Key Highlights
- Microsoft unveils a new series of services for self-repairing data centers at its annual Ignite conference.
- The new services include Foundry Agent Service, which provides runtime for AI agents with persistent memory capabilities.
- Foundry Control Plane offers observability, behavioral guardrails, and lifecycle management to ensure the proper functioning of these agents.
- Copilot Studio enhances agent development by providing tools for testing, deployment, and real-time monitoring.
Microsoft’s Vision for Autonomous Data Centers
At its annual Ignite conference on November 18, 2025, Microsoft unveiled a groundbreaking new series of services designed to transform how data centers are managed. The company aims to shift from manual, error-prone operations to fully autonomous and self-repairing systems through the integration of artificial intelligence (AI). This move is part of a broader strategy to address persistent challenges in enterprise computing, such as alert fatigue, maintenance debt, observability gaps, and talent shortages.
Foundry Agent Service: The Engine Behind Autonomous Systems
At the core of Microsoft’s vision lies Foundry Agent Service, a fully managed runtime environment for hosting, scaling, coordinating, and governing AI agents. This service is built to handle complex multi-agent systems and provides developers with a cloud-based platform where they can focus on agent logic without worrying about infrastructure management. According to the company, Foundry Agent Service will support long-running AI agents that can respond swiftly to network situations, making them ideal for dynamic environments.
The hosted agent capability of Foundry Agent Service is not limited to Microsoft’s own framework; it supports third-party APIs such as LangGraph and CrewAI.
This flexibility ensures that developers have the freedom to choose from a wide range of tools and technologies. Additionally, the service includes persistent memory functionality, allowing agents to retain context, preferences, and conversation history across sessions with secure integration into the agent runtime.
Foundry Control Plane: Ensuring Agent Compliance and Security
To ensure that these autonomous AI agents operate within defined parameters, Microsoft introduced Foundry Control Plane. Available in preview at the Ignite conference, Foundry Control Plane brings observability, behavioral guardrails, and lifecycle management into a single environment. This tool enables teams to monitor agent health, performance, and cost while applying policies and taking real-time actions.
A key feature of Foundry Control Plane is its integration with Entra Agent ID, an authentication, authorization, identity protection, and access governance tool for agents. Entra Agent ID provides unique, secure, and verifiable IDs that can be tracked by Foundry Control Plane, ensuring better monitoring and control over agent operations.
Copilot Studio: Crafting Autonomous Agents
Copilot Studio, the development environment for agents, plays a crucial role in this ecosystem. It is designed as a LEGO set for building AI agents, providing developers with tools to craft, test, and deploy agents. Copilot Studio introduces several enhancements that expand its capabilities:
- Agents deployed through Copilot Studio will be assigned Entra IDs, allowing for trackability by Foundry Control Plane.
- A new feature called agent evaluations automates performance testing against defined scenarios, providing a powerful feedback loop for refinement and tuning.
- The ability to integrate real-time monitoring during agent runs allows administrators to run Microsoft Defender, third-party security platforms, and custom monitoring solutions, ensuring robust security measures are in place.
Impact on IT Roles and the Future of Data Center Management
These new services are expected to significantly transform IT roles. Developers will become “intent architects,” while site reliability engineers will transition into autonomy supervisors. Compliance officials may focus more on behavioral governance, leveraging the comprehensive oversight provided by Foundry Control Plane.
The shift towards autonomous systems could mark a paradigm shift in how data centers operate and are managed. By combining advanced AI with robust security measures, Microsoft aims to provide a solution that addresses longstanding issues in enterprise computing while ensuring seamless operations for businesses worldwide.
