Foundry builds the intelligence. Copilot Studio puts it to work.
Azure AI Foundry is now Microsoft Foundry. We use it to pick models, ground them in your data and test them, then use Copilot Studio to orchestrate, govern and publish the agent to Teams, Microsoft 365 Copilot and your website. Built on an Azure landing zone in India and run 24×7 from Mumbai.
Name check. At Ignite 2025 Microsoft renamed Azure AI Foundry to Microsoft Foundry, and Azure AI Services became Foundry Tools. The product is the same platform; this page uses the current names and keeps "Azure AI Foundry" where people still search for it.
SourcesMicrosoft describes Foundry as a unified platform-as-a-service for building, deploying and managing AI apps and agents. It brings models, agent orchestration, knowledge, monitoring and governance into one Azure resource, so your developers and your security team look at the same thing.
Thousands of first-party, partner and open models in one catalogue, including OpenAI GPT models, Anthropic Claude, Meta Llama, Mistral, DeepSeek and Microsoft Phi. Compare, deploy and swap without rewriting the agent.
OpenAI · Meta · Mistral & moreFoundry IQ is a managed knowledge layer on Azure AI Search. It connects SharePoint, Azure SQL, Azure Storage, the web and more, plans the search, ranks results and returns answers with citations.
Permission-aware knowledgeRun evaluations on test questions before release, then watch every run with end-to-end tracing, metrics and Application Insights. You see each decision an agent makes and can measure its quality.
Tracing · metrics · evalsEach agent can have its own Microsoft Entra identity. Azure RBAC, virtual network isolation and content filters apply, and hosted agents get managed endpoints with automatic scaling.
Entra identity per agentMicrosoft Copilot Studio is where business teams and makers design agents with topics, knowledge, tools and agent flows, then publish them where people already work. It is governed from the Power Platform admin center, the same place your IT team already manages apps and flows.
Describe the agent in plain language, add topics for the conversations that must follow a script, and let generative orchestration handle the rest. Makers build; developers extend.
Low-code, no-codeGround answers in SharePoint, Dataverse, websites or an Azure AI Search index. Act through Power Platform connectors, agent flows, REST APIs, MCP servers, or computer use where no API exists.
Knowledge + toolsData loss prevention policies decide which connectors, knowledge sources and channels an agent may use. Environments, roles and sharing limits keep makers inside the lines you set.
Power Platform data policiesPublish to Microsoft Teams, Microsoft 365 Copilot, SharePoint and Power Pages, or embed in your own website and apps through the Direct Line API.
One agent, many channelsFoundry is where engineers choose models, build retrieval and prove quality. Copilot Studio turns that into a governed agent that employees reach in Teams or Microsoft 365 Copilot. Use one alone and you get either a clever API nobody uses, or a friendly agent with shallow answers.
| Question | Microsoft Foundry | Copilot Studio |
|---|---|---|
| Who builds? | Developers, data and ML engineers | Makers, business analysts, IT admins |
| How? | Code (SDKs, Agent Framework, LangGraph) or configured prompt agents | Low-code designer, topics, agent flows |
| Models | Any model in the Foundry catalogue, fine-tuning, model router | Built-in models, or prompts on models deployed through Foundry |
| Knowledge | Foundry IQ knowledge bases on Azure AI Search, agentic retrieval | SharePoint, Dataverse, websites, files, Azure AI Search index |
| Quality | Evaluations, tracing, Application Insights | Test pane, analytics, activity map |
| Governance | Azure RBAC, VNet isolation, content filters, Entra identity | Power Platform DLP, environments, sharing controls |
| Billing | Azure consumption meters (models, search, compute) | Copilot Credits, or included for Microsoft 365 Copilot users* |
Retrieval-augmented generation fetches the right passages before the model writes. Foundry IQ and Azure AI Search do this with hybrid search: keyword (BM25) and vector queries run side by side, Reciprocal Rank Fusion merges them, and an optional semantic ranker re-orders the top results.
SharePoint, Azure SQL, Azure Storage, OneLake, the web and APIs, chunked and embedded into one index.
Docs · DBs · APIsKeyword search catches exact terms like policy codes. Vector search catches meaning. Both run in one request.
Vector + keywordFilters (department, date, region), semantic reranking and agentic retrieval that plans sub-queries across sources.
