Share E-Book
Scan to open this page

Scan with your phone to open this page

Author: Adrián González Sánchez, Jaime De Mora, Jorge García Ximénez

Rating No ratings yet

Companies are now moving generative AI projects out of the lab and into production environments. To support these increasingly sophisticated applications, they’re turning to advanced practices such as multi-agent architectures and complex code-based frameworks. This practical handbook shows you how to leverage cutting-edge techniques using Microsoft’s powerful ecosystem of tools to deploy trustworthy AI systems tailored to your organization’s needs. Written for and by AI professionals, Generative AI on Microsoft Azure goes beyond the technical core aspects, examining underlying principles, tools, and practices in depth, from the art of prompt engineering to strategies for fine-tuning models to advanced techniques like retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and agentic AI. Through real-world case studies and insights from top experts, you’ll learn how to harness AI’s full potential on Azure, paving the way for groundbreaking solutions and sustainable success in today’s AI-driven landscape. Understand the technical foundations of generative AI and how the technology has evolved over the last few years Implement advanced GenAI applications using services like Microsoft Foundry or Copilot, among others Leverage patterns, tools, frameworks, and platforms to customize AI projects Manage, govern, and secure your AI-enabled systems with responsible AI practices Learn to avoid common pitfalls, future-proof your applications, and more

AI Reading Assistant

Whole-book reading guide from stratified index samples; jump to passages in the text

AI guide
【One-Line Pitch】 A practitioner's field guide to taking generative AI from prototype to production on Microsoft Azure, covering model selection, RAG, agents, GenAIOps, and governance. Best for AI engineers, architects, and technical leads who already know the basics and need to ship trustworthy, enterprise-grade GenAI systems. 【Book Arc】 - **Opening (~0%–10%)**: Frames the shift from lab experiments to production GenAI, maps the Azure service landscape, and previews the book's structure—models, agents, GenAIOps, governance, and expert interviews. - **Early (~10%–30%)**: Builds technical fundamentals—how GenAI models evolved, proprietary vs. open source vs. multimodal families, embeddings, data augmentation, and the pre-/post-training pipeline—so later architecture choices rest on real understanding. - **Early–Middle (~30%–45%)**: Maps Azure's building blocks end to end: Microsoft Foundry as the "mission control," model catalog and deployment options (MaaS vs. MaaP), Copilot Studio, API Management, and integration with the Microsoft 365/Copilot universe. - **Middle (~45%–65%)**: Moves into customization and retrieval—prompt engineering techniques, the RAG pipeline with Azure AI Search, vector databases, and advanced RAG variants (multimodal, GraphRAG, NL2SQL, agentic RAG). - **Late (~65%–85%)**: Covers agentic and multi-agent patterns, orchestration frameworks, and the RAG-vs-fine-tuning decision, then shifts to GenAIOps/LLMOps—evaluation, monitoring, and programmatic model validation before and after production deployment. - **Ending (~85%–100%)**: Closes with the GenAI governance framework (responsible AI, security, compliance, data/AI governance via Purview and Defender) and real-world case studies plus expert interviews from adopters and Microsoft practitioners. 【Key Takeaways】 - **GenAI adoption follows an iterative maturity curve** (Early): companies move from simple ChatGPT-style bots to data-driven, multi-component architectures, re-optimizing decisions at each stage—so plan for evolution, not a one-shot build. - **Model diversity is a future-proofing strategy** (Middle): because model performance shifts almost daily, architect so you can swap models in and out rather than hard-wiring one provider. - **Microsoft Foundry is the central platform** (Middle): it unifies model catalog, customization, deployment, and monitoring—treat it as the "mission control" for Azure GenAI work. - **RAG and fine-tuning solve different problems** (Middle): the book frames this as a core decision criterion; RAG grounds models in your data, while fine-tuning shapes behavior—choose deliberately. - **Prompt engineering is a real discipline, not a hack** (Middle): the book treats foundations, techniques, and Foundry-specific tooling as a structured skill set. - **Agents need orchestration, not just LLM calls** (Late): Copilot Studio blends managed dialog flows with LLM flexibility, and connectors/MCP tools let agents act on enterprise systems like SAP and ServiceNow. - **GenAIOps extends MLOps** (Late): evaluation and performance monitoring must run programmatically at scale, both before and after production deployment. - **Governance is a first-class engineering concern** (Ending): responsible AI, security, compliance, and data/AI governance are woven through Azure tooling like Purview and Defender, not bolted on at the end. 【Reading Tips】 - **Skim Chapter 2's service catalog on first pass**, then return to it as a reference when you need a specific Azure component—it's described as the most complete map of GenAI options on Azure. - **Deep-read the RAG and agent chapters (3–6)** if you're building applications; these carry the most directly applicable patterns and trade-offs. - **Don't skip the fundamentals in Chapter 1** even if you know LLMs—the model taxonomy and training pipeline underpin every later architecture decision. - **Treat GenAIOps and governance chapters as your production checklist**; they're the difference between a demo and a deployable system. - **Use the expert interviews and case studies as calibration**: they show what real adopters, startups, and public administrations actually built, which helps you benchmark your own ambitions. 【Coverage Limits】 This guide is synthesized from stratified excerpts (33 indexed chunks, 22 sampled) that include the preface, table of contents, and selected passages; specific chapter details, code examples, and case-study specifics beyond what the excerpts mention are not covered here.
Page 6
in Generative AI Solutions 54 Additional Data Platforms 55 Azure Databricks 55 Snowflake Cortex on Azure 56 NVIDIA NIM on Azure 57 Web Application Frameworks...
View in text
Page 17
od-level deployments. Chapter 8: GenAI governance framework When we talk about “governance,” we know that this encompasses multiple topics, including respons...
View in text
Excerpt 3
easier to deploy in resource-constrained environments with limited processing power. Two main challenges: the first is performance, when distillation does no...
View in text
Excerpt 4
gChain or a function in OpenAI, but it’s done in a low-code fashion: you select from prebuilt connectors and perhaps provide parameters. These connectors are...
View in text
Excerpt 5
ring NVIDIA’s Grace-Blackwell superchips to Azure. With a 2.5x performance improvement over previous genera‐ tions and innovations like unified CPU/GPU memor...
View in text
Excerpt 6
mization, ensure security, and accelerate experi‐ mentation. These features help teams move from prototyping to production with efficiency, governance, and f...
View in text
Excerpt 7
sed on an example from the Azure documentation). Figure 4-8. Querying Azure AI Search in Search Explorer with JSON results and source citations In the query...
View in text
Excerpt 8
ty and efficiency are critical. IP ownership and compliance Once domain-specific knowledge is embedded into a model through fine-tuning, sensitive informatio...
View in text
Tags
AI categories
Artificial IntelligenceCloud NativeDevOps
ISBN: 8341623285
Publisher: O'Reilly Media
Publish Year: 2026
Language: English
Pages: 323
File Format: PDF
File Size: 11.0 MB
Text Preview (First 20 pages)
Registered users can read the full content for free

Register as a Gaohf Library member to read the complete e-book online for free and enjoy a better reading experience.

Generating text preview…