Welcome to Microsoft Ignite 2023! The previous 12 months has been one among true transformation. Corporations are seeing actual advantages as we speak and are wanting to discover what’s subsequent—together with how they’ll do extra with their information investments, construct clever functions, and uncover what AI can do for his or her enterprise.
We not too long ago commissioned a research by IDC and uncovered insights into how AI is driving enterprise outcomes and financial affect for organizations worldwide. Greater than 2,000 enterprise leaders surveyed confirmed they’re already utilizing AI for worker experiences, buyer engagement, and to bend the curve on innovation.
The research illustrates the enterprise worth of AI nevertheless it actually involves life by the tales of how our prospects and companions are innovating as we speak. Clients like Heineken, Thread, Moveworks, the Nationwide Basketball Affiliation (NBA), and so many extra are placing AI applied sciences to work for his or her companies and their very own prospects and workers.
From trendy information options uniquely suited to the period of AI, beloved developer instruments, and utility companies, we’re constructing Microsoft Azure because the AI supercomputer for purchasers, regardless of the start line.
This week at Ignite, the tempo of innovation isn’t slowing down. We’ll share extra tales about how organizations are turning to new options to drive their enterprise ahead. We’re additionally saying many new capabilities and updates to make it simpler than ever to make use of your favourite instruments, maximize present investments, save time, and innovate on Azure as a trusted platform.
Fashionable information options to energy AI transformation
Each clever app begins with information—and your AI is simply nearly as good as your information—so a contemporary information and analytics platform is more and more necessary. The combination of information and AI companies and options generally is a distinctive aggressive benefit as a result of each group’s information is exclusive.
Final 12 months, we launched the Microsoft Clever Information Platform as an built-in platform to convey collectively operational databases, analytics, and governance and allow you to combine all of your information belongings seamlessly in a method that works for your online business.
At Ignite this week, we’re saying the final availability of Microsoft Material, our most built-in information and AI answer but, into the Clever Information Platform. Microsoft Material can empower you in ways in which weren’t doable earlier than with a unified information platform. This implies you possibly can convey AI on to your information, regardless of the place it lives. This helps foster an AI-centered tradition to scale the facility of your information worth creation so you possibly can spend extra time innovating and fewer time integrating.
EDP is a world power firm that goals to remodel the world by renewable power sources. They’re utilizing Microsoft Material and OneLake to simplify information entry throughout information storage, processing, visualization, and AI workflows. This permits them to completely embrace a data-driven tradition the place they’ve entry to high-value insights and choices are made with a complete view of the information setting.
We’re additionally saying Material as an open and extensible platform. We’ll showcase integrations with a lot of our companions like LSEG, Esri, Informatica, Teradata and SAS, who’ve been demonstrating the chances of bringing their product experiences as workloads into Material, widening their attain and breadth of capabilities.
Each group is keen to save lots of money and time as they remodel. We’re saying a number of new options and updates for Azure SQL that make Azure the best and most cost-effective place to your information. Updates embody decrease pricing for Azure SQL Database Hyperscale compute, Azure SQL Managed Occasion free trial supply, and a wave of different new options.
Lufthansa Technik AG has been working Azure SQL to help its utility platform and information property, leveraging absolutely managed capabilities to empower groups throughout features. They’re becoming a member of on stage throughout a breakout session on cloud-scale databases, so you possibly can be taught extra about their expertise immediately.
Simply construct, scale, and deploy multimodal generative AI experiences responsibly with Azure
The AI alternative for companies is centered on the unimaginable energy of generative AI. We’re impressed by prospects who are actually nimbly infusing content material technology capabilities to remodel all types of apps into intuitive, contextual experiences that impress and captivate their very own prospects and workers.
Siemens Digital Industries is one firm utilizing Azure AI to boost its manufacturing processes by enabling seamless communication on the store ground. Their latest answer helps subject engineers report points of their native language, selling inclusivity, environment friendly downside decision, and sooner response instances.
At this time organizations want extra complete, unified instruments to construct for this subsequent wave of generative AI-based functions. For this reason we’re saying new updates that push the boundaries of AI innovation and make it simpler for purchasers to responsibly deploy AI at scale throughout their enterprise.
Every little thing it is advisable to construct, check, and deploy AI improvements in a single handy location
At Ignite, we’re thrilled to introduce the general public preview of Azure AI Studio, a groundbreaking platform for AI builders by Microsoft. Every little thing organizations must deal with generative AI is now in a single place: cutting-edge fashions, information integration for retrieval augmented technology (RAG), clever search capabilities, full-lifecycle mannequin administration, and content material security.
