From GitHub Copilot AI help to built-in mannequin administration, Azure helps devs and enterprises unlock the complete potential of PostgreSQL.
We’re nearly a century faraway from when a bunch of pc scientists at Dartmouth Faculty coined the time period “Synthetic Intelligence.” Within the 75-year span, AI has grow to be frequent vernacular, making inroads from imagined to mainstream. As we speak, we see total industries being disrupted and whole ecosystems revolutionized by AI. To maintain up, the way in which builders work and the instruments they use have needed to evolve. Each developer now must be an AI developer, and each system—from compute and storage to the info layer—now must be AI prepared.
The database reimagined
New AI purposes require databases that aren’t solely dependable, extensible, and safe, but additionally AI-ready. In parallel, the way in which builders construct software program is being reshaped by AI. 1Most builders—greater than 80%—now use AI instruments of their workflow. This has led to notable productiveness beneficial properties and it’s altering expectations for developer expertise.
PostgreSQL has emerged as a best choice amongst builders and is changing into the default place to begin for a lot of new purposes and initiatives. Favored by builders for its reliability, extensibility, and fast innovation, 2PostgreSQL is chosen by 78.6% of builders which are constructing AI and real-time purposes.
PostgreSQL on Azure meets the second
Choosing the appropriate ecosystem is crucial to assist your AI and agentic aspirations, and we’ve made nice strides in bolstering our PostgreSQL managed companies to fulfill the wants of at the moment’s developer. At Microsoft, we’ve embraced PostgreSQL not simply as a product, however as a group. We’re proud to be one of many high contributors to the PostgreSQL open-source venture, with greater than 500 commits within the newest launch. We’re repeatedly innovating to make PostgreSQL the very best database for constructing clever purposes, and Azure the very best place to run them.
The present Azure Database for PostgreSQL continues to cater to lift-and-shift and new open-source workloads with improved efficiency and expertise, whereas the brand new Azure HorizonDB, launched at Ignite, targets the long run by providing a PostgreSQL-compatible cloud service constructed for scale-out and ultra-low latency. Collectively, they place Azure to assist builders constructing every thing from small apps and brokers to AI-powered, mission-critical programs, and something in between.
A frictionless and clever developer expertise
Constructing clever purposes ought to really feel intuitive, not intimidating. The Microsoft group has invested in making Azure Database for PostgreSQL a frictionless expertise, particularly for these constructing AI apps and brokers. From provisioning to AI integration and scale, we’ve reimagined the developer expertise to take away friction at each step.
Begin within the IDE you like
The journey begins in Visible Studio Code—the chief in built-in improvement environments (IDEs) amongst builders—by a mile. With our PostgreSQL extension for Visible Studio Code, builders can now provision safe, totally managed PostgreSQL situations on Azure straight from the IDE. No portal hopping or handbook setup. Just some clicks, and your database is able to go together with built-in assist for Entra ID authentication and Azure Monitor.
From there, GitHub Copilot turns into your clever assistant. It understands your PostgreSQL schema and helps you write, optimize, and debug SQL queries utilizing pure language. Whether or not you’re becoming a member of tables, creating indexes, or exploring efficiency points, Copilot is correct there with you providing expert-level steerage to save lots of time and enhance efficiency.
Entry in-database intelligence for smarter, sooner apps
As soon as your database is dwell, you’re only a question away from infusing AI into your utility. Azure Database for PostgreSQL now helps seamless integration with Microsoft Foundry, enabling builders to invoke pre-provisioned massive language fashions (LLMs) in SQL. You possibly can generate embeddings, classify textual content, or carry out semantic search with out leaving the database.
For purposes that depend on relevance and pace, our DiskANN vector indexing delivers high-performance similarity search. Mixed with semantic rating, your queries return extra correct outcomes, sooner. That is preferrred for powering clever brokers, suggestions, and pure language interfaces.
Construct clever brokers with Microsoft Foundry
Whenever you’re able to construct AI brokers, Microsoft Foundry’s native PostgreSQL integration makes it simple. Utilizing the brand new Mannequin Context Protocol (MCP) server for PostgreSQL, builders can join PostgreSQL on to Foundry’s agent framework with just a few clicks and permissions. This permits brokers to cause over your information, invoke LLMs, and act on insights. And, after all, that is all backed by Azure’s enterprise-grade safety and governance.
It’s a strong mixture: PostgreSQL’s structured information, Foundry’s orchestration, and Azure’s AI fashions working collectively to ship clever, context-aware purposes.
Clever purposes thrive on recent insights. With Azure Database for PostgreSQL, you possibly can mirror your operational information into Microsoft Cloth for real-time analytics with out impacting efficiency. Alternatively, we’ve additionally enabled assist for Parquet through the Azure Storage Extension, letting clients straight learn from and write to Parquet recordsdata saved in Azure Storage from their Postgres databases, utilizing SQL instructions.
This implies sooner time to perception, fewer transferring components, and extra time spent constructing.
Efficiency and scale that grows with you
All this intelligence is meaningless if the database isn’t safe and performant. As such, we’ve continued to innovate to unlock higher efficiency and scale to fulfill the wants of even probably the most demanding, hypergrowth AI workloads. With PostgreSQL 18 now usually obtainable on Azure, you get sooner I/O, improved vacuuming, and smarter question planning. Our new V6 compute SKUs ship increased throughput and decrease latency, whereas Elastic Clusters allow horizontal scaling for multi-tenant and high-volume workloads.
Whether or not you’re constructing a startup MVP or scaling a world AI platform, Azure Database for PostgreSQL is able to develop with you. Our clients have already been using these new capabilities to construct aggressive benefit in industries from pharma to finance.
Actual-world AI on Azure: How Nasdaq reinvented governance with PostgreSQL
When folks consider Nasdaq, they image buying and selling flooring and monetary information transferring at lightning pace. However behind the scenes, Nasdaq additionally manages board governance for hundreds of organizations, together with practically half of the Fortune 500. At Ignite, Nasdaq shared how they modernized their Boardvantage platform utilizing Azure Database for PostgreSQL and Microsoft Foundry.
Their aim: introduce AI to assist administrators navigate 500-page board packets and extract insights, with out compromising safety or compliance.
The end result? A governance platform that makes use of AI to summarize assembly minutes, flag anomalies, and floor related selections whereas conserving every buyer’s information remoted and guarded.
Trying forward: Azure HorizonDB and the way forward for clever apps
At Ignite, we additionally launched Azure HorizonDB, a brand new, totally managed PostgreSQL-compatible service constructed for AI-native workloads. With scale-out compute, sub-millisecond latency, and built-in AI options, Azure HorizonDB represents the way forward for cloud databases. Whereas the service is presently in non-public preview, it’s a glimpse of what’s coming.
The longer term is open, clever, and constructed on Azure
At Microsoft, our mission is to supply clients databases outfitted for next-generation improvement, whether or not they be SQL, NoSQL, relational, or open supply. As PostgreSQL continues to face out as a platform for innovation, it’s now primed for clever purposes and brokers because of Microsoft’s continued assist and repair enhancements. Whether or not you’re a startup constructing your first AI function or an enterprise modernizing mission-critical programs, Azure provides you the instruments to maneuver sooner, construct smarter, and scale confidently.
The way forward for clever purposes will likely be written in Postgres, and we’re thrilled to construct it along with you on Azure.
Begin at the moment
1Most builders—greater than 80%—now use AI instruments of their workflow.
2PostgreSQL is chosen by 78.6% of builders which are constructing AI and real-time purposes.
