MicrosoftIgnite: Azure Dev & AI Updates
Azure stands at the core of Microsoft's AI technologies. The announcements from this year’s #MicrosoftIgnite reinforces this fact.
Azure continues to offer the possibilities to harness AI’s potential.
Now, lets take a look at some interesting developer related updates from #MicrosoftIgnite, codes & practical examples will come later:
Azure Container Apps introduced Serverless GPUs (currently in preview).
This feature allows developers to run AI workloads on serverless GPUs in Azure Container Apps. They automatically scale to handle your workload and only charge based on actual usage. This also allows devs to use NVIDIA A100 and T4 GPUs without complex infrastructure. Every AI developer will be happy with this. While traditional cloud services still involve provisioning fixed GPU instances (even though managed by the cloud), serverless GPUs provide on-demand GPU power without the need to manually configure or manage GPU environments.
Azure AI Foundry:
The whole idea here is to streamline AI adoption for businesses, reduce development costs, and support the scaling of AI solutions across industries, making it easier for developers and organizations to innovate responsibly and effectively. If you have ever used the Azure AI studio, this portal replaces it and offers management of AI apps, models, and services. Azure AI Agent Service is one of the capabilities of Azure AI Foundry for developers to create, deploy and scale intelligent AI agents that can automate complex business processes. I will use the SDK to build an agent in the coming days.
Azure Logic Apps on Azure DevOps:
Azure Logic Apps have supported integration with Azure DevOps for deployment automation for a while. However, Microsoft Ignite 2024 introduced enhancements that improve the DevOps experience. Two Updates: Dedicated Azure DevOps pipeline tasks for "Azure Logic Apps Standard Build" and "Azure Logic Apps Standard Release" were introduced. Zero Downtime Deployment: Deployment slots, now available in preview, allow updates without affecting running workflows.
AI workload now included in Azure Well-Architected Framework:
AI workload guidance has also been added to the popular Azure Well-Architected Framework that we all know. This ensures they align with the framework's pillars: Reliability, Cost Optimization, Security, Operational Excellence, and Performance Efficiency.
Very Important: Security Enhancements:
Microsoft Purview Updates: There are tools for data governance and protection, including malicious intent detection and prevention of risky AI usage.
That’s all for today. See you in the next one!