April 28, 2025 – AI agent developments accelerated today as Microsoft's three-week AI Agents Hackathon entered its final stretch, offering developers hands-on training with frameworks like Semantic Kernel and Azure AI Agents SDK. Meanwhile, momentum built around agentic AI workflows following last week's RSA Conference, where analysts highlighted a shift from "smart helpers" to autonomous process-executing agents in cybersecurity and enterprise contexts.

At the Microsoft AI Agent and Copilot Summit, partners showcased new use cases combining Copilot Studio with Azure AI Foundry, revealing over 2.1 million monthly users already engaging with Microsoft's business-focused agents. A retail demo featured research agents autonomously compiling market data from high-volume sources – a task Microsoft's Bryan Goode noted "few humans prioritize amidst daily pressures".

Security vendors doubled down on SOC-focused agents, with prototypes demonstrating real-time log analysis and alert triaging capabilities. Gartner's Neil MacDonald emphasized that 2025's defining trend will be "orchestrated agentic actions replacing step-by-step guidance" across industries.