Microsoft Unveils Unified Data and AI Platform with Fabric, Power BI, and Azure SQL Enhancements

Microsoft has announced a comprehensive set of new features across its Fabric platform, Power BI, OneLake, and Azure SQL at the Fabric + SQL European Community Conference in Barcelona. The company’s goal is to make data, business context, and artificial intelligence work together seamlessly to fuel the agentic enterprise.

The conference drew over 5,000 attendees from 71 countries, with Arun Ulag, executive vice president of Azure Data, kicking off the event by highlighting Fabric’s impressive growth: it boasts over 40,000 customers, 2.6 million active users, and certifications in this area are the fastest growing within the Microsoft ecosystem.

SQL continues to be a core technology for enterprise workloads, used by over 90% of Fortune 500 companies. However, to get the most out of AI, Microsoft wants its customers’ data platforms to evolve toward a unified platform that integrates business context and artificial intelligence.

The key word at FabCon is ‘context.’ Organizations need more than just AI models and agents; they require reliable data, shared business definitions, operational knowledge, security, and governance. At the center of this effort is Fabric IQ, a shared intelligence layer that connects OneLake data, Power BI semantic model metrics, and context from ontologies and real-time intelligence.

One of the most significant announcements made at the conference is the integration of Fabric IQ with Microsoft Copilot. The intention is for Microsoft’s assistant to work not only with generic information but also with a shared business view built on each organization’s data and knowledge.

Fabric IQ is now generally available in Copilot Chat and Cowork, with no additional token costs, while its integration with the new Code experience will be coming soon through the Frontier program. For Power BI users, the business definitions, metrics, and insights embedded in their semantic models can also be used directly as the basis for Copilot’s responses and actions.

This move marks a significant shift in the traditional role of data platforms. It’s no longer just about storing, integrating, and analyzing information; the goal is to transform data into a business context that is understandable to both people and AI agents.

The evolution of Power BI has also been highlighted at the conference. Microsoft has announced the ability to create agentic applications directly from Power BI Desktop. Users can start with a trusted semantic model, describe the application they need using natural language, generate it, preview it, modify it, and publish it to Fabric.

This conceptual leap is significant because it enables users to move from analyzing information to creating actionable applications based on that same data. Microsoft aims to enable users to automate tasks by leveraging AI capabilities in their business processes.

The company has also expanded Fabric applications to facilitate the transition from prototype to production. Developers can connect applications with Fabric data stores, SQL databases, lakehouses, and Power BI semantic models without duplicating data and while maintaining existing permissions and business logic.

New features include a TypeScript backend, Secret Store, PostgreSQL support, private access by default, and built-in usage and performance metrics. Additionally, Microsoft has introduced the Fabric data engineering agent to automate complex tasks such as migrations, lakehouse modernization, optimization, ETL processes, and data preparation.

The operations agent incorporates root cause analysis and recommendations for resolving incidents. Furthermore, it has expanded Fabric IQ to include capabilities for generating ontologies from semantic models, OneLake data, and context documents.

Organizations can now define rules in natural language and reuse Power BI metrics, providing people with a common business meaning and thereby improving the accuracy of their responses. Microsoft also includes on-demand billing, which enables customers to pay for computing capacity used, and zero provisioning of Fabric and OneLake.

In terms of database management, Database Hub offers a centralized control plane for SQL Server, Azure SQL, PostgreSQL, Cosmos DB, and SQL Database on Fabric. Database agents for SQL and PostgreSQL are also coming soon.

Finally, Microsoft has announced the general availability of SQL Server on Azure On-Premise and its offline operations, strengthening support for on-premises, edge, and sovereign environments.

The announcements outline a significant evolution of Microsoft’s data platform, which aims to enhance real-world efficiency in the age of agents. To achieve this, Microsoft is building an architecture around Fabric where OneLake connects data; Power BI provides semantic models and metrics; Fabric IQ incorporates business context; Copilot and agents utilize that knowledge; and observability, governance, and database tools provide the operational layer necessary to keep the entire system running smoothly.

Microsoft’s vision for a unified platform marks a paradigm shift in how organizations approach AI. Transformation through AI will not depend so much on the number of agents an organization is able to create as on its ability to understand the business and collaborate to achieve results.