Microsoft Build 2026: Foundry Launches Production Agent Runtime

Microsoft used Build 2026 to show that the era of production AI agents is no longer a promise — it's reality. Microsoft Foundry released a complete toolkit for building, testing, and scaling AI agents.

Foundry Agent Service: Managed Runtime for Agents

The big news is the Foundry Agent Service, a managed runtime that solves one of the biggest challenges in production agent deployment: infrastructure.

• Isolated sessions: each agent execution runs in a secure, isolated environment
• Persistent file system: agents maintain state across executions
• Long-term memory: agents learn from past interactions
• Auto-scaling: scale from zero to thousands of agents on demand

Unified Toolbox

Microsoft also launched a standardized tool toolbox for agents:

• Ready connectors for SharePoint, Dynamics 365, SQL Server, and Salesforce
• Real-time voice support via WebSockets
• File system and database access with granular permission control

Teams and M365 Copilot Integration

Agents built in Foundry can be published directly to Microsoft Teams as intelligent bots. Integration with M365 Copilot allows enterprise agents to access emails, calendars, and documents with proper authorization.

Observability and Governance

Foundry's production focus sets it apart:

• Monitoring: real-time dashboards for latency, errors, and token usage
• Evaluation: automated quality testing for agents
• Governance: built-in security and compliance policies

For anyone building enterprise-scale agents, Foundry Agent Service is a must-see. Microsoft is building what could become the industry standard platform.