Welcome to this week’s tech roundup. AI integration, cloud platforms, and developer tools continue to advance rapidly, with plenty of practical news across the board. GitHub Copilot now uses OpenAI’s GPT-5 and its lighter “Mini” model for more thoughtful automation, smarter code suggestions, and secure, team-oriented workflows on Visual Studio, VS Code, JetBrains, Xcode, and Eclipse. A new Model Context Protocol (MCP) is building a standard for multi-context development automation, while Copilot is broadening—from in-editor repository chat to deep refactoring and modernization tools for businesses.

AI’s role isn’t limited to writing code. Microsoft continues to fold GitHub more tightly into its main AI engineering efforts while rolling out new agent orchestration models in Azure AI Foundry and making Copilot Studio more accessible. There’s a clear uptick in adoption of AI tools, open-source cloud solutions, and analytics that work across cloud boundaries. Security updates across Azure and Microsoft Fabric support stronger data governance and compliance. Teams in DevOps and development get new patterns for modern workflows, better productivity features, and improved support for different programming languages. With technology advancing rapidly, the stories below provide clear, useful context for everyone leading, building, or maintaining solutions today.

This Week’s Overview

GitHub Copilot

GitHub Copilot reached a new level of integration this week, thanks to GPT-5 and the leaner “Mini” model now powering Copilot in all major IDEs—including Visual Studio, VS Code, JetBrains, Xcode, and Eclipse—through the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Developers get context-aware AI for writing code, refactoring, and automating projects, plus easier onboarding, API integration, and modernization. Copilot is moving beyond code suggestions to become a real platform for automation, secure collaboration, and better admin controls—raising the standard for quick, high-quality, AI-supported development.

GPT-5 Arrives Across GitHub Copilot and Major IDEs

GPT-5 is now available across GitHub Copilot, enhancing code completion, context handling, and automation in Visual Studio, VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, Xcode, Eclipse, and the GitHub apps. Visual Studio users will notice better reasoning in complex code, debugging help, faster suggestions, and stronger explanations. The rollout is phased—paid users will see GPT-5 rolled out first, with enterprise admin controls for adoption. Upgrades mean smoother transitions from older models, improved code quality, better onboarding, more effective code reviews, and easier maintenance. GitHub is providing clear changelogs and guides to help users through changes.

Automation and Developer Workflows: From Natural Language to Real Code

Copilot combines GPT-5 and MCP for closer DevOps alignment. As shown this week, Copilot can now generate full games from natural language prompts in under a minute. MCP lets Copilot fire off real GitHub actions—handling repository management, issue triage, tool integrations—straight from the IDE, so developers avoid context switching. New guides help teams set up MCP securely and expand Copilot’s role from code generation to full automation, boosting project best practices.

Contextual Collaboration and Code Understanding Expands

New collaboration features in GitHub Copilot now allow repo chat, contextual Q&A, and Copilot Spaces with repository imports. Developers can interact with full repositories via chat, open pull requests and issues, and handle projects using AI suggestions—streamlining both onboarding and maintenance. These features come directly from community feedback wanting easier integration and more context-aware development.

MCP support now extends to JetBrains, Eclipse, and Xcode, enabling organizations to manage secure, policy-controlled, multi-context workflows. Visual Studio Copilot Chat introduces semantic search, moving past keyword search to give meaning-based code results—improving navigation and making code review and summarization more effective as features continue to grow.

Specialized AI Tools and Automation Modes

Copilot now includes a “Do Epic Shit” chat mode (“Beast Mode”), organizing automation with step-by-step checklists that round out the original agent workflows. AI coding assistants built for platforms like Telerik and KendoUI now provide tailored completions for users working in those ecosystems.

Modernization and Migration: AI-Driven Refactoring for Enterprise Stacks

Copilot is now automating modernization for enterprise Java and .NET codebases. The App Modernization Extension, using OpenRewrite AI, plans migration, checks dependencies, scaffolds test suites, and confirms compliance automatically. This removes some pain from upgrading legacy applications, following last week’s in-depth guides and ongoing enterprise feedback.

