New AI innovations that are redefining the future for software companies

During this year’s Microsoft Build event, we unveiled innovative AI tools and features aimed at helping every software developer transition into an AI developer.

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, software development firms—technology-focused enterprises that create, manage, and sell their own software—are at the helm of ushering in the future. With profound technical expertise and contemporary engineering methods, these firms are vital in propelling AI advancements across various sectors.

As organisations strive to modernise their applications, migrate to the cloud, and derive new insights, AI is transforming possibilities. For software development companies, this signifies a remarkable chance to create unique solutions and provide enhanced value to their clients. Whether you’re at the outset or expanding on a global scale, we’re committed to assisting you in tapping into AI’s full potential while celebrating your achievements.

At Microsoft Build this year, we revealed fresh AI tools and functionalities designed to enable every software developer to evolve into an AI developer. Currently, developers from over 70,000 organisations, including notable companies such as Cognition and Faros AI, are utilising these tools to design, tailor, and manage their AI applications and agents. From agentic AI to GitHub-focused development tools, let’s explore the latest updates that matter to you.

Stand Out with AI: Create AI Agents on a Unified Platform

Every period witnesses pivotal moments—times when specialised technologies become essential. Presently, AI is poised for such a transformation, moving from mere assistants awaiting directives to autonomous agents functioning as teammates in the workplace. With the evolution of agentic AI, software companies are equipped to develop solutions that automate intricate processes and revolutionise business operations.

Introducing Azure AI Foundry, a cohesive platform offering models, tools, and services to assist you in designing, customising, and managing AI applications and agents at scale. With a newly launched unified API and SDK—and the general release of the Azure AI Foundry Agent Service—developers can now orchestrate multi-agent workflows across their platforms. This allows AI agents to collaborate, tackle more complex challenges, automate decision-making processes, and enhance productivity for clients.

We’re also enhancing our library with cutting-edge models to provide software developers with greater flexibility. Grok 3 from xAI is now available, alongside Flux Pro 1.1 from Black Forest Labs and Sora coming soon in preview via Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models. We are now also offering over 10,000 open-source models from Hugging Face, all backed by full fine-tuning capabilities, allowing you to customise models to your specific requirements. Furthermore, our new model router automatically chooses the optimal Azure OpenAI model for your prompt, streamlining performance while minimising costs.

For teams engaged in crafting commercial software, the same capabilities of Azure AI Foundry are now accessible in GitHub and Visual Studio, enabling you to leverage advanced models and infrastructure within familiar tools.

In terms of enhancing the software developer experience, tools like GitHub Copilot have significantly changed the landscape. However, coding is just one facet of your role. A substantial portion of your time is often dedicated to debugging, managing dependencies, documenting, or handling legacy systems. This is where AI agents come into play.

At Microsoft Build, we rolled out Agentic DevOps—a new frontier in DevOps where AI agents collaborate with you throughout the entire software lifecycle. From coding and testing to deployment, agents are designed to manage repetitive and time-consuming tasks, allowing you to concentrate on developing what truly matters.

Here’s how we are transforming Agentic DevOps into reality:

With the GitHub Copilot coding agent, we’ve elevated GitHub Copilot from a pair programmer to a holistic resource—taking over code reviews, crafting tests, debugging, and working alongside other agents to rectify production issues.

Thanks to new App Modernisation capabilities, GitHub Copilot addresses one of the most significant challenges faced by software developers. It manages tedious upgrade tasks for Java and .NET applications, autonomously generating and executing upgrade strategies. This allows teams to allocate less time to legacy code and focus more on delivering new features. What once required months can now be accomplished in a matter of hours.

Concerned about late-night alerts? We have you covered. The new Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) agent constantly monitors your production systems 24/7, addressing incidents as they happen and autonomously diagnosing problems as they arise. It tracks the health and performance of Kubernetes, App Service, serverless solutions, and databases using the same expertise that powers Azure on a global scale. This leads to fewer unexpected emergencies, quicker recovery times, and more opportunities to innovate.

