Microsoft Build 2026 Preview: The Biggest Announcements to Watch For!

Microsoft Build 2026 runs June 2–3 at San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center, focusing less on major Windows reveals and more on Microsoft’s latest AI tools for developers.
 

TL;DR
 

• Agentic AI will be the main focus. 

• GitHub Copilot may become more autonomous. 

• Azure AI tools are expected to expand. 

• Windows AI Foundry could boost on-device AI. 

• Windows 12 is unlikely to be revealed. 

Here are the biggest announcements happening at Microsoft Build 2026.
 

Agentic AI And Multi-agent Systems 

Expect “agentic AI” to be a major theme at Build. Unlike LLMs that mainly respond to prompts, AI agents can take action for users, such as fixing calendar conflicts, working with other agents, or completing complex tasks. Microsoft Foundry, the upgraded Azure AI platform, will likely support many of these capabilities.

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Build sessions may also cover agent orchestration, debugging, and real-world use cases. Microsoft could show agents working together, with one researching flights, another booking hotels, and another checking the budget, all without constant user oversight. 

Autonomous GitHub Copilot 

GitHub Copilot could also become more proactive, handling certain development tasks on behalf of users. Already valuable for developers, it may gain deeper integration with Visual Studio, VS Code, and the broader software development lifecycle.

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That could help developers build apps and fix code faster, leading to better everyday software, from smoother streaming apps and more reliable banking tools to smarter fitness trackers. Faster, cleaner coding could also mean quicker app updates with fewer bugs. 

Azure AI Platform 

Microsoft’s Azure platform handles much of the heavy lifting behind its AI capabilities, so Build will likely include plenty of discussion around the latest updates to the cloud-based platform. Sessions are expected to explore areas such as efficient model training and fine-tuning, multi-model orchestration, and how developers can take prototypes into production without running up massive costs.

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For non-developers, this could translate into more affordable AI-powered features, which may help keep subscription prices for the services we use from rising too much. That might be optimistic, but if developers are able to cut costs, users could potentially benefit as well. 

Windows AI Foundry 

Windows AI Foundry allows developers to create apps that run AI models directly on laptops and PCs using the NPU, GPU, or CPU. This is especially useful for sensitive tasks where users may not want their data processed in the cloud.

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Build will likely include sessions on on-device inference, WinUI 3 with agents, WSL improvements, and other developer-focused experiences. While this builds on the Copilot+ PC push, the broader goal is to support more AI capabilities that run locally on devices. 

Local AI can deliver faster responses because it avoids internet-related delays. It can also improve privacy for both personal and business files, since more processing happens on the device itself. With privacy becoming a bigger concern around AI, Microsoft is expected to strongly emphasize on-device AI at Build.

 

Let’s address the biggest question first. Although Windows 12 rumors have been circulating for years, Microsoft has not officially confirmed the operating system. Since Build typically isn’t the place for major software reveals, it’s unlikely that Windows 12 will be announced at the event.

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That said, Microsoft will likely showcase features and ideas that could eventually appear in the next version of Windows. Whether those elements actually make it into Windows 12 remains uncertain.