Microsoft Ignite 2026: Dates and What to Expect

Navy Solv Systems title card reading 'Microsoft Ignite 2026 Preview' with a broadcast signal motif.

In Short: Microsoft Ignite 2026 Runs 17-20 November

Microsoft Ignite 2026 takes place from 17 to 20 November 2026 at Moscone Center in San Francisco, with a free digital pass for anyone who cannot travel. Microsoft confirms the dates, venue and pass prices on the Ignite site, and the session catalogue is already live.

This post covers the facts first - dates, passes, the keynote slot - then the sessions worth a data or AI team's time, and finally what we expect to be announced. That last part is expectation, clearly labelled, because Microsoft has not published its announcements. We will publish a recap after the event, as we did for FabCon Europe 2026 and Microsoft Build 2026.

Ignite 2026 Dates, Venue and Passes

From the Ignite site on 8 October 2026:

Dates and venue - "November 17-20, 2026, in San Francisco at Moscone Center, with a digital event experience available online"
Pre-day - the agenda runs from Monday 16 November, with badge pick-up and pre-day sessions, certifications and labs
Conference pass, $2,325 - all in-person experiences at Moscone Center plus full access to the digital venue
Hub-only pass, $1,625 - Hub experiences, including booths, theatre sessions and lunch, from 17 to 19 November
Digital pass, free - keynotes, sessions and "a wide range of technical content"

The opening keynote is Satya Nadella and Judson Althoff, who "unveil the latest innovations driving the next wave of AI transformation". It is available in person or streamed. The agenda places it on Tuesday 17 November, 18:00 to 20:00 GMT - 10:00 in San Francisco and 20:00 in Johannesburg - and Microsoft notes that times are subject to change. A second keynote, Ignite Frontier Transformation, is aimed at partners.

For most UK and South African teams, the free digital pass is the right choice. The keynote and breakouts are where the announcements land, and the recordings arrive on demand.

What the Session Catalogue Tells Us

The catalogue groups sessions by topic, including Agent Platform, Copilot, Data, Microsoft IQ and Security. On 8 October the Data topic alone listed 104 sessions. These are the ones we would put in a data team's calendar.

Fabric and Power BI

Agentic development with Fabric Copilot (BRK356) - Fabric Copilot as "the AI-powered front door to agentic development", with Fabric IQ, data, databases and apps working together
Building, deploying, and governing Microsoft Fabric at scale (BRK352) - development workflows, automation, observability, governance, security and cost management
AI-ready data integration with Fabric Data Factory (BRK353) - pipelines, Dataflows, Copy Jobs, Mirroring, dbt, and migrating Azure Data Factory workloads to Fabric
Building high-performance analytics with Fabric Data Warehouse (BRK350) - including "GPU acceleration capabilities"
Build intelligent PostgreSQL apps with HorizonDB in Microsoft Fabric (BRK359) - described as "a Fabric-native PostgreSQL experience"

Fabric IQ and Microsoft IQ

Designing Fabric IQ for enterprise adoption (BRK305) and Fabric IQ: Trusted business context for enterprise AI (BRK306)
Ground agents in your business with an ontology in Fabric IQ (LAB672) - building an ontology from Power BI semantic models and OneLake data

If Fabric IQ is new to you, start with what Fabric IQ means for Power BI users.

Copilot and agents

The evolution of the Microsoft Copilot app (BRK201) - Chat, Cowork, Code and Autopilot "in one connected experience"
Build like a startup. Deploy like an enterprise. (BRK355) - Rayfin building apps on Fabric data and Work IQ "directly within Copilot"
How much should you own? Choosing the right agent architecture (BRK243) and From traces to better agents: The Foundry improvement loop (BRK249) - for teams building in Microsoft Foundry
Observability for AI with Fabric Data Agent, Foundry, and Agent 365 (LTG1214) - which describes a "new integration with Microsoft Agent 365" giving admins organisation-wide visibility of Fabric data agent usage

Which session types to pick

The session code tells you the depth. Microsoft describes Innovation Sessions as L-100 content that connects new features to business decisions, and Breakouts (BRK) as "L-200 to L-400 deep technical content" with live code and demos. Lightning Talks (LTG) are short and focused, Theater sessions (THR) are product demos with questions, and Table Talks (TT) are small-group discussions. Labs need an RSVP. For a data team watching remotely on the free pass, the BRK sessions are where the technical detail is. Split the list between colleagues, then meet the following week to compare notes against your own roadmap.

