Following the energy-packed announcements at Microsoft FabCon 2025, Santor Technologies hosted an engaging webinar spotlighting several major enhancements introduced during Microsoft’s flagship data and AI event. Hosted by Toral Goradia, COO of Santor Technologies, alongside Microsoft MVP Ginger Grant, the session walked attendees through key developments that will help reshape how enterprises approach their data architecture and automation strategies using Microsoft Fabric.

Revisiting the Momentum of FabCon 2025

FabCon 2025 was packed with innovations and forward-looking capabilities, so much so that even the keynote required an intermission due to the sheer volume of updates. From AI-powered automation and Copilot availability to event-driven data workflows and developer-first tooling, Microsoft Fabric is evolving rapidly—and Santor’s goal was to unpack the updates that matter most.

From AI Skills to Data Agents

A major highlight was the evolution of AI Skills into Data Agents—intelligent assistants that can query data across Fabric’s various environments (Lakehouse, Warehouse, KQL databases, and Power BI semantic models) and generate contextual responses in natural language. Users don’t need advanced technical skills to interact with these agents, making data access more inclusive and dynamic.

Copilot Now Available for All Paid SKUs

One of the most impactful changes is that Copilot and AI features are now included in all paid SKUs starting from F2. This change democratizes access to intelligent tools without needing higher-tier subscriptions. Ginger highlighted how this flexibility helps organizations segment workloads across dev, test, and production environments without compromising on AI functionality.

Streamlined Migration with Synapse Assistant

The speakers emphasized the native migration assistant for Azure Synapse users, which simplifies transitions to Microsoft Fabric through an intuitive, built-in UI. By automating metadata mapping and code conversion, it significantly reduces the time and complexity involved in modernizing legacy data estates.

User Data Functions for Developer Efficiency

With User Data Functions, developers can now define and reuse logic within Lakehouses and Warehouses, helping streamline workflows and reduce redundancy. This capability is especially useful in organizations with extensive data modeling requirements or shared business logic.

Event-Driven Architecture

Fabric is making big strides toward becoming an event-driven platform. With Fabric Events and Azure integration, users can build responsive systems that trigger actions based on live data signals.

Database Mirroring Enhancements

Enhanced database mirroring support now extends to Azure SQL, Cosmos DB, PostgreSQL, and soon even on-prem sources like Oracle—making it easier to mirror enterprise data into OneLake for unified analytics.

Enabling Scalable Deployments with Variable Libraries

One of the more technical deep dives came with Variable Libraries, a new feature that allows users to set and manage pipeline parameters across development, test, and production environments. Ginger demonstrated how these libraries enable seamless environment transitions without reconfiguring pipelines manually—something previously challenging in Fabric. By associating parameter values with specific environments and committing changes through source control, organizations gain better DevOps control and deployment consistency.

AI Functions in Notebooks—Generative AI for Engineers

Another standout feature is the introduction of AI Functions in Fabric notebooks. Users can now access pre-integrated libraries to summarize text, detect intent, and extract entities using GPT-3.5—all without setting up complex external services. The overhead of configuring notebooks for generative AI has been reduced dramatically, accelerating productivity for data engineers and scientists.

OneLake Security: Centralized Governance on the Horizon

While still in private preview, OneLake Security promises centralized governance for data access across Fabric. Once enabled, users will be able to assign permissions and apply both row-level and column-level security directly in the UI. For now, rules can be applied using SQL scripts, but the UI support will soon offer a more intuitive governance layer across Lakehouses and Warehouses.

What It All Means

As explained, Microsoft’s heavy investment in Fabric is evident not just in features, but in the sheer volume of dedicated engineering resources globally. The platform is rapidly becoming a one-stop solution where storage, access, processing, and action can all happen under a unified, intelligent umbrella.

The discussion wrapped up with key takeaways for data leaders:

• Most advanced features are available across all SKUs, including F2.

• Upgrading from Synapse to Fabric brings not only cost benefits but performance gains.

• Microsoft Purview plays a complimentary role with OneLake Security, helping enterprises govern access to sensitive data (like     PII) effectively.

With so much innovation happening at speed, staying current is a challenge—and Santor Technologies is committed to helping clients unlock the full potential of Microsoft Fabric through strategic enablement and hands-on expertise.

Watch the full webinar recording here: