It was incredible to be back in the home of deep-dish pizza, 10 years after my last Microsoft Ignite in Chicago! So much has changed since my last visit, both with the cityscape and the business landscape. Fifteen years ago, AI was a niche topic mostly confined to academia and early adopters. Today, Gartner predicts that by 2026, 80% of enterprises will integrate AI into their core operations. This seismic shift was palpable throughout Ignite 2024, with Copilot leading the charge.
The evolution of enterprise search
Search has evolved beyond keywords. In the last decade, finding “best project management tools” required exact terms, returning a list of links. Today, AI-powered platforms like Azure AI and Copilot for M365 interpret natural language, provide top tools for building and managing custom AI models and solutions, and analyze company needs to suggest tailored integrations.
Many companies are embracing this evolution in enterprise search by rebranding or developing products like Google’s “Search Generative Experience” and OpenAI’s “SearchGPT.” However, search is more than generative features; it should serve as the cornerstone of AI Enablement, empowering action, innovation, and results. As Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, noted, the future of search is intuitive, context-driven, and conversational, enabled by AI advancements.
Reflecting on how far technology has come since my last time in the Windy City, we’ve seen the rise of tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Azure AI that have revolutionized how we do things by embedding AI into everyday workflows. Users expect intelligent systems to understand context, anticipate needs, and enable real-time action. BA Insight is primed to help enterprises make these dreams a reality, and paired with Microsoft’s advancements in AI, it is paving the way for a seamless blend of search and action, transforming workforce productivity.
What’s new with Copilot?
I used my secret “agent” abilities to sneak into the reserved area for a good seat at Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s keynote session, and I’m glad I took the opportunity. There were many notable announcements, with Copilot being the show’s standout star. Copilot is the user interface (UI) for AI; it’s like a train of momentum, full speed ahead. Microsoft announced that nearly 70% of Fortune 500 companies now use Microsoft 365 Copilot to enhance productivity and streamline operations.
Nadella emphasized Copilot CP Studio, where users can create custom Agents. According to him, creating an Agent should be as easy as making a file in Word. He touched on new neural algebra techniques that enable AI to detect complex patterns, understand relationships between people, places, and things, and how models now have better longer-term memory.
Knowledge at the frontline of Copilot
If Copilot is King, then content/knowledge is its Queen. Nadella emphasized, “This is how you ground or extend Copilot in your world and your ecosystem. Copilot is a platform you can extend with Agents to scale what you can do.” I was particularly pleased to hear this, as Upland BA Insight has been pushing the grounding message for some time because of our 95+ graph connectors.
Imagine a law firm racing against a deadline to assemble a comprehensive case file. Traditionally, this requires sifting through multiple siloed systems like iManage or NetDocuments for contracts, SharePoint for supporting documents, and email archives for correspondence. However, a Copilot agent can unify this fragmented process with BA Insight’s graph connectors. A simple natural language request, such as “Provide a case summary,” triggers the AI to gather and package up all relevant information and deliver it through the new “Pages” feature. This isn’t just convenient; it’s transformative for knowledge workers everywhere.
Copilot ROI made easy
Users will now have access to Copilot Analytics at no additional cost, changing the game so that customers can recognize the value and ROI of Copilot. The Copilot Control System is designed to make the lives of IT teams easier by helping them manage and secure Copilot and Agents. With Copilot Pages, users can ideate with AI and collaborate with others. These tools enable businesses to measure the ROI of their AI initiatives with precision, offering insights into productivity gains, cost savings, and areas for improvement.
The future of Microsoft
Azure AI is unified and unstoppable
The Azure AI Foundry Unified AI Development Platform’s introduction feels a bit like a collaboration between Azure AI Search, Azure OpenAI, and Azure AI Studio. There are some additional features, too. Azure AI Agent Service automates business processes and has an expanded AI model catalog with over 1800 models, which means that our Connectors and can integrate with even more models and an AI tooling model that helps with safety and compliance. There was even news about Azure AI Search enhancements, such as generative query rewriting and a new semantic ranker. Undoubtedly, these will significantly improve search relevance and performance in a similar way to which our SmartHub User Experience Platform delivers personalized and contextualized results.
Supercharge AI with security and governance
There was also a massive focus on security, emphasizing changes to Purview, such as new security and governance capabilities, Compliance Manager, the latest AI reports, and Microsoft Security Copilot, a standout generative AI-powered security solution.
Fabric also got in on the action with news about Fabric databases. The first database available in Fabric Databases is SQL Database, which is based on Azure SQL Database. Is this the end of SQL databases as we know them? What about the news around OneLake Catalog, which now enables you to manage and govern your Fabric data estate? This could be a game-changer, especially when you consider connecting it with the Microsoft Purview Data Governance solution.
Not to be forgotten are the release of Windows Server 2025, enhancements to Azure Arc by extending Azure management with the multi-cloud connector, the Arc onboarding solution, and the integration of Copilot in Azure to analyze both Azure and AWS environments. Last but not least, the announcement of SQL 2025 has built-in AI. This means that even people like me can be let loose in SQL Server Management Studio – well, perhaps not!
The future of the cloud in PC
But it wasn’t all software and apps. Microsoft generously gave everyone a sneak peek at Windows 365 Link, the first Windows streaming device that will be available to consumers in April. The presentation was filled with pomp and excitement—the device is so new that the man who brought it on stage was literally wearing white gloves.
Conclusion
Overall, the conference was a massive success. Microsoft, customers, and partners shared astronomical insights into the AI world ahead. Obviously, I couldn’t attend every single session, so there were plenty of updates that I didn’t mention. But I cannot stress the importance of face-to-face interactions and conversations; sometimes, I get more from those conversations than the keynote sessions! Sadly, I lost my suitcase on the way home, so hopefully, I’ll get it back before I fly to San Francisco for Ignite 2025!