What We Expect for Data and AI Teams

Everything in this section is our expectation, based on the catalogue and the timelines Microsoft gave in September. None of it is confirmed.

The new Copilot moves forward. On 25 September Microsoft said Code would reach broad availability "in the coming weeks" and Autopilot would enter private preview. With a breakout dedicated to the Copilot app, we expect status updates on Home, Code and Autopilot, and on the plugin registry, which Microsoft said would be "generally available across surfaces in the coming weeks".

Fabric IQ ontologies get closer to general availability. One theatre session (THR871) mentions "Fabric IQ Ontology GA", and the BRK305 description talks about Fabric IQ reaching general availability. At FabCon Europe, ontology creation from semantic models was announced in preview. We expect Ignite to clarify the status, and we will check the wording before treating it as production-ready.

Copilot becomes an app platform. The Rayfin session describes Copilot "evolving into a platform where apps are built, shared, and run". Our explainer on what Rayfin is covers the background. Expect more on how Copilot-built apps reach Fabric data and how IT governs them.

More cost control. Microsoft said Copilot Studio agents would join its FinOps for AI cost management in October. Fabric governance and cost management also have a breakout. Expect cost and observability to be a running theme, which matters if you are budgeting for Copilot Credits.

How to Prepare

Register for the free digital pass and add the sessions above to your schedule now
Write down your current status assumptions for the features you depend on, so you can spot what changed afterwards
Read the status words, not the headlines. "Announced", "preview" and "generally available" mean different things for production planning
Do not pause work that rests on GA features. Semantic model quality, capacity planning and Copilot spending policies will not be undone by an announcement

Where Solv Systems Comes In

After Ignite we help Fabric and Power BI teams sort what is ready from what is not, and turn the relevant announcements into a practical roadmap. Read more about our Microsoft Fabric consulting services.

Sources and Further Reading

Frequently asked

Microsoft says Ignite takes place 17-20 November 2026 at Moscone Center in San Francisco, with a digital event online. The published agenda starts on Monday 16 November with badge pick-up and pre-day sessions, certifications and labs.

On 8 October 2026 the Ignite site listed a Conference pass at 2,325 dollars, a Hub-only pass at 1,625 dollars covering the Hub at Moscone Center from 17 to 19 November, and a free Digital pass with access to keynotes, sessions and technical content.

Yes. Microsoft lists the opening keynote with Satya Nadella and Judson Althoff as available in person or streamed on the digital venue, and the free Digital pass covers keynotes and sessions. The agenda shows it on Tuesday 17 November, 18:00 to 20:00 GMT, and Microsoft notes that times are subject to change.

Microsoft has not published its announcements in advance. Based on the session catalogue and the dates Microsoft gave in September, we expect status updates on the new Copilot (Home, Code and Autopilot), Fabric IQ and ontologies, Rayfin, Fabric governance and cost management, and Foundry agent tooling. Treat that as expectation, not confirmed news.

Good starting points in the catalogue are Agentic development with Fabric Copilot (BRK356), Building, deploying, and governing Microsoft Fabric at scale (BRK352), Designing Fabric IQ for enterprise adoption (BRK305), AI-ready data integration with Fabric Data Factory (BRK353) and The evolution of the Microsoft Copilot app (BRK201).

Not for decisions that rest on generally available features. Fabric capacity, semantic model quality and Copilot spending policies are worth doing now. Hold back only on choices that depend on a preview feature whose status Ignite may change, and re-check status wording after the event.