Streamlined and Secure: API, Secrets, and Admin Experience

Copilot has upgraded its user management APIs to include a last_authenticated_at field, providing real-time compliance and licensing checks instead of slow CSV exports. AI secret scanning is now more accurate, identifying a wider variety of secret types—including custom tokens—and suggesting faster fixes, making pipelines more secure by default.

Other GitHub Copilot News

The GPT-5 Mini version is now available for every Copilot plan, including free ones. This lightweight, quick model helps reduce quota usage for paid tiers while giving everyone easier access to AI features. Ongoing feedback will inform future improvements.

Copilot’s platform is growing—Claude 4.1 joins GPT-5 to support code intelligence, along with more support for different runtimes and open models. Project management is tied into Microsoft’s Community Project (MCP). Copilot’s role in .NET and Visual Studio was a key focus at events like VS Live!, highlighting its growing reach.

Practical tutorials this week included streamlining API integration with Copilot and tackling broken migrations using Copilot’s AI debugging tools—two useful areas for boosting day-to-day productivity.

As new pull request summarization features arrive, GitHub is deprecating text completion for pull request descriptions. Organizations should keep an eye on update channels to catch the latest changes.

AI

AI development accelerates with strategic changes at Microsoft, broader model support, new orchestration frameworks, and evolving developer perspectives. GPT-5, Copilot Studio, and MCP are pushing enterprise innovation, security, and practical tool adoption forward. These updates show AI not just assisting work but actively transforming how software and systems are designed, deployed, and maintained—impacting skills, policies, DevOps, and open-source integration.

Strategic Shifts and Leadership in Microsoft’s AI Ecosystem

GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke has announced he’ll leave by late 2025 as Microsoft folds GitHub directly into its CoreAI engineering team—ending GitHub’s independent structure and speeding up the flow of AI features for developers. GitHub’s open-source focus will stay, but new features and improved onboarding will come faster under centralized leadership.

GPT-5 and AI Model Integrations Across Developer Platforms

Following the rollout of GPT-5 in Azure and Microsoft’s platform last week, broader support is available now through GitHub Copilot, Azure AI Foundry, VS Code, and other SDKs. GPT-5—including the “mini” version—is now Copilot’s default and helps power agent orchestration in Copilot Studio. Developers benefit from secure access controls, advanced model routing, easier local/cloud inference, and clear setup guides. The transition from preview options to default status, plus modular integrations and more stability, all point to GPT-5 becoming the new norm for production AI.

Advancements in Agentic AI and Enterprise Orchestration Patterns

Enterprise Agentic AI is moving forward with “Agent Factory,” a new orchestration toolkit for agent design—spanning tool usage, workflow planning, and team coordination—built on Azure AI Foundry. The framework includes APIs, an agent catalog, a no-code designer, and Logic Apps integration, making it easier for organizations to deploy and govern agents. This builds on last week’s focus on multiple interacting agents and brings new patterns for teams looking to put agents in real production settings.

The Rise and Evolution of Copilot Studio

Copilot Studio has matured into a no-code hub for building conversational automation, branching out from its Power Virtual Agents roots. Now you can use GPT-powered AI, deploy across multiple channels, and extend it with plugins for scenarios like customer support, HR, or lead management. There are step-by-step guides for non-developers, and direct deployment is more accessible. The ongoing improvements reflect Microsoft’s focus on making automation possible for everyone—from large enterprises to individuals just starting out.

Expanding the Model Context Protocol (MCP) Ecosystem

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is gaining traction as an open standard—offering new integrations with VS Code, Foundry Agent, and Sentry for secure, consistent AI workflows at scale. MCP is being positioned as a modern replacement for SQL in database tasks and as a core orchestration layer for agents. Sentry’s direct monitoring helps teams observe agent operations in real time.

AI Adoption, Trust, and Code Security in Practice

The Stack Overflow Developer Survey for 2025 reports nearly universal use of AI tools, but confidence in automated output has dropped—developers still rely on their own judgment, especially for autonomous systems. SonarSource’s study flagged persistent security and maintainability issues with LLM-generated code, highlighting the necessity for strict oversight. These patterns echo last week’s concerns about governance and code review.

