Beyond the Hype - Microsoft Build & Google I/O Unpack the Agent Revolution
May 22, 2025 • Technology Trends

Beyond the Hype - Microsoft Build & Google I/O Unpack the Agent Revolution

Unpack the AI Agent revolution from Microsoft Build & Google I/O. Get key updates on Azure AI, Google's vision, and new tools.

If a concept gets talked about for over six months in tech, it’s a fundamental shift. Let’s explore what this means for our future.

Decoding Agents at Microsoft Build - Azure AI Foundry Takes Center Stage

Microsoft Build 2025 sent a clear signal: the future of enterprise AI is agentic, and Azure AI Foundry is leading the charge.

  • Expanded Model Catalog & Smart Routing:
    • New models like Grok 3 (xAI, available now), Flux Pro 1.1 (Black Forest Labs, soon), and Sora (preview via Azure OpenAI in Foundry Models, soon).
    • New Smarter Model System automatically selects the optimal Azure OpenAI model per prompt, boosting quality and cutting costs.
  • Azure AI Foundry Agent Service GA:
    • Now Generally Available for designing, deploying, and scaling robust, production-grade AI agents with ease.
  • Multi-Agent Orchestration:
    • New workflows provide a stateful layer for managing context, handling errors, and maintaining long-running processes (e.g., financial approvals, supply chain).
  • Agentic Retrieval in Azure AI Search:
    • A new multi-turn query engine designed for complex questions. It uses LLMs to break down queries, runs parallel searches, and compiles comprehensive, cited answers for smarter agent information access.
  • Always-On Observability (Preview):
    • New Foundry Observability features for end-to-end monitoring and diagnostics (latency, throughput, usage, quality).
    • Detailed trace logs of agent reasoning steps and tool calls for accountability in production.

Read More: Azure AI Foundry: Your AI App and agent factory by Asha Sharma

Conversation with Elon Musk: Satya Nadella at Microsoft Build 2025

Google I/O: Agents Evolve – Smarter, More Collaborative, and Developer-Ready

Google I/O showcased significant strides in intelligent agents, highlighting their evolution from tools to collaborative partners.

Here’s a quick rundown of the key announcements:

  • Project Mariner’s Agent Mode: This research prototype, now with multitasking and “teach and repeat” features, is bringing its computer-use capabilities to developers via the Gemini API, enabling agents to interact with the web and perform tasks.
  • Agent Development Kit (ADK) Advancements:
    • Python ADK v1.0.0 Stable Release: Now production-ready, offering a reliable platform for building and deploying agents.
    • Java ADK v0.1.0 Initial Release: Extending ADK capabilities to the Java ecosystem.
  • Agent Engine UI: A new user-friendly interface within the Google Cloud console for simplified deployment, management, monitoring, and debugging of agents in production.
  • Enhanced Agent2Agent (A2A) Protocol:
    • Updated A2A protocol specification (v0.2): Featuring support for stateless interactions and standardized authentication for more lightweight and secure communication.
    • A2A Python SDK Release: Simplifies integration and building with the A2A protocol.
    • Growing Ecosystem: Increased industry adoption and new partners supporting A2A for multi-agent systems.

Conclusion

I want to emphasize that the agent revolution isn’t just about technological advancement; it’s about a profound shift in how we approach problem-solving, productivity, and innovation. The insights from Microsoft Build and Google I/O underscore a future where intelligent agents become indispensable partners in our work, augmenting our capabilities and freeing us to focus on higher-order challenges.