Microsoft Community Kicking Off 2026 Together

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that your new year is off to a great start. There’s a lot happening across the community, and I’m excited to share the latest highlights with you.”

News and Recommendations

GitHub Copilot SDK & CLI

Recently, the GitHub Copilot SDK was released, and it’s a game changer for how developers build applications in Visual Studio Code. You can now stay entirely within your terminal while developing. Check it out below, along with the video:

https://github.com/github/copilot-sdk

GitHub Copilot CLI

GitHub Copilot CLI brings Copilot directly into your terminal, letting you run commands, generate code, and navigate projects using natural language. Just type gh copilot to get started. Learn more: https://github.com/github/copilot-cli

Azure Landing Zone Weekly Question

A weekly series where the ALZ team tackles real questions from the community about Azure Landing Zones. Watch the latest episode here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddcVKS_MKkk

Azure Copilot Agent

Azure Copilot Agents introduce an agentic, multi‑modal interface inside Azure Copilot to help you migrate, operate, and optimise cloud workloads more intelligently. Find more information here learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/copilot/agents-preview

Model Monday

Model Monday is a weekly Microsoft Reactor series that breaks down the latest AI model updates with short demos and practical insights. It’s a quick way to stay current with new models, features, and real‑world use cases. More info: https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/reactor/series/s-1485/

Work IQ

Microsoft released a Work IQ MCP server that lets you basically bring organizational context into anything with simple prompts. Check it out here www.linkedin.com/posts/burkeholland_microsoft-released-a-work-iq-mcp-server-that-activity-7420531472652201985-EjBX 

Upcoming events

London AI Tour

The Microsoft AI Tour is coming to London, bringing hands‑on sessions, expert‑led deep dives, and the latest updates across the Microsoft AI ecosystem. It’s a great chance to learn from product teams, explore real‑world AI solutions, and connect with the local community.

https://aitour.microsoft.com/flow/microsoft/london262/landingpage/page/cityhome

Cloud Tech Tallinn

Cloud Tech Tallinn is a one‑day conference in Estonia focused on cloud engineering, DevOps, AI, and modern software development. Expect practical sessions from industry experts, real‑world case studies, and a strong community atmosphere. More info: https://cloudtechtallinn.com

Experts Live Denmark

Experts Live Denmark will feature deep technical sessions and real‑world expertise. IT pros, developers, and cloud architects will share best practices, explore new technologies, and connect with peers across Europe. https://eldk26.expertslive.dk

MVP Summit 2026

The MVP Summit 2026 is the gathering for Microsoft MVPs across the globe. It’s a chance to engage directly with product teams and shape the future of Microsoft technologies. I cannot wait to attend again — seeing Redmond is always the highlight of my year.

AgentCamp

Join us for a free community event focused on AI agent where you can learn from experts and explore the latest AI technologies. Last year, it was known as the Global AI Bootcamp. https://globalai.community/agentcamp/

Call for Speakers 

Global Azure London

Global Azure London is part of the worldwide Global Azure community event series and will take place on 17 April 2026 at the Microsoft London Office, Paddington. Submit session here https://sessionize.com/global-azure-london/

Azure Spring Clean

This is a community‑driven event focused on promoting Azure best practices, lessons learned, and practical guidance in Azure Management & Operations. Submit your session here https://sessionize.com/azure-spring-clean-2026

North America MCT Summit 2026

North America MCT Summit 2026: The flagship gathering for Microsoft Certified Trainers across North America. A chance to connect, share teaching strategies, and shape the future of Microsoft learning. https://sessionize.com/north-america-mct-summit-26

AgentCon

AgentCon speaker calls are happening worldwide—I highly recommend getting involved! https://globalai.community/events/agentcon-2025/ 

Community Highlights

Starting a User Group: What You Need to Know

This article shares practical guidance from Microsoft MVP Areti Iles, based on her experience launching and running the Reading Dynamics 365 & Power Platform User Group. Have a read https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/mvp-blog/starting-a-user-group-what-you-need-to-know/4485988

MVP Mindset Series by Cecile Dinh

Cecile Dinh kicked off the #MyMVPMindset series with insights from 75 Microsoft MVPs, sharing real lessons, encouragement, and leadership perspectives from across the community. If you’re an MVP and want to contribute, you can submit your quote through her form.

Microsoft Azure Community User Group - The next meetup will be on December 15th. Keep updates here https://www.meetup.com/microsoft-azure-community/

You can also watch other episode here: Click to watch it remotely.

Microsoft Community Insights Podcasts

Episode 48 featuring Johan Smarius discussing GitHub Copilot Agent

If you would like to come on my podcast, please remember to subscribe to my channel so you can get a reminder.

 Courses and Resources

New Future Of Work Report 2025

Last month, Microsoft released the New Future of Work Report 2025, and it’s well worth a read. It highlights how AI is reshaping the way we work and where the biggest opportunities lie. Read it here www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/New-Future-Of-Work-Report-2025.pdf

Foundry IQ in Microsoft Agent Framework

Microsoft’s latest update brings Foundry IQ, the intelligent knowledge layer from Azure AI Search, directly into the Microsoft Agent Framework — making enterprise‑grade retrieval and reasoning available to AI agents in just ~20 lines of Python.

Read more here : devblogs.microsoft.com/foundry/foundry-iq-agent-framework-integration

Microsoft Ignite 2025

Microsoft Ignite 2025 focused on turning agentic AI into real, buildable solutions. The message was clear: AI is no longer just about generating text — it’s about agents that can reason, act, and complete multi‑step goals across business workflows.

Read it here: azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/actioning-agentic-ai-5-ways-to-build-with-news-from-microsoft-ignite-2025

Context Engineering Lessons from Building Azure SRE Agent

A new post from Microsoft exploring how the Azure SRE Agent helps teams respond to incidents quickly and effectively, reducing the toil of managing production environments.

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/appsonazureblog/context-engineering-lessons-from-building-azure-sre-agent/4481200/

Python MCP - Learn how to build MCP servers with Python and Azure

This Microsoft Developer Community post recaps a three‑part livestream series called Python + MCP, focused on teaching developers how to build, deploy, and secure Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers using Python and Azure. Catch it here https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/azuredevcommunityblog/learn-how-to-build-mcp-servers-with-python-and-azure/4479402

Thanks for reading — if you enjoyed this edition, feel free to share it with someone in the community. You can also follow my work here:

Career Tips and Advice

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