Improving Azure’s AI infrastructure
As well as new software features, Azure is adding more AI-specific infrastructure tools. AI applications hosted in Azure Container Apps can now use serverless GPUs for inferencing, scaling Nvidia hardware to zero when not in use to help keep costs down. Other options improve container security to reduce the risks associated with using LLMs on sensitive data, whether it’s personally identifiable information or commercially sensitive data from line-of-business platforms.
Ignite is where Microsoft focuses on its business software, so it’s the right place to launch a developer product like Azure AI Foundry. Azure AI Foundry is designed to build AI into the complete software development life cycle, from design and evaluation to coding and operation, providing a common place for developers, AIops, data scientists, and business analysts to work together with the tools to build the next generation of AI applications.
With agentic AI apps, it’s clear that Microsoft thinks it’s time for enterprises to go beyond the chatbot and use AI to get the benefits of flexible, intelligent, business process automation. Building on Azure AI Foundry and Semantic Kernel, we’re able to deliver the context-aware long transaction applications we’ve wanted to build—ensuring that they’re both trustworthy and regulatory compliant.