Pure Virtual C++ 2026 [Meet the Speakers, Part 2]: The AI-Native C++ Developer Workflow

Pure Virtual C++ 2026 streams Tuesday, July 21, 2026 at 9:00 AM PT, a free, one-day virtual conference for the whole C++ community, live on YouTube (Microsoft Reactor) and Twitch, with on-demand recordings on the Visual Studio YouTube channel afterward. Register now →

Welcome to part two of our Meet the Speakers series. In part one we looked at building and running faster. Today we turn to the theme shaping the future of development: the AI-native C++ developer workflow.

Why this theme matters

C++ development is evolving into an AI-native, agent-driven experience and it’s happening everywhere you work, from the IDE to the terminal. The two featured sessions below show what that looks like in practice: AI tools that understand your C++ code, whether you’re in the command line or in Visual Studio. If you’re making wide-sweeping C++ changes and want AI that locates the right context instead of guessing and grepping through files, these talks show what real semantic understanding unlocks.

Sinem Akinci: C++ semantic awareness in the CLI: From Project Load to Code Change

Sinem is a Senior Product Manager at Microsoft focused on C++ developer tooling and AI-assisted workflows across Visual Studio, VS Code, and the CLI. She studied Industrial Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan and has worked across engineering and consulting. And she’s also co-hosting this year’s conference alongside Mads Kristensen! Follow Sinem: X @sinem__akinci · GitHub @sinemakinci1

What the session is about. Imagine opening a large C++ project in your terminal and navigating symbols, tracing call graphs, and fixing bugs with the same accuracy as your IDE’s language services. Sinem shows how the Microsoft C++ language server brings that experience to Copilot CLI. She walks through loading a real C++ project for the first time and automatically generating the build context needed for full semantic understanding. From there, Copilot resolves C++ symbols, follows references across translation units, and produces edits that actually compile, all without opening an IDE.

What you’ll learn

• How to use C++ language services: LSP-powered symbol navigation, references, and code edits, directly in the CLI with Copilot.
• How to configure and load a real C++ project so semantic context is available from the start, including the build metadata needed for accurate analysis.
• How to combine semantic understanding with repeatable edit-and-validate loops that produce compile-ready changes.

Why C++ developers should attend. AI coding tools are only as good as their understanding of your code. Bringing true language-service accuracy to the terminal means the CLI becomes a first-class place to do serious C++ work, a new capability for anyone who lives in the shell.

Learn ahead

• Recommended starting point: C++ Code Intelligence for GitHub Copilot CLI (Preview) – C++ Team Blog
• Also worth exploring:
  • Streamline C++ Code Intelligence Setup in Copilot CLI – C++ Team Blog
  • microsoft/cpp-language-server on GitHub
  • Language Server Protocol – official specification
  • CMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS (compile_commands.json) – CMake docs

Augustin Popa: From Completions to Agents: AI-Driven C++ in Visual Studio

Augustin is a Senior Product Manager on the Microsoft C++ team, working on the Visual Studio IDE, the Microsoft C++ (MSVC) Build Tools, and vcpkg, the cross-platform C/C++ package manager. Follow Augustin: LinkedIn

What the session is about. Visual Studio has grown into a modern, AI-first C++ IDE. Augustin gives a holistic tour of what GitHub Copilot can do there today: from AI-assisted completion and refactoring to in-box agentic workflows with zero setup. You’ll also learn how to add your own team-specific AI customizations: MCP servers, skills, and custom agents, so your environment is tailored to how your team actually works.

What you’ll learn

• Why Visual Studio is a modern, AI-first C++ development tool.
• Which built-in agentic experiences you can use with no extra setup like build optimizations, profiling, and diagnosing exceptions during debugging.
• How to customize those agentic experiences for your team with MCP servers, skills, and custom agents.

Why C++ developers should attend. Visual Studio has changed a lot in the past year, and this session is the fastest way to see what’s new: a practical, hands-on tour of the AI features you can use immediately, plus the customization hooks to shape them around how your team really works.

Learn ahead

• Recommended starting point: GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio – Microsoft Learn
• Also worth exploring:
  • What’s New in Visual Studio for C++ Developers in 2025 – Augustin Popa & David Li, CppCon 2025 (YouTube)
  • Windows Game Development with Visual Studio 2026 and GitHub Copilot – GDC 2026 session (YouTube)
  • Use MCP servers in Visual Studio – Microsoft Learn
  • awesome-copilot: community skills, prompts, and agents

Bonus, on-demand: Augustin also has an on-demand session, C++ Dependencies Without the Headache: vcpkg + Copilot CLI, showing how to build a CMake project from scratch and manage dependencies without leaving the command line. Stay tuned as we announce the full list of on-demand sessions shortly before the event.

Register today

Both talks are featured sessions at Pure Virtual C++ 2026. Register for free →

Next up, and last in the series: Modernizing C++, where Victor Ciura maps the road to seamless C++/Rust interop. Recordings of every session will be available on-demand on the Visual Studio YouTube channel after the event.

See you there!