One consistent SQL: The launchpad from legacy to innovation
Millions of users work with SQL to keep the gears of their business turning. In an era marked by relentless digital transformation, the proliferation of AI workloads, and tightening regulatory demands, the journey of these organizations is uniquely their own. At Microsoft, we believe beneath this diversity lies a single, unified, and consistent backbone: one consistent SQL.
One consistent SQL is a promise of a unified experience that spans edge, cloud, and software as a service (SaaS), empowering developers to create intelligent applications with ease, while enabling data professionals to modernize on their terms. Write once, deploy anywhere because customers run diverse SQL estates, and we meet them wherever they are. Whether you’re running workloads with SQL Server, modernizing in Azure SQL, or activating real-time analytics in Microsoft Fabric, one consistent SQL unifies your data estate, bringing platform consistency, performance at scale, advanced security, and AI-ready tools together in one seamless experience and creates one home for your SQL workloads in the era of AI.
With a consistent platform, optimized performance, and multi-layered security, workloads scale dynamically while staying secure and highly available. And building intelligent, scalable applications is faster than ever with developer-first tools combined with AI capabilities. This is enterprise-grade performance for the era of AI, with one consistent SQL powering innovation across hybrid, multi-cloud, and AI-powered environments, all anchored by a unified data estate.
Delivering a consistent SQL platform across cloud and on-premises
From edge to cloud, one consistent SQL is Microsoft’s commitment to deliver a consistent experience—powering mission-critical workloads, next-generation apps, and data-driven intelligence. It provides unified management across infrastructure, platform, and software services for consistent operations in hybrid scenarios. Developers can use familiar SQL skills and tools to build and manage applications across environments, while sovereign cloud support addresses data residency and compliance requirements for regulated industries.
And now, the centerpiece of this vision takes the stage: SQL Server 2025 is now generally available. Built on SQL Server’s foundation of security, performance, and availability, this release introduces built-in AI capabilities and developer-focused enhancements. These features enable organizations to use existing data to support AI initiatives securely and at scale, all within SQL Server using the T SQL language.
Achieving optimized SQL performance and advanced security
In a world where trust is non-negotiable, organizations expect the same performance, availability, and security standards everywhere in their data lives. They adapt to the demands of your workload without compromise—delivering resilience and speed while keeping data secure and operations steady. These expectations are heightened for mission-critical workloads, where uptime and reliability directly impact return on investment. Businesses need a platform that not only meets these requirements but also evolves to handle growing complexity without adding operational burden.
The next generation of Azure SQL Managed Instance is now generally available to help organizations modernize with improved performance and simplified migration. The release offers expanded storage and database capacity, flexible compute and memory options, and features designed to support diverse workload requirements. These enhancements provide a foundation for scaling applications and managing data securely while maintaining compatibility with existing SQL investments. Customers are already benefiting from Azure SQL Managed Instance. Hexure, a life insurance software company, slashed processing time by 97.2%.
The path to Azure SQL Managed Instance also got easier. SQL Server migration in Azure Arc is now generally available. Copilot-assisted migration streamlines the entire process with real-time replication, confident cutover, and trusted failover—reducing months of work to days and lowering total cost of ownership.
Knowing that we have a reliable and highly secure database platform positions us to think about how we can use AI in ways that will benefit our customers and their customers most. With Azure SQL Managed Instance in place, we’re very well equipped to continue in our role as a leader in insurance tech
—Warren Perlman, CTO, Hexure
Empowering developers with AI-ready SQL tools at scale
One consistent SQL means you can use your existing skills and familiar development tools together with AI-powered capabilities to simplify application creation. As organizations look to integrate generative AI into business processes, complexity and time to value remain major challenges. Analysts predict that most AI applications will be built on existing data platforms—reducing development effort and accelerating delivery. Customers want integration, not disruption, and they expect AI assistance embedded in the tools they already use.
This vision is supported by features that combine intelligence with security. GitHub Copilot integration enables developers to work with AI assistance directly in environments like Visual Studio Code and SQL Server Management Studio 22. Native support for retrieval of augmented generation scenarios includes vector search and semantic indexing within SQL Server and Azure SQL, while secure enclaves and Always Encrypted protect sensitive data during processing. Connections to Azure AI services and governance tools streamline data preparation and compliance, while elastic infrastructure supports training, inference, and deployment at scale.
Creating a unified data estate for analytics and AI
Microsoft Fabric connects operations, analytics, and governance in one unified experience, unlocking the full potential of SQL data. As organizations prepare for real-time AI applications, the ability to bridge transactional and analytical workloads becomes essential. Analysts describe this capability as “translytical,” a foundation for responsive applications that combine speed with depth. A future-ready data strategy must integrate operational data with analytical insight, and Fabric delivers that integration without adding complexity.aka
Today at Microsoft Ignite 2025, we announced two key advancements: the general availability of Fabric databases and database Mirroring in Fabric. Fabric databases unify operational and analytical data within Fabric, backed by OneLake, the open data foundation for analytics and AI. SQL database in Fabric supports transactional processing, real-time analytics with zero Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL), and AI workloads side-by-side. In addition, database Mirroring enables replication of SQL Server and Azure SQL into Fabric for analytics and AI scenarios without migration or refactoring. Early adopters such as AP Pension have consolidated decades of fragmented data using Mirroring for SQL Server in Fabric and SQL database in Fabric, creating a centralized architecture with automated delivery and strong governance. These capabilities position Fabric as a cornerstone for organizations seeking to modernize data strategies and prepare for AI-powered applications.
Eastman built a new agentic sales copilot app, enabling their sellers to instantly query unified customer data using natural language. By integrating SQL querying with Fabric’s analytics and vector capabilities, the copilot retrieves hyper-precise answers directly from the database.
When it comes to SQL in Fabric, a huge advantage is you have the robustness of SQL Server, but already in the context of Fabric. The fact that it already has so many security features and integrations with the rest of the Fabric platform is a huge advantage.
—Logan Finke, Principal AI Data Architect at Eastman
Innovate with one consistent SQL
One SQL is a promise of consistency, security, and flexibility from edge to cloud, helping you innovate without disruption. Build intelligent apps powered by agentic AI, unlock real-time insights, and meet compliance demands, all with the tools and skills you already trust. Make your legacy databases your launchpad to innovation.
One engine. One experience. One SQL.
Take the next step today
- Learn more about SQL Server 2025 and download now.
- Learn more about next-generation Azure SQL Managed Instance.
- Learn more about SQL database in Fabric and database Mirroring in Fabric.
