Microsoft Build is an annual event held by Microsoft for software engineers and web developers using Windows, Microsoft Azure and other Microsoft technologies. This year, Microsoft made several announcements during the event that will greatly change the way developers work. As a global technology and consulting firm, and Microsoft certified partner, OnActuate is excited about the impact of these innovations for our customers. Let’s examine the top three announcements.
1. Copilot & Plugins 
Copilot is an application that leverages advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) like GPT-4 to help complete tasks. Copilot signifies not only a change in AI-powered software but also a fundamental shift in the software development process. Copilot Stack is a new tool that will allow developers to create their own programs. Developers can now use one platform to build plugins that work across both consumer and business surfaces, including ChatGPT, Bing, Dynamics 365 Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot.
With Copilot, organizations will be able to envision novel product scenarios, enhance the user experience, offer relevant services, and adopt a comprehensive approach to safety and security considerations to their technology. This will improve processes and operations for every part of a business or organization.
Plugins, initially introduced for ChatGPT and more recently for Bing, act as tools that enhance the capabilities of AI systems. They enable seamless interaction between these systems and application programming interfaces (APIs) from other software and services. Plug-ins will allow organizations to offer technology that facilitates real-time information retrieval, integration of company and business data, execution of innovative computations, and secure execution of actions on behalf of the user.
2. AI Studio 
Generative AI has rapidly emerged as the defining technology of our generation, influencing the way we search for and consume information on a daily basis. Azure OpenAI Studio empowers developers to build, operationalize, and deploy their own next-generation AI applications.
With the new OpenAI Studio tool, Microsoft partners like OnActuate will be equipped with powerful resources and capabilities to push the boundaries of AI application development and create more AI software for our customers to benefit from. Azure OpenAI Service can also help government agencies improve efficiency, enhance productivity, and unlock new data insights.
3. Microsoft Fabric
A common pain point for organizations is that a lot of data sits unused and is disconnected. Microsoft Fabric is a unified platform for analytics that includes data engineering, data integration, data warehousing, data science, real-time analytics, applied observability and business intelligence. Fabric connects data to help customers unlock the full potential of their data, enabling developers to find valuable insights using the power of AI.
Now with Copilot in Microsoft Fabric, customers can use conversational language to create dataflows and data pipelines, generate code and entire functions, build machine learning models or visualize results.
The future is AI
Microsoft is making it clear that the future of technology will be AI. OnActuate is ready to embrace what AI has to offer and help our customers benefit from next generation intelligent systems. Are you ready for a digital transformation powered by AI? Contact us for a 1:1 consultation.