We proceed to broaden selection and adaptability in generative AI fashions past Azure OpenAI Service. We introduced the mannequin catalog at Construct and at Ignite, we’re saying Mannequin as a Service in managed API endpoint coming quickly inside the mannequin catalog. It will allow professional builders to simply combine new basis fashions like Meta’s Llama 2, G42’s Jais, Command from Cohere and Mistral’s premium fashions into their functions as an API endpoint and fine-tune fashions with customized coaching information, with out having to handle the underlying GPU infrastructure. This performance will assist remove the complexity for our prospects and companions of provisioning assets and managing internet hosting.
Giant language fashions (LLM) orchestration and grounding RAG are prime of thoughts as momentum for LLM-based AI functions grows. Immediate circulate, an orchestration device to handle immediate orchestration and LLMOps, is now in preview in Azure AI Studio and customarily obtainable in Azure Machine Studying. Immediate circulate gives a complete answer that simplifies the method of prototyping, experimenting, iterating, and deploying your AI functions.
We’re additionally saying at Ignite that Azure AI Search, previously Azure Cognitive Search, is now obtainable in Azure AI Studio so every part stays in a single handy location for builders to save lots of time and enhance productiveness.
Azure AI Content material Security can also be obtainable in Azure AI Studio so builders can simply consider mannequin responses multi function unified improvement platform. We’re additionally saying the preview of latest options inside Azure AI Studio powered by Azure AI Content material Security to deal with harms and safety dangers which can be launched by massive language fashions. The brand new options assist determine and stop tried unauthorized modifications, and determine when massive language fashions generate materials that leverages third-party mental property and content material.
With Azure AI Content material Security, builders can monitor human and AI-generated content material throughout languages and modalities and streamline workflows with customizable severity ranges and built-in blocklists.
It’s nice to see prospects already leveraging this to construct their AI options. In simply six months, Perplexity introduced Perplexity Ask, a conversational reply engine, to market with Azure AI Studio. They have been capable of streamline and expedite AI improvement, get to market sooner, scale rapidly to help thousands and thousands of customers, and cost-effectively ship safety and reliability.
For those who’re making a customized copilot, enhancing search, enhancing name facilities, growing bots, or a mix of all of this, Azure AI Studio presents every part you want. You’ll be able to try Eric Boyd’s weblog to be taught extra about Azure AI Studio.
Generative AI is now multi-modal
We’re excited to allow a brand new chapter within the generative AI journey for our prospects with GPT-4 Turbo with Imaginative and prescient, in preview, coming quickly to the Azure OpenAI Service and Azure AI Studio. With GPT-4 Turbo with Imaginative and prescient, builders can ship multi-modal capabilities of their functions.
We’re including a number of new updates to Azure AI Imaginative and prescient. GPT-4 Turbo with Imaginative and prescient together with our Azure AI Imaginative and prescient service can see, perceive, and make inferences like video evaluation or video Q&A from visible inputs and related text-based immediate directions.
Along with GPT-4 Turbo with Imaginative and prescient, we’re joyful to share different new improvements to Azure OpenAI Service together with GPT-4 Turbo in preview and GPT-3.5 Turbo 16K 1106 basically availability coming on the finish of November and picture mannequin DALL-E 3 in preview now.
Search within the period of AI
Efficient retrieval methods, like these powered by search, can enhance the standard of responses and response latency. A standard observe for data retrieval (retrieval step in RAG), is to make use of vector search. Search can energy efficient retrieval methods to vastly enhance the standard of responses and scale back latency, which is important for generative AI apps as they should be grounded on content material from information, or web sites, to reinforce responses generated by LLMs.
Azure AI Search is a sturdy info retrieval and search platform that permits organizations to make use of their very own information to ship hyper-personalized experiences in generative AI functions. We’re saying the final availability of vector search for quick, extremely related outcomes from information.
Vector search is a technique of trying to find info inside varied information varieties, together with photos, audio, textual content, video, and extra. It’s some of the crucial parts of AI-powered, clever apps, and the addition of this functionality is our newest AI-ready performance to come back to our Azure databases portfolio.
Semantic ranker, previously generally known as semantic search, can also be usually obtainable and gives entry to the identical machine learning-powered search re-ranking expertise used to energy Bing. Your generative AI functions can ship the best high quality responses to each person Q&A with a feature-rich vector database built-in with state-of-the-art relevance expertise.