Additionally, with GitHub Models, we’re integrating top-tier models from Azure AI Foundry directly into your GitHub environment. This new native integration allows for the exploration of models from OpenAI, Meta, Cohere, Mistral, and beyond, facilitating easy testing and comparison through a unified API.

Collectively, these agents create a dedicated dev team, assisting software companies in releasing products more swiftly, reducing technical debt, and building with assurance. We ensure you remain at the heart of this collaboration, guiding agents and approving recommendations so you can rediscover the joy of software development.

Fuel Growth: Collaborative Opportunities to Propel You Ahead

Regardless of your current position, whether an emerging startup or an established software development firm, we’re dedicated to partnering with you in AI innovation, providing unique pathways to assist you at each phase.

If you’re an early-stage startup seeking support and resources to expedite innovation and expansion, consider Microsoft for Startups. This programme offers access to adaptive Azure credits, focused mentorship, market-entry support, and scalable AI tools, helping new ventures extend their runway. Companies like Worlds.io are already leveraging these resources, employing Azure to create a “physical AI platform” that converts live sensor and video data into real-time digital twins. By collaborating with clients like Chevron, Worlds.io is streamlining ground operations and enhancing supply chains—all while propelling its own growth with enterprise-ready AI solutions.

For rapid market access with Microsoft and reaching millions of global clients, utilise the Microsoft Marketplace. This has emerged as a premier destination for organisations in search of AI solutions, seeing a remarkable 100% revenue increase for AI and machine learning offers in the past year.¹ An exemplary case is Neo4j, a leader in graph database technology, which has witnessed a sixfold revenue increase in the last 18 months, while shortening sales cycles by up to 40%. This has enabled Neo4j to streamline deployment, allowing clients to harness the value of their graph database more swiftly.

If you require assistance in publishing and selling your solutions in the marketplace, consider joining ISV Success, which offers practical technical support, AI tools, and Azure credits to expedite your development. You can also become a Solutions Partner² with certified software designations³, helping your solutions gain distinction. These designations affirm the quality, interoperability, reliability, and relevance of your software, enhancing customer satisfaction by delivering the expected value from solutions built on the Microsoft Cloud.

Future Steps: Let’s Collaborate to Build the Future

If you missed out on the highlights from Microsoft Build 2025, fear not—you can catch all keynotes and sessions on demand.

Eager to dive in? We offer an extensive array of tools and resources to empower every software developer to become an AI developer. From the Well-Architected Framework for SaaS to App Modernisation Guidance and self-serve tools like App Advisor, we’re simplifying the process of delivering secure, scalable, and high-performing AI applications.

Visit our Microsoft Partner recap blog for a curated overview of announcements that are most significant for partners.

And don’t overlook our new digital hub for software development companies—your definitive source for practical resources, technical assistance, and specially designed programmes to support your AI innovations and broaden your customer reach.

The era of software is unfolding right now. Let’s build it together.

Disclaimer

¹Microsoft internal data

²“Solutions Partner” refers to a company that is a member of the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program, which may offer software, services, and/or solutions to customers. Reference to “Solutions Partner” in any content, materials, resources, web properties, etc. and any associated designation should not be interpreted as an offer, endorsement, guarantee, proof of effectiveness or functionality, commitment, or any other type of representation or warranty by Microsoft. All decisions related to your business needs, including but not limited to strategies, solutions, partner selection, and implementation, rest solely with your business.

³A certification is (1) specific to the solution’s interoperability with Microsoft products and (2) based on self-attestation by the solution owner. Solutions are only certified as of the date they are reviewed. Solution functionality and capability are controlled by the solution owner and may be subject to change. The inclusion of a solution in the marketplace and any such designations should not be interpreted as an offer, endorsement, guarantee, proof of effectiveness or functionality, commitment, or any other type of representation or warranty by Microsoft. All decisions pertaining to your business needs, including but not limited to strategies, solutions, partner selection, and implementation, rest solely with your business.