Turn your agents into action: Connect tools, APIs, and documents | BRK242
Ronak Chokshi presents a Microsoft Build 2026 session on making AI agents more effective by connecting them to the right tools, APIs, and document knowledge sources, with an emphasis on controlling context size and adding governance around tool usage.
Overview
The session introduces a developer-focused approach for turning agents into “action” by:
- Helping developers choose the right toolset based on an agent’s context, use case, and functional boundaries
- Reducing context-window bloat when agents need to access multiple tools and content sources
- Adding built-in governance for how tools are discovered, selected, and used
Tool catalog and multiple tool types
- Overview of a tool catalog concept and support for multiple tool types
- Discussion of the developer experience challenges when integrating many tools into agent workflows
Toolbox, Tool Search, and governance
- Introduction to:
- Toolbox for organizing tools
- Tool Search for finding the right tools efficiently
- A Governance Dashboard for oversight and control
- Demonstration of tool search optimization
- Creating and managing toolboxes in Foundry
Agents accessing content across formats
- Challenges when agents need to use content in different formats
- Advancements in:
- Classification
- Section splitting (breaking content into more usable chunks)
Foundry IQ knowledge sources and context options
- Overview of Foundry IQ as a knowledge source
- Discussion of agent context options for connecting knowledge to agent experiences