It's tech developer conference season. Hot on the heels of Google I/O, it's time for Microsoft's own developer conference, Build. Like virtually all of these events for the past few years, we expect the Windows-maker to focus a lot on AI.
An AI focus is essentially required from a tech company these days, and Microsoft knows that. But what exactly is in store at this year's conference? We have a few guesses, and some of the session speakers say a lot about how AI is being viewed over at Microsoft right now.
Next Monday, CEO Satya Nadella will take the stage and tell the world about what Microsoft has been up to and its plans for the future. Here's what we're expecting.
When is Microsoft Build?
Microsoft's Build developer conference will take place on June 2 and June 3 in San Francisco. The opening keynote will begin on June 2 at 10:00 a.m. PT. In-person attendees have shelled out nearly $1,100, but much of the event will be streamed live on YouTube, where the event can be viewed for free.
Copilot and AI agents
Copilot is now the vehicle for Microsoft's AI endeavors, so we expect it to take center stage during this year's conference. During Microsoft's latest earnings call, Nadella said the company is "evolving our family of Copilots from synchronous assistants to async coworkers that can execute long-running tasks across key domains." In fact, Agent Mode is now the default mode across several Office 365 Copilot products, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
Agents will be the new normal and focus for Microsoft going forward. "We are at the beginning of one of the most consequential platform shifts that will change the entire tech stack as agents proliferate and become the dominant workload," Nadella said.
For being the new and hot thing in the AI world, agentic AI is almost boring to talk about at this point. It's everywhere. But its capabilities will likely be at the center of Microsoft's announcements. Unlike a typical chatbot, agentic AI can perform tasks on your behalf. An agent can surface relevant information in your email inbox or even shop for you.
We already know that its own AI assistant, Copilot, is becoming more agentic in Office 365, and we expect that to extend further into its products and operating system.
It's hard to talk about agentic AI in 2026 without mentioning OpenClaw, and Build will certainly feature some conversation around the viral AI agent tool. The "Clawfather" himself, OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger, is hosting a breakout session this year.
One possibility reported by The Information is that Microsoft could introduce a new coding model to increase the number of people using its GitHub Copilot. More models are also on the way, according to the report, specializing in advanced reasoning, images and speech.
Windows 12
We don't have much to say about Windows 12 because Microsoft hasn't said much, either. Still, this would be a great time to announce the next version of the company's operating system. Providing at least a glimpse of what's to come seems reasonable, and it'll be interesting if Microsoft has something up its sleeve that's truly innovative, especially on the heels of Google's announcement for its new OS that merges Android and ChromeOS.
Not everyone is impressed with the AI in Windows, as it's essentially unavoidable. Microsoft has been continually adding AI features into its operating system, and Copilot itself can sometimes feel more intrusive than helpful. All of this frustration has led many users to look into Linux-based operating systems to free themselves of the loaded AI found in Windows.
What could end up happening is nothing. Microsoft will undoubtedly announce new features that will make their way to Windows, but it might not necessarily need a new version number to highlight them.
Think outside the Xbox
There's no indication that Microsoft will spend any time on gaming, though there's always a chance it could have something hiding up its sleeve. In early May, the company backed down on adding Copilot AI to its gaming consoles, with Asha Sharma, CEO of Xbox, stating in an X post, "Microsoft will begin winding down Copilot on mobile and stop development of Copilot on consoles."
What's next for Xbox is anyone's guess, but we don't imagine it will take up much, if any, space at Build this year.
