April Gittens leads a hands-on live stream guiding developers through building sophisticated AI agents with Microsoft Foundry and the AI Toolkit, focusing on multimodal input, system prompts, and iterative workflows.

Building AI Agents with Microsoft AI Toolkit & Foundry: Live Stream Walkthrough

Presented by April Gittens

Generative AI is advancing beyond simple prompt-response interactions, evolving toward intelligent agents that can process images and text, store memory, and act on behalf of users. In this upcoming live stream, you’ll learn how to prototype these new AI agents using Microsoft’s latest tools: AI Toolkit in Visual Studio Code and Microsoft Foundry.

What You’ll Learn

  • Environment Setup in Microsoft Foundry:
    • Learn to create and configure a project, connect to AI models, and prepare your development workspace with the AI Toolkit in VS Code.
    • The workflow is accessible to both newcomers and experienced builders of agent workflows.
  • Testing Multimodal Inputs:
    • Understand how agents can process both text and images, interpreting and using this input for richer interactions.
    • Discover best practices for constructing prompts and troubleshooting common stumbling blocks.
  • Designing Effective System Prompts:
    • Explore how to structure system prompts that direct agent behavior, including grounding techniques and defining actions.
    • Tips for shaping consistent, robust multimodal agent responses.
  • Iterating With the AI Toolkit:
    • Use powerful debugging tools and playground features to analyze agent reasoning, test system instructions, and fine-tune planning and behavior.
    • Utilize trace views and structured output for more predictable iteration.
  • Expanding Beyond the Lab:
    • Strategies for adding new skills, connecting additional data sources, and converting your prototype into a production-ready application.
    • Develop a repeatable workflow for building various creative, developer, or custom AI agents.

Why Multimodal Agents Matter

Multimodal agents represent the next interface wave for apps, able to:

  • Interpret images
  • Understand context
  • Execute actions
  • Guide users through intuitive workflows

Prototyping these agents prepares you for upcoming trends in AI-powered product development and innovation.

Event Details

Bring your curiosity—and ideas for agents you want to build.

Published by April Gittens on the Microsoft Developer Community Blog.

This post appeared first on “Microsoft Tech Community”. Read the entire article here