We’re only about a month clear of Microsoft’s one-off Surface and Windows event, but the company’s second big annual conference is already upon us. This year, Ignite runs from Nov. 17 to 20 and will take place at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. CEO Satya Nadella will kick off the enterprise-focused event with a keynote, and I expect him to focus on polished business solutions rather than the experimental AI software he pitched to developers at Build.
Microsoft unveiled several major Windows features last year at Ignite, such as a way for AI agents to access Windows desktop apps, but many of them never made it out of Insider builds. I’ll be paying close attention to Microsoft’s commitment to these promised tools and observing how it attempts to sell both its AI software and Windows to businesses. Between promoting its AI agents, cloud AI models, local solutions, and Windows quality improvements, the company has plenty to prove to the corporate world.
Microsoft Needs a Real AI Plan for Windows
At Build earlier this year, Microsoft announced experimental tools to help developers build agentic AI systems, including Microsoft Execution Containers (MXC) to safely sandbox OpenClaw agents. At Ignite, the company will need to develop these ideas further to gain buy-in from businesses and decision-makers.
Microsoft debuted an on-device MCP server registry for Windows at Ignite last year that would let agents easily connect to installed desktop apps, along with a File Explorer MCP connector that would enable AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude to interact with your file system. It also showed off an agent workspace for isolating agents.
But a year later, none of these features are available in stable versions of Windows 11, and they’ve vanished from Insider builds, too. Microsoft never formally announced a change of plans about these features, but it sure seems they are no longer under development. Modern AI systems can use your computer and its apps without MCP connectors, so I’m not too torn up about the cessation of these planned features.
Still, their quiet end points to a larger communication problem. Microsoft must start articulating a more concrete plan of what agentic AI in Windows will actually look like for business PC users, and, ultimately, how it can boost productivity and profit. It must make the case for Windows as a platform for AI agents and the utility of local AI processing versus cloud-first AI products from Anthropic and OpenAI. Hybrid Intelligence on Copilot+ PCs will likely play a role in that campaign. Beyond AI, Microsoft needs to promote its recent quality improvements to Windows 11, selling businesses on a less annoying OS that can help employees be more productive and discouraging them from switching to Linux or macOS.
Microsoft demonstrated the MCP Registry for Windows in 2025 (Credit: Microsoft)
Out of 1,500 Sessions, These Are the Ones to Watch
Beyond Nadella’s opening keynote on Tuesday, the Ignite session catalog lists around 1,500 sessions. As of this writing, the ones I outline here are the talks that I think will best reveal the direction Microsoft is taking Windows to appeal to businesses in particular:
Recommended by Our Editors
How to Watch Microsoft Ignite 2026 (for Free)
Microsoft Ignite begins on Nov. 17 at 10 a.m. Pacific time (1 p.m. Eastern time) with a keynote from Satya Nadella, who will appear alongside Judson Althoff, CEO of Microsoft’s commercial business. Microsoft is live-streaming the keynote on its YouTube channel and on its Ignite website.
Attending the event in San Francisco costs either $1,625 or $2,325 for a conference pass, but anyone can register for a free digital pass, even after the event starts. The digital pass gives you access to live-streamed sessions and on-demand recordings. However, some sessions are in-person only, and some live-streamed sessions will not be recorded.
If you aren’t interested in digging through the sessions, I’ll be your guide. I’ll be keeping a close eye on Ignite, as I do at every major Microsoft event. Check back here and subscribe to my Windows Guide newsletter for the latest insights from me each week.
About Our Expert
Chris Hoffman
Senior Writer, Software
Experience
I’ve been writing about technology for more than 15 years and using it in earnest for over twice as long. As a member of PCMag’s software team, I focus on Windows coverage, but also write about other key desktop operating systems and system apps. (I used Windows 3.1 upon its release and have followed every subsequent release closely).
Prior to joining PCMag, I wrote for How-To Geek starting in 2011, and my articles amassed over a billion page views. I went on to run the publication as editor-in-chief for four and a half years. I have also contributed to Computerworld, Fast Company, PCWorld, Reader’s Digest, The New York Times, and many other outlets about everything from AI to PC hardware to Windows. I founded and ran my own direct-to-reader Windows-focused newsletters, Windows Intelligence and The Windows ReadMe, working in partnership with Thurrott.com.
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