Innovations in Document Intelligence, Data Analytics, and Azure-powered AI

Developers working with unstructured data will find new options in Mistral Document AI on Azure AI Foundry—supporting complex, multilingual document analysis with faster table extraction and less latency. Updates in Microsoft Fabric and SharePoint Embedded enable real-time analytics and no-code extension options, continuing last week’s focus on bridging AI, analytics, and business systems.

Updates in Platform, Tooling, and AI Skills Development

Microsoft has open sourced the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and introduced Windows AI Foundry to let anybody build custom AI workflows and run models locally. In Australia, a nationwide AI skills program is reaching millions for hands-on upskilling. Azure Cognitive Services has published new resources outlining real-world value. Collectively, these advances push hybrid and on-device AI, as well as open up more possibilities for developers at every level.

Other AI News

AI-powered workflows are now common in Azure, Copilot, and OpenAI environments—including Microsoft Teams, document intelligence, agent-building in VS Code, Azure deployments, and more powerful function-calling for agents. Security and compliance for generative AI have grown with new red-teaming approaches, RAG security checks, PII redaction, and fresh monitoring tools. The Azure AI blog network has now merged for simpler access to technical content and practical guidance.

ML

Machine learning updates this week include expanded cloud support for open models, step-by-step LLM deployment, scalable optimizers, and upgraded analytics tools. Microsoft introduced more open-source, cloud-native, and production-friendly options, while new tools like Dion are making large model training more efficient. Companies are highlighting useful deployment strategies and tuning guidance so teams can deliver quality ML systems with less friction.

Cloud-Native LLM Deployment and Optimization

A new, comprehensive guide walks through deploying OpenAI’s GPT-OSS-20B model on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) with KAITO and vLLM, using managed GPUs for scalable and reproducible inference. The tutorial covers everything from setting up clusters to benchmarking, making it easier for teams to roll out open LLMs in Azure environments.

Innovations in Data Lake Interoperability

Microsoft Fabric’s OneLake now lets you access Delta Lake tables as Apache Iceberg format using Apache XTable. This enables analytics engines such as Spark, Trino, or Snowflake to work with lake data without ETL or duplication, advancing Microsoft’s vision for a more flexible, open lakehouse platform.

Advances in Distributed Optimization for AI Model Training

Microsoft Research introduced Dion, a distributed optimizer for training massive models like LLaMA-3 405B. Dion leverages orthonormal updates to make optimizer steps up to 10x faster while preserving accuracy, and works well with distributed training frameworks such as FSDP2 and tensor parallelism.

Practical Data Engineering and Analytics Platform Enhancements

A deep dive into the Spark UI offers practical advice for improving job run times, fixing data skew and joins, and spotting garbage collection issues—especially for Databricks users seeking to move past trial-and-error tuning.

Microsoft Fabric’s Copy Job feature now supports table-level incremental resets, automatic destination table creation, and JSON files—streamlining ETL pipeline deployment by reducing manual steps.

Azure Essentials Show featured Databricks, highlighting unified analytics, ML lifecycle support, and integration across the Azure platform—useful for developers building new skills for Azure ML environments.

Enterprise ML Transformation and Modern DataOps

A case study from Adastra and Heritage Grocers Group illustrates how Microsoft Fabric and Azure OpenAI unified post-acquisition data, powered predictive analytics, and rolled out a working system in just six months, showing real benefits from a modern, cloud-based ML setup.

Other ML News

Excel’s 40th anniversary content showcases its transformation into a capable platform for analytics and ML, including expanded modeling support, Power BI linkage, and deeper connection to Microsoft Fabric.

Azure

Azure rolled out a diverse set of improvements this week, including updates to hybrid and container management, security, storage, databases, the marketplace, and analytics. The focus remains on operational efficiency, cost management, compliance, and stronger developer tooling. The Azure Marketplace continues to see rapid growth, and security and DevOps features are maturing, giving teams more reliable options for running cloud-native workloads.