Speed up your AI journey responsibly and with confidence
At Microsoft, we’re dedicated to protected and accountable AI. It goes past moral values and foundational rules, that are critically necessary. We’re integrating this into the merchandise, companies, and instruments we launch so organizations can construct on a basis of safety, danger administration, and belief.
We’re happy to announce new updates at Ignite to assist prospects pursue AI responsibly and with confidence.
Setting the usual for accountable AI innovation—increasing our Copilot Copyright Dedication
Microsoft has set the usual with companies and instruments like Azure AI Content material Security, the Accountable AI Dashboard, mannequin monitoring, and our industry-leading dedication to defend and indemnify business prospects from lawsuits for copyright infringement.
At this time, we’re saying the enlargement of the Copilot Copyright Dedication, now referred to as Buyer Copyright Dedication (CCC), to prospects utilizing Azure OpenAI Service. As extra prospects construct with generative AI inside their organizations, they’re impressed by the potential of this expertise and are wanting to commercialize it externally.
By extending the CCC to Azure OpenAI Service, Microsoft is broadening our dedication to defend our business prospects and pay for any antagonistic judgments if they’re sued for copyright infringement for utilizing the outputs generated by Azure OpenAI Service. This profit shall be obtainable beginning December 1, 2023.
As a part of this enlargement, we’ve printed new documentation to assist Azure OpenAI Service prospects implement technical measures and different greatest practices to mitigate the danger of infringing content material. Clients might want to adjust to the documentation to make the most of the profit. Azure OpenAI Service is a developer service and comes with a shared dedication to construct responsibly. We sit up for prospects leveraging it as they construct their very own copilots.
Saying the Azure AI Benefit supply
We wish to be your trusted associate as you ship next-gen, transformative experiences with pioneering AI expertise, a deeply built-in platform, and main cloud safety.
Azure presents a full, built-in stack purpose-built for cloud-native, AI-powered functions, accelerating your time to market and supplying you with a aggressive edge and superior efficiency. To assist on that journey we’re joyful to introduce a new supply to assist new and present Azure AI and GitHub Copilot prospects notice the worth of Azure AI and Azure Cosmos DB collectively and get on the quick observe to growing AI powered functions. You’ll be able to be taught extra concerning the Azure AI Benefit supply and register right here.
Azure Cosmos DB and Azure AI mixed ship many advantages, together with enhanced reliability of generative AI functions by the pace of Azure Cosmos DB, a world-class infrastructure and safety platform to develop your online business whereas safeguarding your information, and provisioned throughput to scale seamlessly as your utility grows.
Azure AI companies and GitHub Copilot prospects deploying their AI apps to Azure Kubernetes Service could also be eligible for extra reductions. Communicate to your Microsoft consultant to be taught extra.
Empowering all builders with AI powered instruments
There’s a lot in retailer this week at Ignite to enhance the developer expertise, save time, and improve productiveness as they construct clever functions. Let’s dive into what’s new.
Updates for Azure Cosmos DB—the database for the period of AI
For builders to ship apps extra effectively and with diminished manufacturing prices, at Ignite we’re sharing new options in Azure Cosmos DB.
Now in preview, dynamic scaling gives builders new flexibility to scale databases up or down and brings value financial savings to prospects, particularly these with operations across the globe. We’re additionally bringing AI deeper into the developer expertise and growing productiveness with the preview of Microsoft Copilot for Azure enabling pure language queries in Azure Cosmos DB.
Bond Model Loyalty turned to Azure Cosmos DB to scale to greater than two petabytes of transaction information whereas sustaining safety and privateness for their very own prospects. On Azure, Bond constructed a contemporary providing to help intensive safety configurations, decreasing onboarding time for brand new purchasers by 20 %.
We’re saying two thrilling updates to allow builders to construct clever apps: basic availability of each Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB vCore and vector search in Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB vCore.
Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB vCore permits builders to construct clever functions with full help for MongoDB information saved in Azure Cosmos DB, which unlocks alternatives for app improvement due to deep integration with different Azure companies. Which means builders can take pleasure in the advantages of native Azure integrations, low complete value of possession (TCO), and a well-recognized vCore structure when migrating present functions or constructing new ones.
Vector search in Azure Cosmos DB for MongoDB vCore permits builders to seamlessly combine information saved in Azure Cosmos DB into AI-powered functions, together with these utilizing Azure OpenAI Service embeddings. Constructed-in vector search allows you to effectively retailer, index, and question high-dimensional vector information, and eliminates the necessity to switch the information outdoors of your Azure Cosmos DB database.
