Q&A

Mastering AI Development and Building AI Apps with GitHub Copilot

• By David Ramel
• 06/09/2026

For many developers, GitHub Copilot started as an AI-powered coding assistant that could suggest the next line, finish a function or help explain unfamiliar code. But that early autocomplete framing no longer captures what the tool has become.

Copilot is now showing up across the developer workflow: in the command line, on mobile, inside GitHub.com, across multiple editors, in CI pipelines and even inside applications developers are building themselves. That expansion is changing the question from "How do I use Copilot?" to "How do I make Copilot work the way my team works?"

That is the focus of Mastering AI Development & Building AI Apps with GitHub Copilot, a full-day, intermediate-level workshop at Visual Studio Live! @ Microsoft HQ 2026, taking place July 27-31, 2026, at Microsoft Headquarters in Redmond, Wash.

Presented by Microsoft's Kayla Cinnamon, Senior AI Developer Tools Advocate, and James Montemagno, Principal Lead Program Manager, Developer Community, the July 31 workshop is designed for developers who already use Copilot but suspect they are only scratching the surface.

The session will explore how to "bend Copilot" to a developer's actual workflow through agents, hooks, Model Context Protocol servers and the GitHub Copilot SDK, rather than simply accepting the default experience. Attendees will see how Copilot can support planning, coding, reviewing and shipping, with hands-on looks at custom agents, prompts, hooks, skills, plugins and extensions.

One major theme is context. As AI-assisted development moves from individual code suggestions to broader workflow automation, tools like MCP servers and plugins become critical for connecting Copilot to the systems, standards and information a team already uses. That context can help Copilot become more useful not just as a coding helper, but as a participant in the full lifecycle of building and maintaining software.

The workshop will also address a growing concern for developers building AI-powered features: how to test them. Cinnamon and Montemagno will discuss practical approaches such as building evaluation suites alongside code, defining expected behaviors instead of only exact outputs, layering in human review for subjective cases and using telemetry to catch regressions in production.

For attendees looking for an immediate payoff, the presenters point to a simple but high-leverage starting point: writing a custom agent or instructions file. Done at the repo level, that kind of customization can make Copilot more aware of a codebase, team conventions and development standards.

We caught up with Kayla and James to learn why Copilot's evolution matters for everyday developers, how it can support the full AI application lifecycle, and what attendees can start applying as soon as they get back to work.

VisualStudioMagazine: What Inspired You to Present on This Topic?
Kayla/James: Copilot has evolved way beyond autocomplete and it's everywhere. It's in the CLI, on mobile, in GitHub.com, many editors, your CI pipelines, and increasingly in apps developers are building themselves. We kept hearing the same thing from devs: "I use Copilot every day, but I know I'm only scratching the surface." This workshop is the deep dive we wished existed; the one that shows you how to bend Copilot to your workflow with agents, hooks, MCP servers, and the SDK, instead of just accepting the defaults.

How Does Copilot Support the Full Lifecycle of Building AI Applications?
It shows up at every stage. Planning: agents and prompts help you scope and break down work. Coding: inline suggestions, chat, CLI, and the cloud coding agent cover the implementation. Reviewing: Copilot code review and skills enforce your standards. Shipping: the SDK lets you embed those same capabilities into the apps you build. And throughout, MCP and plugins let you wire Copilot into your existing tools so it has the context it actually needs.

What Is a Practical Approach to Testing AI-Driven Features?
Build an evaluation suite alongside your code: a curated set of inputs with expected behaviors (not always exact outputs). Run it on every prompt or model change like you'd run unit tests. Layer in human review for the subjective stuff, and add telemetry in production so you catch regressions on real user inputs. Hooks are great here, you can wire validation directly into your Copilot workflow.

What Is One Takeaway That Attendees Can Immediately Apply After the Workshop?
Write your first custom agent or instructions file on Monday morning. It takes ten minutes, lives in your repo, and instantly makes Copilot smarter about your codebase, your conventions, and your team's standards. It's the highest-leverage thing you can do, and most people haven't done it yet.

Note: Those wishing to attend the session can save money by registering early, according to the event's pricing page. "Save $300 by registering by the June 19 Early Bird Savings deadline!" said the organizer of the event, which is presented by the parent company of Visual Studio Magazine.