As enterprises adopt AI copilots, agents, and knowledge-driven applications, retrieval is becoming the backbone of accuracy, trust, and real-world usefulness. Modern Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) now goes far beyond “chat over documents”, it blends vector search, hybrid search, graph-based reasoning, contextual compression, tool-using agents, and enterprise knowledge bases.

In this session, Eric D. Boyd guides you through the next generation of retrieval techniques and shows how to build them with Azure AI Search, Microsoft Foundry, and Foundry IQ. You’ll learn how embeddings work, how to design high-quality indexes, how to implement advanced ranking and context engineering strategies, and how to use GraphRAG and agentic retrieval to deliver domain-specialized copilots and intelligent agents. With .NET-focused examples and real-world patterns, you'll walk away knowing how to build retrieval systems that are accurate, scalable, and enterprise-ready.