Advancements in Container Management and Hybrid Cloud

Microsoft secured a top position in Gartner’s 2025 Magic Quadrant for container management for the third straight year. AKS Automatic makes cluster management straightforward, while AKS integrates with GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, and Copilot-powered manifests. Features like GPU-optimization, flexible billing, and improved Arc controls continue Azure’s hybrid, AI-enabled direction.

Security Innovations and Open Source Transparency

Azure Linux with OS Guard, announced at Build 2025, builds in kernel-level security and includes software bill of materials (SBOM), Trusted Launch, and compliance standards (FedRAMP, FIPS 140-3). The Community Edition allows lightweight experimentation, boosting open-source transparency and security.

Storage Innovation: Azure Files Provisioned V2

Azure Files Provisioned v2 for SSD offers granular management and real-time scaling of IOPS, throughput, and capacity—making it easier and more affordable to meet changing business needs. This builds on earlier analytics improvements and assumes users will want to both scale efficiently and control costs.

Infrastructure-as-Code and DevOps Integration

The new Terraform MSGraph provider and VSCode extension, now in preview, allow teams to automate management of all Microsoft Graph resources—joining together AzureRM, AzAPI, and MSGraph for more consistent onboarding and modular operations across clouds.

Data Platform Enhancements and Extended Security Support

Microsoft Fabric now enables workspace-level identity authentication (via Entra ID) and customer-managed encryption keys, delivering stronger compliance. There’s expanded support for PostgreSQL and MySQL, plus cgroup v2 now available for SQL Server on Linux, signaling Azure’s ongoing investment in hybrid database reliability and security.

Microsoft Intune and Endpoint Management

Microsoft Intune keeps expanding endpoint management capabilities. Integration with Entra ID and Defender supports Zero Trust, while the new IntuneDebug PowerShell module gives IT admins more effective troubleshooting tools for compliance and deployment.

Azure API Management and Microservices Architecture

Azure API management has improved gateway routing and policy controls, making it easier to handle microservices. Workspace models and updated gateway limits support scalability and central management—building off last week’s enhancements.

Real-Time Analytics and Data Integration

Azure Databricks now connects with Power Platform for real-time analytics and write-back scenarios, and AzCopy enables secure, protected transfers to OneLake. Data Factory now supports more flexible partial updates for MongoDB, helping teams manage data more smoothly.

Major Updates in Monitoring, Performance, and Migration

Azure has enabled automatic agent upgrades for Arc-enabled servers, tripled SQL Managed Instance log rates (Business Critical tier), and expanded observability for Oracle Database. OneLake introduces easier capacity pricing, and parallel BCP migration support for Sybase ASE mirrors ongoing improvements in migration tooling.

Cloud-Native Networking and Observability

AKS now offers private pod subnets without overlay networking—helping preserve IP space and simplify hybrid deployments. Micronaut is now integrated for sending native Java metrics, logs, and traces to Azure Monitor, meeting growing demand for open source observability.

Azure Marketplace and Partner Ecosystem Expansion

The Azure Marketplace added more than 200 new solutions covering generative AI, analytics, and compliance. Admin and identity solutions are now easier to purchase, demonstrating how Marketplace continues to address real enterprise challenges.

Logic Apps, App Testing, and API Integration

Logic Apps Data Mapper has reached general availability, now with improved developer experience and better VS Code support. The new Playwright Workspaces guide covers both local and cloud testing, aiming for more reliable automation and artifact management.

AI Infrastructure and Open Data Integration

Azure Storage remains central to large AI and LLM training projects, with new features like Scaled Accounts and Blobfuse2 supporting high-volume and secure workflows. Tutorials make it easier for teams to try these capabilities right away.

Other Azure News

Development tooling improvements are ongoing, following last week’s CLI and naming convention updates.

Security is maturing as well, with new compliance and vulnerability management features.

Migration and troubleshooting guides continue to help teams adopt best practices.

Coding

Developers are getting meaningful updates this week, from fresh language features in .NET 10 Preview and smarter Excel Python tools to improved resilience in Spark. New guides cover everything from disk cleanup to building dual-transport servers, reflecting a bigger focus on practical, modern, and cross-platform workflows.

