In This Article
Microsoft has made Foundry IQ generally available in Copilot Studio, giving developers a way to ground AI agents in enterprise knowledge managed through Microsoft Foundry. Organizations can connect reusable knowledge bases to agents without creating a separate retrieval pipeline for every use case, with enterprise authentication and network controls now available for production deployments.
Key takeaways
The release focuses on making governed organizational information easier to reuse across AI agents while retaining enterprise security controls.
- Copilot Studio agents can use knowledge bases created in Microsoft Foundry.
- A knowledge base can bring structured and unstructured information together for retrieval.
- General availability includes authentication options, Private Link, Power Platform VNet support and retrieval activity tracing.
A shared knowledge layer for agents
Foundry IQ provides a layer for connecting agents to information relevant to an organization’s business and operations. Developers can add a Foundry IQ knowledge base as a source in Copilot Studio and use it alongside other sources available in the platform. The knowledge bases apply retrieval and reasoning techniques to identify material relevant to an agent’s request.
Because organizations can manage knowledge bases independently from individual agents, the same curated information can be made available to multiple Copilot Studio applications. That approach may reduce duplicated setup and simplify updates as agent use expands.
Security and operational controls
The general-availability release supports API key, client certificate, service principal and Microsoft Entra ID integrated authentication. Organizations can also use Azure Private Link and Power Platform VNet support to connect without enabling public access. Retrieval tracing lets teams inspect activity to confirm that Foundry IQ retrieved information for an interaction.
These options address deployment requirements that matter beyond a successful prototype: controlling identity and access, limiting network exposure, and verifying how an agent uses enterprise knowledge. The source information describes the controls as working within established enterprise security practices, rather than replacing an organization’s broader governance responsibilities.
What data leaders should consider
Reusable agent knowledge can help reduce the effort of building separate retrieval architectures, but it does not eliminate the need for clear data ownership, permissions and ongoing content maintenance. Teams still need to determine which information is appropriate for each agent and how it should be governed.
For organizations also investing in Microsoft Fabric and Power BI, Foundry IQ addresses an adjacent need: grounding conversational agents in business information, while analytics platforms support reporting and decision-making. Spargent helps enterprises build and scale Fabric and Power BI data environments; sound data foundations and governance can support both dependable analytics and responsible AI adoption.
