Friday 22nd November wrapped up the end of another fantastic Microsoft Ignite event and what a spectacle it was, so much to digest!
This year, it was great to be back in person in Chicago alongside 14,000 other attendees, to witness the latest groundbreaking advancements across the Microsoft technology stack.
With around 80 new products and features announced and more than 800 sessions, demos and expert-led labs to choose from, I thought it would be useful to summarise 5 of my favourite announcements and sessions for those who couldn’t attend the live event and are looking to catch up on demand. I also include useful links to where you can find further information.
1. Copilot Momentum
From experimental pilots to enterprise deployments, Copilot momentum is everywhere. Microsoft shared that nearly 70% of the Fortune 500 now use Microsoft 365 Copilot, highlighted here with more than 200 customer stories of AI Transformation.
There were many announcements across the Copilot stack focused on adoption, extensibility and ROI.
Interpreter
Enables real-time speech-to-speech interpretation in Teams meetings so each participant can speak and listen in the language of their choice. Available for Public Preview in Q1 2025.
Agents in SharePoint available now
Generate an up-to-date summary of important information hosted on SharePoint sites, including key insights and comparing documents.
Autonomous agents are now in preview
Makers can now build agents that work on their behalf, without having to prompt the agent, saving human hours and increasing efficiency.
Viva Insights in Copilot Analytics
Viva Insights will now be included in Microsoft 365 Copilot at no additional charge as part of the new Copilot Analytics. Find out more on Copilot Analytics here.
You can download a helpful overview of these announcements in a single document here, or I recommend checking out this session – “GS05 – Unlock the Value of Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Studio”.
2. Introducing Azure AI Foundry
A unified application platform to design, customise, and manage AI solutions. There’s SO much to unpack!
I really recommend checking out Asha Sharma’s session called “Azure AI Foundry unlocking the AI revolution” else, you can also find out more here and watch it in action here.
Some of the key features include:
- A Unified AI toolchain in a new Azure AI Foundry SDK that makes Azure AI capabilities accessible from familiar tools, like GitHub, Visual Studio, and Copilot Studio.
- New Azure AI Agent Service to automate business processes
- Enhanced observability and collaboration with Azure AI Foundry Portal. Evolving Azure AI Studio into an enterprise-grade management console.
- Expanded AI model catalogue with 1800+ models to choose from and more RAG performance with Azure AI Search
- The ability to turn unstructured data into multimodal app experiences with Azure AI Content Understanding – very cool. Check out session ‘BRK111 – Unveiling a new Azure AI multimodal service‘ to learn more.
- Responsible AI tooling to help ensure safety and compliance.
3. Data Security Takes Centre Stage
Satya opened Ignite by saying “Purview is the product of the conference because in the age of AI, Data Governance takes on an even more critical, central and important role”
With this in mind, I recommend catching up on session BRK317 – ‘Secure and govern your data estate with Microsoft Purview‘ to see the launch of the new security and governance capabilities that can help you to accelerate your AI transformation.
Here are some of my highlights:
- Compliance Manager and the new AI reports capability can help you prepare for AI regulations, such as the EU AI Act.
- Insider Risk Management now enables you to detect and investigate potential prompt injection attacks in Microsoft 365 Copilot and anomaly activities in Copilot, ChatGPT Enterprise, and agents built in Copilot Studio.
- Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) for AI helps you proactively discover risks, such as sensitive data in prompts, and get recommended actions to address them.
- New capabilities in the Azure portal and Defender for Cloud can now help you govern model deployment and strengthen security posture, proactively reducing vulnerabilities in your environment.
Learn more about all these new capabilities in the announcement blog post here.
4. Exposure Management
Microsoft made some significant commitments to Security with the launch of the Secure Future Initiative (SFI) last year – prioritising the integration of secure by design, secure by default, and infusing secure operations principles into everything they do. We expected to see a number of announcements at Ignite as a consequence, and we weren’t disappointed!
One of the biggest bits of news – referenced in Satya’s keynote – was the general availability of Security Exposure Management. This is a tool we’ve been using internally at Transparity for some time that we’re excited to be able to position with confidence to our customers. Exposure Management provides a unified solution to assess and reduce cyberthreat exposure. It consolidates data for a comprehensive view of the attack surface; providing ongoing assessments and prioritised recommendations to enhance security posture.
Brjann and Tomer’s session – “Proactive security with continuous exposure management” (BRK234) was outstanding, and well worth a watch for those wanting to learn more. You can also read about the announcement and learn (quite a lot) more in the release blog post available here: Unlock Proactive Defense: Microsoft Security Exposure Management Now Generally Available
5. GenAI in Security
Alongside the Exposure Management and Purview updates I’ve already mentioned, Ignite also saw a host of other SCI related enhancements. This short summary doesn’t do justice to the immense capability being added, but you’d do well to check out “Transform your security with GenAI innovations in Security Copilot” (BRK307) for a snapshot of some of the functionality and integration work that Microsoft is doing to unify and enhance the experience and workflow for Security stakeholders – largely via Security Copilot.
Here are some of my highlights:
- AI driven assistance in the Microsoft Entra Admin Center to deliver insights across identity telemetry including audit and diagnostic logs, sign-in data, application risk, and user insights.
- New integration with Microsoft Intune to simplify the assessment, troubleshooting, and management of endpoints – including AI-driven KQL query assistance.
- A new Logic Apps connector to enable the running of Security Copilot promptbooks directly from the Logic Apps workflow – enriching insights for Security admins, and automating common tasks.
- Extended Threat Intelligence via the new (preview) Unified Threat Intelligence Experience to help security teams more rapidly assess and understand potential threats.
Again, you can read more in the launch blog posts: Transforming Security with Microsoft Security Copilot, and also check out some of the other related sessions including “One goal, many roles: Microsoft Security Copilot use cases for all” (BRK316) and “Optimize with Security Copilot: Real-world insights and expert advice” (BRK308).
Conclusion
Ignite 2024 was a testament to Microsoft’s commitment to AI innovation and security, with a plethora of new features and updates that promise to transform the way we work and interact with technology. I, for one, can’t wait to get back home to start trying these new capabilities out!
Want to see all the announcements from Ignite? Check out the handy Microsoft Ignite 2024 Book of News.
