<p>Microsoft has released two new agentic tools aimed at application and infrastructure modernization, both now in public preview.</p>
<h2>GitHub Copilot modernization agent</h2>
<p>The <code>modernize-dotnet</code> custom agent extends GitHub Copilot’s .NET modernization workflow beyond Visual Studio to VS Code, the GitHub Copilot CLI, and GitHub itself. It follows an assess → plan → execute model, producing three artifacts per run:</p>
<ul>
<li>An assessment of the current codebase</li>
<li>An upgrade plan</li>
<li>Upgrade tasks stored alongside the code for team review</li>
</ul>
<p>Supported workloads include <a href="http://ASP.NET" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">ASP.NET</a> Core, Blazor, Azure Functions, WPF, class libraries, console apps, and .NET Framework migrations. The agent can also run multiple code assessments simultaneously and build per-application modernization plans, which makes it more useful for organizations with large, fragmented codebases rather than a single app.</p>
<p>Organizations can define custom skills to encode internal migration patterns into the workflow, which is useful if your team has specific conventions or non-standard dependencies that a generic tool would miss.</p>
<h2>Azure Copilot migration agent</h2>
<p>On the infrastructure side, the Azure Copilot migration agent automates discovery, assessment, planning, and deployment for servers, VMs, applications, and databases. The idea is to bridge the gap between infrastructure teams and developers by connecting code-level insights with cloud migration planning in one workflow.</p>
<p>Microsoft claims early customer results show up to 70% reduction in modernization effort, though that figure comes from Microsoft and should be treated with appropriate skepticism until more independent data is available.</p>
<h2>Cloud Accelerate Factory</h2>
<p>Microsoft also introduced Cloud Accelerate Factory, a zero-cost delivery program that pairs these tools with hands-on expert guidance. If your team is evaluating either agent, this is probably worth looking into before committing to a migration approach.</p>
<h2>What this means in practice</h2>
<p>The two agents are designed to work together: the GitHub Copilot agent handles code-level upgrades while the Azure Copilot agent handles the infrastructure side. Whether that integration is seamless in practice remains to be seen, but the architecture at least makes sense on paper. Both are in public preview, so expect rough edges.</p>


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Microsoft has released two AI agentic tools in public preview targeting application and infrastructure modernization. The `modernize-dotnet` GitHub Copilot custom agent extends .NET modernization workflows to VS Code, CLI, and GitHub, supporting ASP.NET Core, Blazor, Azure Functions, WPF, and more. It follows an assess-plan-execute model and supports custom skills for internal migration patterns. The Azure Copilot migration agent automates discovery, assessment, planning, and deployment for servers, VMs, and databases, aiming to bridge infrastructure and developer workflows. Microsoft claims up to 70% reduction in modernization effort from early customers, though independent validation is lacking. A zero-cost Cloud Accelerate Factory program pairs these tools with expert guidance. Both agents are designed to complement each other but are still in public preview.

Microsoft's new AI agents for .NET and Azure modernization: what they actually do