Filter · rerank · planAnswers cite their sources and respect user permissions on supported sources, which reduces hallucination. It does not remove the need to test.
Cited, permission-aware"What is the daily allowance for a Pune site visit?"
Answer six questions about the agent you have in mind. The finder weighs each answer and tells you where to start, and why.
Each answer moves the needle towards one platform. Most enterprise agents end up using both.
Five reasons enterprises run the two together rather than picking one.
Choose the right model per task from the catalogue, and change it later without retraining your users.
Makers ship the conversation in Copilot Studio while engineers tune retrieval in Foundry, in parallel.
DLP policies, Entra identities, Purview auditing and Agent 365 give security teams one view of every agent.
Azure handles the compute and scaling; evaluations catch quality drops before users do.
Agents close tickets, read contracts and run workflows, so you measure hours saved, not chats held.
Each one shows which part of the work sits in Foundry and which in Copilot Studio.
An HR and IT helpdesk agent in Teams that answers leave, travel and payroll policy questions with citations, resets passwords through an approved connector and raises a ticket when it cannot help.
Extract clauses, amounts and dates from policies, manuals, invoices and contracts, then let staff ask questions about them. Useful for insurance, banking, legal and procurement teams.
An agent that takes a request, checks it against policy, gets approval and updates Dynamics 365, SAP, Zoho or Tally through agent flows and connectors, with a human in the loop where money moves.
Role-specific copilots for sales, relationship managers or plant supervisors that know the products, prices and procedures for that role, and nothing they should not see.
We set up the Azure foundation, build the agent across both platforms, and keep it healthy after launch. You get one team, one INR invoice with GST, and a 24×7 desk in Mumbai.
Pick two or three use cases, score value and risk, check licences you already own.
Azure subscriptions, networking, private endpoints and policy in Central India or South India.
Foundry project, model choice, Foundry IQ or Azure AI Search index over your sources.
Copilot Studio agent, topics, agent flows, connectors and MCP tools.
DLP policies, Entra Agent ID, Purview labels and audit, Agent 365 registry.
Evaluations, monitoring, credit and Azure FinOps reports, monthly tuning.
Microsoft lists Central India and South India as regions for Foundry projects. Foundry Agent Service is listed in South India; model and tool availability varies by region, so we check quota for your exact models before design.
Per Microsoft Learn region pages, updated Aug and Oct 2026Every agent gets an owner, an Entra identity, a DLP policy and a place in the Agent 365 registry. Sensitive data stays labelled with Purview, supporting your DPDP Act obligations.
Compliance remains your organisation's responsibilityCopilot Credits and Azure meters are easy to overspend. We size packs against pay-as-you-go, set budgets and alerts, and report cost per conversation every month.
Licences via Microsoft CSP on a GST invoiceTogether, Microsoft Foundry and Copilot Studio let you build, govern and scale intelligent agents, with advanced RAG for answers your people can trust. XcellHost brings the Azure foundation, the build and the 24×7 run.
See plans →XcellHost services only. Microsoft licences and Azure consumption are billed separately at actuals. Indicative — confirm with XcellHost
* Pilot, Build and AgentOps prices are indicative placeholders — confirm with XcellHost. Readiness assessment ₹49,999, landing zone ₹1,49,999 and Managed Azure from ₹14,999 a month are as on our Managed Azure page; Agent 365 governance setup ₹74,999 as on our Agent 365 page. All excl. 18% GST.
Uses Microsoft's published Copilot Studio billing rates and US list prices. It compares pay-as-you-go with prepaid packs. Illustrative only: your Indian CSP price comes on our quote.
Cheapest at this volume: pay-as-you-go.
XcellHost services go to the cart at price × quantity. Monthly items are charged for the first month here. Microsoft licences and Azure usage come on a separate quotation.
