Microsoft introduced Fabric IQ at Ignite on 18 November. The preview aims to make business concepts and relationships available to analytics and AI agents. According to Microsoft's description, a customer, delivery or resource should be understandable across tables and systems.

SQL database and Cosmos DB in Fabric also became generally available. These announcements address different needs: the databases extend where businesses can store and process information, while Fabric IQ concerns what that information means. A generally available database therefore does not mean that all the new AI functionality has completed its preview stage.

Project work becomes part of the data foundation

Asana's 20 November autumn update includes a Timesheets and Budgets add-on with time approvals and comparisons of estimated and actual costs. The company also presents AI risk reports within project summaries. AI Teammates, which can receive assignments in project workflows, remain in beta.

For project managers, this points towards a closer connection between work being performed and the management information being shared. In our assessment, reporting becomes useful when project status, resource needs and financial information describe the same delivery. A green status indicator can otherwise conceal missing time entries or an unrecorded dependency.

Microsoft also demonstrates a preview in which agents in Teams channels can obtain information from services including Jira and Asana through MCP. Its example involves identifying blockers to a product launch and following them up with the team. This is an announced collaboration capability, rather than evidence of error-free coordination in a specific project.

More options require clearer choices

Forrester welcomes the Ignite announcements but identifies overlapping products that make selection difficult. Its analysts call for clearer recommendations about which services fit particular needs. They also stress that AI efficiency gains need to be measured in the actual working process.

Our editorial assessment is that management should start with a bounded question, such as which projects risk exceeding their staffing allocation. Data sources, definitions and responsibilities can then be established before an agent suggests interventions. November's announcements provide more building blocks, but the business still decides what constitutes risk, progress and available capacity. Those decisions also determine whether different teams can interpret the resulting reports consistently.

Sources

Microsoft: databases and Fabric at Ignite (November 18, 2025)

Microsoft: Ignite 2025 Book of News (November 18, 2025)

Asana: Fall 2025 release (November 20, 2025)

Forrester: analysis of the Ignite announcements (November 21, 2025)

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