PostgreSQL builders have used built-in vector search in Azure Database for PostgreSQL and Azure Cosmos DB for PostgreSQL since this summer time. Now, they’ll make the most of the public preview of Azure AI extension in Azure Database for PostgreSQL to construct LLMs and wealthy generative AI options.
KPMG Australia used the vector search functionality once they turned to Azure OpenAI Service and Azure Cosmos DB to construct their very own copilot utility. The KymChat app has helped workers pace up productiveness and streamline operations. The answer can also be being made obtainable to KPMG prospects by an accelerator that mixes KymChat’s use instances, options, and classes discovered, serving to prospects speed up their AI journey.
Constructing cloud-native and clever functions
Clever functions mix the facility of AI and cloud-scale information with cloud-native app improvement to create extremely differentiated digital experiences. The synergy between cloud-native applied sciences and AI is a tangible alternative for evolving conventional functions, making them clever, and delivering extra worth to finish customers. We’re devoted to repeatedly enhancing Azure Kubernetes Service to satisfy these evolving calls for of AI for purchasers who’re simply getting began in addition to those that are extra superior.
Clients can now run specialised machine studying workloads like LLMs on Azure Kubernetes Service extra cost-effectively and with much less guide configuration. The Kubernetes AI toolchain Operator automates LLMs deployment on AKS throughout obtainable CPU and GPU assets by deciding on optimally sized infrastructure for the mannequin. It makes it doable to simply cut up inferencing throughout a number of lower-GPU-count virtural machines (VMs) thus growing the variety of Azure areas the place workloads can run, eliminating wait instances for increased GPU-count VMs, and reducing total value. Clients can even run preset fashions from the open supply hosted on AKS, considerably decreasing prices and total inference service setup time whereas eliminating the necessity for groups to be consultants on obtainable infrastructure.
Azure Kubernetes Fleet Supervisor is now usually obtainable and permits multi-cluster and at-scale situations for Azure Kubernetes Service clusters. Fleet supervisor gives a world scale for admins to handle workload distribution throughout clusters and facilitate platform and utility updates so builders can relaxation assured they’re working on the most recent and most safe software program.
We’ve additionally been sharing learnings about how you can assist engineering organizations allow their very own builders to get began and be productive rapidly, whereas nonetheless guaranteeing techniques are safe, compliant, and cost-controlled. Microsoft is offering a core set of expertise constructing blocks and studying modules to assist organizations get began on their journey to ascertain a platform engineering observe.
New Microsoft Dev Field capabilities to enhance the developer expertise
Sustaining a developer workstation that may construct, run, and debug your utility is crucial to maintaining with the tempo of recent improvement groups. Microsoft Dev Field gives builders with safe, ready-to-code developer workstations for hybrid groups of any dimension.
We’re introducing new preview capabilities to give improvement groups extra granular management over their photos, the flexibility to connect with Hosted Networks to simplify connecting to your assets securely, and templates to make it simpler to stand up and working. Paired with new capabilities coming to Azure Deployment Environments, it’s simpler than ever to deploy these initiatives to Azure.
Construct upon a dependable and scalable basis with .NET 8
.NET 8 is a giant leap ahead in direction of making .NET among the finest platforms to construct clever cloud-native functions, with the first preview of .NET Aspire – an opinionated cloud prepared stack for constructing observable, manufacturing prepared, distributed cloud native functions. It contains curated elements for cloud-native fundamentals together with telemetry, resilience, configuration, and well being checks. The stack makes it simpler to find, purchase, and configure important dependencies for cloud-native functions on day 1 and day 100.
.NET 8 can also be the quickest model of .NET ever, with developer productiveness enhancements throughout the stack – whether or not you might be constructing for cloud, a full stack internet app, a desktop or cellular app suing .NET MAUI, or integrating AI to construct the following copilot to your app. These are obtainable in Visible Studio, which additionally releases as we speak.
Azure Capabilities and Azure App Service have full help for .NET 8 each in Linux and Home windows, and each Azure Kubernetes Service and Azure Container Apps additionally help .NET 8 as we speak.
There aren’t any limits to your innovation potential with Azure
There’s a lot rolling out this week with information, AI, and digital functions so I hope you’ll tune into the digital Ignite expertise and listen to concerning the full slate of bulletins and extra about how one can put Azure to work for your online business.
This week’s bulletins are proof of our dedication to serving to prospects take that subsequent step of innovation and keep future-ready. I can’t wait to see how your creativity and new improvements unfold for your online business.
You’ll be able to try these assets to be taught extra about every part shared as we speak. We hope you will have an excellent Ignite week!
