Key takeaways:
- Microsoft’s Ignite 2023 conference will be held in Seattle on November 14-17, and you can already register for the in-person or free online event.
- The theme of the conference will be “AI transformation”, continuing what’s been a very important theme for Microsoft this year.
- Ignite 2023 will be preceded by a special Microsoft event on September 21 and a OneDrive-themed event on October 3.
Microsoft has now opened registrations for its Ignite 2023 conference, which will be held in Seattle on November 14-17. This year, the theme of the conference for IT pros is “AI transformation,” so you can expect Microsoft to continue its streak of AI announcements that started with GitHub Copilot two years ago.
While the full session catalog for Ignite 2023 isn’t available yet, Microsoft already announced that there will be over 140 sessions this year. The list of featured speakers includes CEO Satya Nadella, EVP of Experiences and Devices Rajesh Jha, EVP of the Cloud + AI Group Scott Guthrie, and Microsoft 365 Collaborative Apps and Platforms lead Jeff Teper.
If you want to attend the event in person in Seattle, Microsoft is offering a $1,525 early-bid pricing ($300 off) until October 11. Everyone else can already register for the free online sessions on November 15-16, which is when the live in-person keynotes are scheduled.
Microsoft has been making huge investments in AI this year, with the Microsoft 365 Copilot launching earlier this year via an early access program. The productivity assistant will be priced at $30 per user per month for all enterprise customers with Microsoft 365 E3, E5, Business Standard, and Business Premium subscriptions, and Microsoft likely still has some work to do to convince organizations that it will be worth it.
Microsoft also announced at its Build conference earlier this year that its Microsoft 365 will soon get support for third-party plugins. The company with working with OpenAI to make ChatGPT plugins compatible with its own Copilot experiences across Microsoft 365, Bing, and Windows, and we may well hear more about these efforts at Ignite.
Ignite 2023 will follow other Microsoft events this fall
In addition to Ignite, Microsoft has already announced a special event in New York on September 21. The company hasn’t shared any details about it yet, but we’re likely to see new Surface devices and some Windows news as well. Windows 11 version 23H2 is right around the corner, and this update will bring the new AI-powered Windows Copilot to the desktop.
On October 3, Microsoft will also hold a digital event that will focus on OneDrive. The company is planning to showcase the next generation of file management across Microsoft 365 and give “a sneak peek at our AI plans which include new search, sharing, and information queries across all your files in OneDrive,” the company said in the announcement.
While Microsoft’s September 21 will be behind closed doors, the OneDrive event on October 3 will be streamed live on Microsoft Teams. Jeff Teper, one of the featured speakers at Ignite 3 will also be present along with the OneDrive team.