{"id":257078,"date":"2026-08-27T07:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T14:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/?p=257078"},"modified":"2026-08-26T16:55:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T23:55:23","slug":"vslive-hq-content-sandiego-and-orlando-mentions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/vslive-hq-content-sandiego-and-orlando-mentions\/","title":{"rendered":"VSLive! @ Microsoft HQ: Developer Takeaways and Must-Watch Sessions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"VSLIVE<\/a><\/p>\n

VSLive! @ Microsoft HQ\u00a02026\u00a0was\u00a0one of the\u00a0most energizing\u00a0VSLive!\u00a0events\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0attended. What stood out was the level\u00a0of engagement\u00a0over five days of learning and conversation from July 27 through July 31. Developers came ready to dig into the future of Visual Studio,\u00a0.NET,\u00a0and\u00a0AI-assisted software development, and many\u00a0Microsoft\u00a0engineers and product managers were there to have those conversations directly.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If you weren\u2019t able\u00a0to join us in Redmond, there\u2019s still plenty you can take away from the event.\u00a0The Microsoft-led sessions were recorded, so you can catch up on many of the topics that generated some of the biggest conversations during the week.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

AI is becoming part of the entire developer workflow<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

If there was one theme that ran through VSLive! @ Microsoft HQ, it was AI.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The conversation has moved well beyond code completion. Developers are thinking about how AI can help with planning, debugging, modernization, testing, code review, agents, and workflow automation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What I found especially important was how practical these conversations were. Developers want to know what works today, what can be trusted in real development environments, how teams can adopt AI responsibly, and where human judgment still matters.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Great AI experiences still need great developer fundamentals<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

One of\u00a0the\u00a0biggest takeaways from\u00a0the week\u00a0was that developers\u00a0aren\u2019t\u00a0asking us to choose between AI innovation and the fundamentals of a great development environment.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They want both.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Speed, stability, predictability, debugging, testing, and usability still matter enormously. AI becomes more valuable when it builds on a development experience developers already trust.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That reinforces why Visual Studio\u00a0remains\u00a0so relevant as development changes.\u00a0Sessions covering GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio, debugging, productivity, MCP, and AI workflows showed how the IDE can increasingly serve as an orchestration point for modern software development while continuing to support the fundamentals developers depend on every day.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

.NET modernization is happening alongside AI adoption<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

The excitement around AI\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0mean developers are leaving their existing applications behind. Quite the opposite.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We saw strong interest in AI-enabled .NET applications, Aspire, Blazor, .NET MAUI, WinForms, SQL integration, and C#. But many developers are also starting from applications built on .NET Framework 4.7 or 4.8, Web Forms, WinForms, or codebases that have grown over many years.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For those teams, the challenge is practical: How do you move toward .NET 8 or .NET 10 when time and\u00a0staffing are\u00a0limited\u00a0and disruption\u00a0needs to be kept under control?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That makes modernization guidance and tooling an important part of the same conversation.\u00a0Developers want to explore what\u2019s next while continuing to improve the applications their businesses depend on today.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

VSLive! @ Microsoft HQ 2026 sessions: hot takes<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

If you missed VSLive! @ Microsoft HQ, or attended and want to revisit what you learned, the recorded sessions are\u00a0a great way\u00a0to keep\u00a0on\u00a0learning.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You can\u00a0<\/span>explore\u00a0select\u00a0VSLive HQ 2026\u00a0sessions\u00a0on\u00a0the Visual Studio\u00a0YouTube\u00a0channel<\/span><\/a>, including these already trending videos:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Improving Performance in .NET Applications<\/a><\/p>\n

Performance\u00a0remains\u00a0one of the\u00a0fundamentals developers care deeply about. If you\u2019re looking to improve how your .NET applications perform, this is a good session to add to your watch list.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Explore the Future of ASP.NET Core & Blazor in .NET 11<\/a><\/p>\n

For\u00a0developers building modern web applications, this session explores what\u2019s ahead for ASP.NET Core and Blazor in .NET 11.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Modernizing .NET Applications<\/a><\/p>\n

Modernization was a strong, recurrent theme during VSLive! @ Microsoft HQ 2026. If you\u2019re working with an established .NET codebase and thinking about what comes next, this session is especially relevant.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Everything You Need to Know About the Latest in C#<\/a><\/p>\n

C# continues to evolve alongside .NET. This session is a chance to catch up on the latest developments and think about how they apply to the applications\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0building.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

SQL MCP Server: Bringing AI Agents to Your SQL Data<\/a><\/p>\n

This session brings together two themes that generated a lot of interest: AI and MCP.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0a practical example of\u00a0how developers are\u00a0beginning to think beyond AI-assisted coding and toward agents that can work with the systems and data behind their applications.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0exploring AI, modernizing an existing application, improving performance, or staying current with .NET and C#,\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0a lot here you can bring back to your own projects and teams.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Keep learning with VSLive!<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

There are two more\u00a0opportunities this year to connect with developers, learn from experts,\u00a0and get hands-on with the technologies shaping modern development.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

VSLive! San Diego<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

September 14-18, 2026<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bahia Resort Hotel, San Diego, CA<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

VSLive! San Diego<\/span><\/a>\u00a0is another opportunity to step away from the daily backlog, sharpen your skills, and spend time\u00a0beachside\u00a0in the warm\u00a0Southern\u00a0California\u00a0sun\u00a0with developers tackling many of the same challenges you\u00a0are.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

VSLive! \/ Live! 360 Tech Con 2026<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

November 15-20, 2026<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Royal Pacific Resort – Universal Orlando<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

VSLive! \/ Live! 360 Tech Con 2026<\/span><\/a>\u00a0offers another opportunity to close out the year with practical learning, technical conversations, and connections across the developer community.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0a Visual Studio subscriber and\u00a0considering\u00a0joining us at one\u00a0of these events\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Sign in to my.visualstudio.com<\/a>\u00a0to access your\u00a0VSLive! discount code.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks to everyone who joined us in Redmond, asked questions, shared feedback, and spent time with our teams. Those conversations matter, and they help us shape what comes next.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VSLive! @ Microsoft HQ\u00a02026\u00a0was\u00a0one of the\u00a0most energizing\u00a0VSLive!\u00a0events\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0attended. What stood out was the level\u00a0of engagement\u00a0over five days of learning and conversation from July 27 through July 31. Developers came ready to dig into the future of Visual Studio,\u00a0.NET,\u00a0and\u00a0AI-assisted software development, and many\u00a0Microsoft\u00a0engineers and product managers were there to have those conversations directly.\u00a0 If you weren\u2019t able\u00a0to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":216051,"featured_media":257161,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[155],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-257078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-visual-studio"],"acf":[],"blog_post_summary":"

VSLive! @ Microsoft HQ\u00a02026\u00a0was\u00a0one of the\u00a0most energizing\u00a0VSLive!\u00a0events\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0attended. What stood out was the level\u00a0of engagement\u00a0over five days of learning and conversation from July 27 through July 31. Developers came ready to dig into the future of Visual Studio,\u00a0.NET,\u00a0and\u00a0AI-assisted software development, and many\u00a0Microsoft\u00a0engineers and product managers were there to have those conversations directly.\u00a0 If you weren\u2019t able\u00a0to […]<\/p>\n","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/216051"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257078"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":257199,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257078\/revisions\/257199"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}