US list prices from Microsoft's own pages. Indian prices come on an XcellHost CSP quotation with GST.
| Item | What you get | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copilot Studio capacity pack | 25,000 Copilot Credits a month per pack, no rollover | US$200 / pack / month, billed annually · India on quote | Microsoft licensing guidance, accessed 6 Nov 2026 |
| Copilot Studio pay-as-you-go | Billed monthly in arrears via an Azure subscription | US$0.01 / Copilot Credit · India on quote | Microsoft licensing guidance |
| Copilot Credit Pre-Purchase Plan | One-year commit units, 1 unit = 100 credits, 5–20% discount by tier | From US$2,850 for 3,000 units | Microsoft licensing guidance |
| Copilot Studio user licence | Needed by each person who builds or manages agents | US$0 | Microsoft licensing guidance |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot | Copilot in the apps; staff-facing Copilot Studio agents included within fair use | US$30 / user / month · ₹2,649* indicative | Microsoft; INR as on our M365 E7 page |
| Microsoft Agent 365 | Registry, identity, security and visibility for agents | US$15 / user / month · India on quote | As on our Agent 365 page |
| Microsoft Foundry | Models, Agent Service, Foundry IQ / Azure AI Search, compute | Azure consumption meters · on quote | Varies by model, region and deployment type |
Microsoft states its pricing is subject to change. Sources: Microsoft Learn "What is Microsoft Foundry Agent Service?", "What is Foundry IQ?", "Hybrid search" (updated 31 Aug 2026), Foundry region support (21 Aug 2026), Agent Service regions (29 Oct 2026), Copilot Studio billing rates (31 Oct 2026), Copilot Studio agent tools (14 Oct 2026); Microsoft Copilot Studio licensing guidance; Microsoft Community Hub Ignite 2025 recap (11 Dec 2025) for the rename. All accessed 6 Nov 2026.
Yes. Microsoft renamed Azure AI Foundry to Microsoft Foundry at Ignite in November 2025, and Azure AI Services became Foundry Tools. Existing projects carried over; documentation and the portal now use the new name.
Not always. A simple FAQ agent over SharePoint can live entirely in Copilot Studio. A custom app with its own UI can live entirely in Foundry. Most enterprise agents that need deep retrieval, a specific model or quality testing, and also need to reach staff in Teams, use both. The decision finder above gives a quick answer.
Three common ways: point a Copilot Studio agent at an Azure AI Search index built in Foundry as a knowledge source; call prompts on models deployed through Foundry; or connect a Foundry agent as a tool or sub-agent. We pick the pattern per use case.
It retrieves relevant passages with hybrid keyword and vector search, reranks them, and makes the model answer from them with citations. This cuts made-up answers considerably, but does not eliminate them, which is why we run evaluations before go-live and monthly after.
Microsoft lists Central India and South India as regions for Foundry projects, and Foundry Agent Service in South India. Whether a particular model runs in-region depends on the model and deployment type, so we confirm it against Microsoft's region tables and your quota during design.
Through Copilot Credits: prepaid packs of 25,000 credits a month at US$200 per pack (billed annually), pay-as-you-go at US$0.01 per credit, or a one-year pre-purchase plan. Builders need a free Copilot Studio user licence. Staff who have Microsoft 365 Copilot can use internal agents without consuming credits, within fair use.
Per Microsoft's billing rates: 1 credit for a scripted answer, 2 for a generative answer, 5 for an agent action, 10 for tenant graph grounding and 13 per 100 agent-flow actions. Computer use is billed at the agent action rate. Use our estimator to model a month.
Copilot Studio agents follow Power Platform data loss prevention policies. Foundry agents can each have a Microsoft Entra identity with Azure RBAC and network isolation. Microsoft Agent 365 adds a registry, access control and threat protection across agents, and Purview handles labels and audit.
Yes. Microsoft documents Model Context Protocol servers and computer use as Copilot Studio agent tools. Computer use lets an agent operate a hosted or your own machine where no API exists. Foundry Agent Service also supports remote MCP servers and the A2A protocol.
Indicatively: an Agent Pilot at ₹2,49,999*, a production Agent Build at ₹4,99,999* per agent and Managed AgentOps at ₹24,999* per agent a month. Readiness assessment (₹49,999), landing zone (₹1,49,999) and Agent 365 governance setup (₹74,999) follow our published prices. All excl. 18% GST; licences and Azure usage are extra.
A pilot is planned for four weeks when the data sources are ready and licences are in place*. Production builds depend on the number of sources, integrations and approvals involved; we give a dated plan after discovery.
Yes. Many customers let business makers build in Copilot Studio while we provide the landing zone, DLP policies, Agent 365 governance and AgentOps, plus training through our AI training programmes.