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The Microsoft stack, in motion.

A monthly watchlist of the Microsoft releases and roadmap changes most relevant to the platforms we work with. Every topic links directly to a primary Microsoft source.

/ 10 topics / 9 technologies / View archive

Developer Platform

Platform updates worth planning for.

Two platform changes stand out for teams planning upgrades or building agent-based solutions.

01.NET

.NET 10 LTS, C# 14 & Visual Studio 2026

As a three-year Long-Term Support release, .NET 10 is the sensible target for production teams planning their next upgrade. It arrives with Visual Studio 2026 and C# 14, along with runtime, tooling, performance and post-quantum cryptography improvements.

Why it mattersReview supported .NET workloads now so upgrade, security and developer-tooling plans can converge on one stable LTS release.

Read the source →devblogs.microsoft.com
02.NET · Azure

The Microsoft Agent Framework

Microsoft Agent Framework succeeds Semantic Kernel and AutoGen, bringing their core ideas into one framework. It supports enterprise state, telemetry and model integration, with orchestration patterns for sequential, concurrent, handoff and group-chat scenarios.

Why it mattersOrganizations using more than one agent SDK now have a clearer path to consolidate orchestration and observability for production use.

Read the source →learn.microsoft.com

Copilot & Agents

Agents move from chat into everyday work.

Microsoft agents are moving beyond conversation and into governed action across applications, user interfaces and enterprise knowledge.

03Copilot Studio

Copilot Studio: computer-using agents

Computer-using agents are generally available in Copilot Studio. They can work through websites and desktop applications by using the interface itself, which extends automation to legacy systems and external portals that do not provide suitable APIs.

Why it mattersThis creates a practical option for hard-to-integrate systems, but it needs careful exception handling, monitoring and access control.

Read the source →microsoft.com
04Agent 365

Agent 365: governance for an agent estate

Microsoft Agent 365 is generally available as a central place to discover, observe, secure and govern Microsoft and third-party agents. The emphasis is shifting from building individual agents to operating a growing agent estate with consistent identity, security and compliance controls.

Why it mattersGovernance should be designed before agents are adopted widely, especially when they can read business data or perform actions across several systems.

Read the source →microsoft.com
05Azure · AI

Microsoft Foundry: agents in production

Microsoft Foundry brings together the services needed to move agents from prototype to production, including hosted runtimes, tools, memory, evaluation, observability and governance. Foundry IQ adds a governed knowledge layer across multiple enterprise sources.

Why it mattersTeams building custom agents can reduce platform plumbing by standardizing runtime, knowledge grounding and operational controls in one managed environment.

Read the source →devblogs.microsoft.com

Data & Business Apps

Analytics and ERP take on more work.

Analytics and business applications are taking on more of the work, from interpreting context to preparing decisions and automating complete processes.

06Power BI · Fabric

Power BI + Fabric: the agentic era of analytics

Agent Skills for Power BI support agent-assisted work from raw data and semantic models through to reports. Fabric Apps also give developers and coding agents a faster way to build operational web experiences on governed semantic models.

Why it mattersAnalytics teams should review semantic-model governance now, because dependable agents require trusted definitions, permissions and business context.

Read the source →community.fabric.microsoft.com
07Business Central

Business Central 2026 Release Wave 1

Business Central 2026 Release Wave 1 expands agent capabilities, finance automation, reporting, analytics and governance, with deeper connections to Power Platform and Copilot Studio.

Why it mattersBusiness Central customers should compare the release wave with finance, reporting and extension roadmaps rather than treating it as a routine feature update.

Read the source →learn.microsoft.com
08Dynamics 365

Dynamics 365 2026 Release Wave 1

Dynamics 365 2026 Release Wave 1 covers Sales, Service, Finance, Supply Chain, Project Operations and other applications. Important themes include agent-based service orchestration, deeper contact-center automation and intelligent Field Service scheduling.

Why it mattersBusiness owners, administrators and solution architects should review the wave together so new capabilities are assessed alongside data, security and process readiness.

Read the source →learn.microsoft.com

Collaboration & Low-Code

AI reaches the tools people already use.

AI and agent capabilities are becoming part of the content, collaboration and low-code platforms where people already work.

09SharePoint

AI in SharePoint & the reimagined experience

AI in SharePoint brings content cleanup, metadata enrichment and grounded question answering into SharePoint itself. New building and administration experiences also position SharePoint as both a governed knowledge source and a workspace for AI-assisted content operations.

Why it mattersContent quality, metadata and permissions now have a direct effect on AI usefulness, which makes information governance essential for dependable SharePoint agents.

Read the source →techcommunity.microsoft.com
10Power Platform · Dataverse

Dataverse becomes an MCP server

Microsoft Dataverse can act as a Model Context Protocol server, giving supported agents and MCP clients governed access to table metadata and business records. This provides a standard way for agents to retrieve and work with enterprise data within Power Platform controls.

Why it mattersDataverse architects should review MCP access through the same security, auditing and data-loss-prevention controls used for other integration channels.

Read the source →learn.microsoft.com

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