Major Platform Features and Updates: .NET 10 Preview, Excel Python Image Analysis, Spark Resilience

.NET 10 Preview 7 brings new cryptographic features, faster JSON serialization, better diagnostics, easier authentication, and stronger cross-platform support. The improvements boost usability, security, and help streamline cloud-native workflows.

The latest Excel update lets you use Python natively for image analysis tasks like blur detection, brightness checks, and metadata collection—bringing advanced vision analysis tools to everyday spreadsheet users.

Spark’s improved Iteration Panel makes file filtering and API failure handling easier, helping with smoother, more reliable development cycles.

Guides for Modern, Cross-Platform Development: .NET Aspire, .NET MAUI, Browser-Based .NET

Step-by-step guides help teams get started with .NET Aspire for distributed systems, including boilerplate code, GitHub Actions integration, and custom metrics for ongoing monitoring. Visual Studio and .NET MAUI tutorials focus on building cross-platform mobile and desktop apps—with advice on UI optimization, file size reduction, and streamlined updates.

A walkthrough from Andrew Lock shows how to run .NET in the browser without Blazor, using WebAssembly templates and JavaScript interop for high-performance client apps.

Language Evolution and the Future of Web Development: C# 14, ASP.NET Core & Blazor in .NET 10

A detailed look at C# 14 covers improved pattern matching, nullability support, and value types—making code safer and cleaner. Current .NET team previews for ASP.NET Core and Blazor in .NET 10 include modern security, diagnostics, WebAuthn support, integrated AI libraries, and faster project ramp-up with Aspire, helping developers stay current with critical web advances.

Other Coding News

VS Code’s “Beast mode” rolls out improvements for batch edits, UI adjustments, and workflow enhancements, with a video guide to help users get started. Additional tutorials show how to simplify .NET mapping with Facet, automate disk cleanup with PowerShell, and build STDIO/HTTP dual-transport MCP servers for flexible cloud and local deployments.

DevOps

DevOps is seeing another round of automation, improved workflow features, and more ways to manage releases and access securely. New AI agents, stricter policies, and improved collaboration reflect a steady shift toward streamlined, well-governed developer operations.

The Rise of AI Agents and Automation in DevOps

Google’s Gemini CLI GitHub Actions (beta) bring “AI teammate” capabilities for issue triage, reviews, and more—complete with allowlisting, Workload Identity integration, OpenTelemetry monitoring, and customizable workflows. Free quotas help lower the cost of getting started.

Shadow, a secure, open-source AI coding agent, is designed for production pipelines with semantic search and automatic documentation—helping handle technical debt and supporting both collaborative and automated DevOps patterns.

Security and Policy Enhancements: Supply Chain and Workflow Hardening

GitHub Actions now supports blocking/versioning and SHA pinning, making it possible to harden CI/CD supply chains and guarantee artifact integrity. Fast incident response and automated governance help address new security threats as the platform evolves.

Streamlined Dev to Production Workflows with Modern CI/CD and IaC

A “Dev to Prod” guide outlines how to use Azure Developer CLI with DevOps YAML pipelines for efficient builds, artifact handling, and Copilot-driven diagnostics. This matches ongoing trends toward better, faster development-to-production workflows.

Workflow Improvements for Visibility, Notifications, and Collaboration

GitHub has enhanced reviewer visibility in pull requests, improved email filters, and expanded supported file types for attachments—further smoothing team workflow and onboarding processes.

DevOps Release Management: Bottlenecks and Opportunities

A recent survey of mobile app release practices finds high manual effort and frequent interruptions, highlighting opportunities for better automation and more reliable CI/CD pipelines.

Enhancements in Application Monitoring and Dependency Management

AppSignal now offers zero-config OpenTelemetry monitoring for mainstream languages, while Dependabot adds vcpkg update automation for C/C++—making security and dependency management easier in native codebases.

