Microsoft recently unveiled Microsoft Foundry at Ignite 2025 as the next-generation Azure AI platform for building and managing AI applications and agents. Foundry is described as a unified Azure platform-as-a-service (PaaS) for enterprise AI operations. It combines production-grade infrastructure with user-friendly interfaces so developers can focus on building applications rather than managing the cloud backend. In practical terms, Foundry functions as an “AI app and agent factory” that unifies models, tools, and knowledge into one open system.

According to Microsoft, this means that AI assets, from large language models and agent runtimes to custom integrations, can all be managed together in a consistent way. Foundry handles the underlying infrastructure, scaling, and security, giving data scientists and developers a streamlined path to production-grade AI deployments.

Key Capabilities of Microsoft Foundry

Unified AI Asset Management: Foundry introduces a new Azure resource type that unifies agents, models, and tools under a single management grouping. In other words, instead of juggling separate Azure services for models (OpenAI, HuggingFace, etc.), agents (code), and orchestration tools, everything lives under one roof. This modular architecture means enterprises can govern their entire AI pipeline in one place. Microsoft emphasises that Foundry offers “a powerful, simple, and trusted path to production” by bringing all AI building blocks together in one system.

Built-In Enterprise Governance: Foundry comes with enterprise-ready features out of the box. It includes automatic tracing, monitoring, and evaluation of AI workloads so teams can continuously test performance and quality. Security and compliance are also centralised: the Foundry resource uses Azure Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), virtual networks, and Azure Policy in one namespace for consistent enforcement. In practice, this means administrators can apply access controls and network isolation once at the Foundry resource level, and those settings propagate to all contained agents, models, and data. The result is an enterprise-grade control plane where governance is easier to implement and audit.

Multi-Agent Orchestration & Tool Integration: The new Foundry portal supports advanced multi-agent orchestration and workflows. Developers can use built-in SDKs (for C# and Python) to coordinate collaborative agents and complex sequences of actions. Foundry also provides a rich tool catalogue (now over 1,400 connectors) that agents can use at runtime.

For example, agents can call Azure services (like databases, Functions, or cognitive APIs), third-party tools, or internal systems seamlessly. In addition, Foundry’s Enhanced Memory features allow agents to retain conversational or contextual data between interactions. Together, these capabilities let developers prototype end-to-end AI workflows (a “pipeline of agents and tools”) entirely within Foundry.

Knowledge Integration and Observability: Foundry IQ (powered by Azure AI Search) provides a unified knowledge layer for agents. You can connect agents to curated knowledge bases (e.g. SharePoint, Fabric tables, web content) so that their responses are grounded in real data. This integration delivers citation-backed answers for multi-turn conversations and respects the organisation’s security policies on data access. Meanwhile, Foundry’s control plane offers real-time observability: it automatically collects metrics and tracks which models and agents are performing tasks, so teams can monitor usage and detect drift. This continuous feedback loop (trace→evaluate→optimise) is built into the platform, helping data scientists refine models and ensure long-term system reliability.

Benefits for AI Developers and Data Scientists

Microsoft’s unified approach delivers concrete benefits. By consolidating the AI stack, teams can accelerate time-to-market for new AI features. Developers no longer need to manually stitch together VMs, containers, model endpoints, and custom monitoring; Foundry provides an end-to-end managed environment. This allows data scientists to iterate on models and agents quickly, while IT and ops teams retain full visibility and control. For example, Azure now provides access to both OpenAI’s GPT models and Anthropic’s Claude models on the same platform.

Microsoft notes that this model diversity (“supporting access to both Claude and GPT frontier models”) gives developers flexibility to choose the best AI for their scenarios. Importantly, Foundry “gives you flexibility while maintaining enterprise-grade security, compliance, and governance”.

In short, teams can experiment with cutting-edge models and complex agentic applications, but under the guardrails of centralised RBAC, network controls, and auditing. For AI practitioners, this means you can try new foundation models and orchestration tools without reinventing the cloud architecture each time. Foundry’s metrics and evaluation features help data scientists monitor model quality and user outcomes continuously. By integrating with Azure’s ecosystem (Data services, Defender for Cloud, etc.), Foundry also simplifies leveraging existing data lakes and complying with corporate policies. The end result is that companies can move generative AI projects out of the R&D silo into full production, with confidence that governance is built in at every layer.

Partnering with Vaxowave

As a Microsoft Partner specialising in Azure AI solutions, Vaxowave is well-positioned to help organisations adopt Foundry. Our team has deep expertise in building and deploying AI applications on Azure, and we understand how to configure Foundry for enterprise needs. We can assist with everything from designing the Foundry resource and RBAC hierarchy, to integrating your data sources and security requirements into the Foundry control plane. Whether your goal is to launch AI-powered assistants, build a fleet of intelligent agents, or operationalise large language models, Vaxowave provides consulting, implementation, and support services for Foundry projects. Contact Vaxowave today to learn how Foundry can accelerate your AI initiatives. As a trusted Microsoft partner, we can guide you through the setup and management of Foundry resources in Azure, ensuring a smooth, enterprise-ready deployment. Let Vaxowave help you leverage the full power of this new platform, from multi-agent orchestration to knowledge-driven AI, so your team can focus on innovation while we handle the infrastructure. Sources: Authoritative Microsoft documentation and blogs.