcomes, assisting teams in creating responsive AI experiences directly from their SQL data.

Temenos developed its cutting-edge banking platform, Temenos Core, on Azure using Azure SQL Database Hyperscale to achieve global reach, high availability, and robust performance. This platform handles billions of transactions daily, peaking at over 17,500 transactions per second. By leveraging Hyperscale, Temenos has shortened onboarding times, sped up innovation, and shifted banks from worrying about downtime to focusing on availability and digital advancement.

Unify Your Data Estate with SQL Database in Fabric

We are continually enhancing the enterprise readiness of SQL Database in Fabric by integrating enterprise-grade security and compliance features into the platform. At SQLCon today, we announced the general availability of features such as SQL Auditing, Customer-Managed Keys, and Dynamic Data Masking, along with a preview of workspace-level Private Link. These improvements are designed to help customers meet stringent governance and regulatory requirements without complicating their operations, ensuring that your SQL workloads in Fabric are secure, compliant, and ready for production.

SQL Database in Fabric is becoming even more powerful for AI-driven applications. The same vector indexing improvements available in Azure SQL Database Hyperscale are now also integrated into SQL Database in Fabric. Because both are powered by the same Microsoft SQL engine, customers enjoy consistent performance, features, and innovation across the SQL portfolio, simplifying the process of building intelligent applications wherever their data resides.

Finally, transitioning to SQL Database in Fabric has never been easier. The Migration Assistant now supports SQL Database in Fabric as a target. It offers a Copilot-assisted experience that helps SQL developers assess readiness, migrate schemas, identify compatibility issues, and transfer data with minimal manual effort. By retaining familiar SQL skills and workflows, customers can modernise at their own speed while accelerating their time to value using Fabric’s unified analytics and AI platform.

There’s one more key innovation in Fabric that significantly impacts how we deliver Microsoft databases as a unified platform. As applications become more sophisticated, most organisations now depend on a mix of SQL and NoSQL databases across cloud, on-premises, and edge environments. Managing, monitoring, and ensuring the health of a diverse database fleet often requires multiple tools and interfaces, complicating oversight and control at scale.

To address this, we’re excited to introduce the Database Hub in Microsoft Fabric, now available in early access. This hub offers a unified database management experience that consolidates databases across edge, cloud, and Fabric into a single cohesive view. From one central location, database teams can explore, observe, govern, and optimise their entire estate, including Azure SQL, Azure Cosmos DB, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, SQL Server enabled by Azure Arc, and Azure Database for MySQL without altering how each service is deployed or managed.

Designed for scale, the Database Hub employs an agent-assisted and human-in-the-loop approach to database management. Intelligent agents continuously analyse estate-wide signals to highlight changes, explain their significance, and guide teams on what steps to take next. Built-in observability, delegated governance, and Copilot-powered insights empower teams to move from insights to action with greater confidence. With the Database Hub, teams can spend less time navigating tools and more time enabling future innovations by unlocking deeper integrations between applications, analytics, and AI from a singular control plane for the Microsoft databases portfolio.

The Database Hub is available for early access now. Sign up today to see how the Database Hub can enhance clarity and control over your database ecosystem.

SQLCon is about uniting the SQL community—rebuilding connections and engaging in shared learning. It underscores our long-term commitment to SQL. With a comprehensive portfolio built on strategic foundations and available across edge, PaaS, and SaaS, Microsoft databases deliver a unified platform for modern enterprise requirements, whether you’re migrating, modernising, or unifying your data. We are committed to SQL’s future, together with the community that continues to shape it.

And don’t forget, SQLCon is heading to Europe! Join the global data and SQL community from 28 September – 1 October 2026 in Barcelona, Spain, for hands-on learning, expert insights, and inspiring real-world stories. Register now to be a part of it. I can’t wait to see you there!

Additional SQL Resources

¹Customers may experience estimated savings between 0% and 35%. The 35% savings estimation is based on one Azure SQL Database serverless instance running for 12 months at a pay-as-you-go rate compared to a discounted rate for a one-year savings plan. Based on Azure pricing as of March 2026. Prices are subject to change, and actual savings may vary depending on location, database service, and/or usage.