Migration, Incident, and Access Management in Complex Environments

After a GitHub Enterprise Importer outage, stronger testing and firewall management were put in place. Visual Studio subscribers can now access metered enterprise billing. An ITU open-source migration guide provides a four-step model, supporting teams moving from private to public projects.

Other DevOps News

Dev tools continue to receive attention, with new OpenTelemetry features in AppSignal, simplified dependency updates via Dependabot, and more collaborative GitHub features. Security advances include improved Actions policy controls and user management APIs. There’s also updated guidance on migration, incident handling, and real-world DevOps lessons from practitioners.

Security

This week’s security news spotlights urgent vulnerability fixes, better credential protection, cloud and SaaS baseline upgrades, and practical integrations for identity, compliance, and recovery. Organizations must move quickly to patch risks, especially in Microsoft environments, while juggling the expanding roles—and new risks—of AI in security automation.

Critical Vulnerability Mitigation Across Microsoft Platforms

A SharePoint vulnerability (CVE-2025-53770) allowed unauthenticated code execution through auth bypass. Recent versions received patches, while older systems relied on custom Azure WAF rules. Exchange faced a privilege escalation vulnerability (CVE-2025-53786), remedied by hotfixes and updated trust models. SQL Server saw a denial-of-service risk (CVE-2025-49759) now patched across supported releases. These events reinforce the need for prompt patching, layered defenses, and live monitoring.

AI and Security: Expanding Applications and New Risks

AI is now being used for credential exposure alerts (Entra/AD), automated incident triage in Defender, and open-source supply chain scans (CodeQL, Copilot). However, LLM-generated code can introduce new risks. Microsoft and partners are recommending thorough review and end-to-end AI security, with organizations like Dow sharing how AI has improved threat detection and SecOps workflows.

Advancements in Secret and Credential Management

GitHub Secret Scanning now supports 12 more token types for proactive risk detection. Secret validity checks and push protection in GitHub Advanced Security for Azure DevOps make discovery and remediation easier. Azure DevOps has improved OAuth secret management by only displaying secrets at creation. GitHub’s MCP Server now boosts public repo scanning.

Cloud and SaaS Security Baselines, Forensic Readiness, and Integration

Azure’s updated guides on forensic readiness cover MFA, RBAC, auditing, recovery, and compliance. Third-party SaaS integration guides explain secure setup and consistent permission management for Slack, Trello, and Google. Defender for Cloud now matches compliance for US Government clouds. Queensland, Australia, has improved support for vulnerable groups with a unified MS 365 E5 stack.

Real-Time Enforcement and Advanced Identity Management

Continuous Access Evaluation (CAE) now provides real-time session revocation on Azure DevOps—closing security gaps faster. Developers should update workflows to react to new CAE signals. A new Entra ID guide for Windows Forms shows secure token-based identity setup for Arc-enabled SQL Server.

Application Security, Supply Chain, and Developer Workflows

A new survey shows most companies still deploy code with known vulnerabilities, putting them at risk. CodeQL now supports Kotlin and Rust and offers improved static analysis for JavaScript/React. The Minimus hardened images service adds VEX and Microsoft SSO to improve supply chain and container compliance.

Windows, Disk Encryption, and System Recovery

Microsoft STORM found attackers could chain four BitLocker vulnerabilities in the Windows Recovery Environment to unlock protected drives. The July 2025 patch addresses these design flaws, serving as a reminder of the importance of layered defense and ongoing validation.

Regulatory and Compliance Tools

The Eclipse Foundation has published OCCTET, a free toolkit to help organizations fulfill requirements under Europe’s Cyber Resilience Act. Microsoft Purview eDiscovery adds automated workflows, search upgrades, and audit controls. There are also plain-language guides for small businesses on labeling, DLP, and conditional access.

Other Security News

Malware scanning is now generally available for Azure Government Secret/Top-Secret workloads in Defender for Storage. Microsoft Teams encryption details are clarified, and S/MIME troubleshooting tackles certificate issues. There are new guides for OAuth2 automation in ADF and issuing directory extension claims in Entra ID, plus registration details for Microsoft Ignite 2025 (focused on AI defense and community forums).