At Microsoft Build 2025, one theme resonated across every keynote: AI agents aren’t coming, they’re here. And the enterprise BI landscape is about to evolve with them.
Enter Azure AI Foundry.
More than a toolkit, Foundry and Fabric Data Agents is Microsoft’s launchpad for a new concept: agentic business intelligence. In this model, analytics systems don’t just reflect data they reason through it, adapt to context, and collaborate with users to drive intelligent action.
From Visualization to Intelligence Activation
The traditional BI stack delivered insights. The next generation delivers outcomes.
With Azure AI Foundry at its core, BI becomes:
- Contextual: Models adjust insights based on behavior and segmentation
- Responsive: Recommendations surface in real time, not post-mortem
- Agentic: Systems understand intent and suggest next steps
This is intelligence that’s always on and always evolving.
The NLWeb, Copilot Runtime, and Agent Extensibility
Microsoft’s announcements around the Open Agent Ecosystem, Copilot Runtime, and the Natural Language Web (NLWeb) all point toward a future where:
- Agents operate inside Fabric pipelines
- Copilots are customized and extended using Foundry
- Dashboards become starting points for conversations, not conclusions
It’s no longer just about interpreting data, it’s about collaborating with AI agents to act on it.
Fabric Data Agents: Unlocking More Data for Agentic BI
One of the most important enablers of agentic BI is Microsoft’s new Fabric Data Agents, introduced in the May 2025 Fabric feature wave.
Fabric Data Agents act as connectors and orchestrators allowing AI agents and Copilots to access data beyond what’s traditionally housed in your BI models. They can pull from:
- External SaaS platforms (CRM, ERP, HR systems)
- On-premises data sources
- Unstructured and semi-structured data
- Real-time streams and APIs
Combined with Azure AI Foundry, these agents help create a broader and deeper context for your AI-driven BI experiences. Now, intelligence can flow across silos enabling Copilots and AI agents to reason with a truly enterprise-wide view of the data.
As Microsoft continues to expand Fabric Data Agent capabilities, expect even more flexibility in how your organization brings together diverse data to power the next generation of BI.
Foundry Use Cases: Built on Your Data. Expanded Across the Enterprise
Enterprise teams now have the opportunity to explore how Foundry reshapes BI workflows—without starting over.
Azure AI Foundry works with your existing BI architecture, connecting to your current models, dashboards, and data pipelines. But it can also bring in additional data sources across your organization, giving AI agents a fuller, richer context to drive more intelligent outcomes.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
- Revenue intelligence copilots that guide sales decisions by combining CRM, BI, and external market data
- Predictive planning dashboards that self-adjust based on both historical trends and live operational inputs
- Risk monitoring copilots embedded into financial operations, enriched with feeds from compliance systems and third-party data
All powered by Foundry. All built on Microsoft’s secure, governed infrastructure.
The New Role of the Analyst
As BI systems become agentic, the analyst’s role evolves. Less time gathering data. More time shaping strategy. Analysts become orchestrators of insight working alongside agents to drive intelligent outcomes.
Final Thought: Build the Future of BI, Not Just a Better Report
Agentic BI is no longer a vision. With Azure AI Foundry, it’s here.
If you’re still defining your analytics by the reports they create, you’re missing the next frontier.
Let’s build BI that doesn’t just look smart, it acts smart.
Partner with Collectiv to Build the Next Generation of BI
At Collectiv, we help data-driven organizations move beyond traditional BI designing modern architectures, embedding AI agents, and enabling intelligent workflows with Microsoft Fabric and Azure AI Foundry. Whether you’re exploring your first agentic BI use case or scaling across the enterprise, our team can help you lead the way.
Let’s build what’s next.
