Microsoft Ignite kicks off Nov. 17 with Copilot expected to take center stage

Microsoft Ignite 2026 runs from November 17 to 20 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. CEO Satya Nadella is scheduled to deliver the opening keynote on Tuesday morning.

The agenda is expected to center on Copilot, Microsoft’s AI assistant. The conference also lands right as the company changes how it charges for that assistant.

Four days, one big AI pitch

The opening keynote is set for November 17 at 10:00 a.m. PT. Nadella will share the stage with Judson Althoff, who runs Microsoft’s commercial business.

A pre-day event on November 16 comes before the main program. Attendees who want it can add it on.

In-person passes cost $2,325. The optional pre-day add-on runs an extra $325.

For those who would rather skip the San Francisco hotel bill, Microsoft is offering a free digital pass. It gives remote viewers access to livestreamed sessions.

The broad themes are AI, cloud services and security. Within those, the expected focus falls on enterprise AI deployment, governance, and the measurable value that tools like Copilot deliver to businesses.

The Copilot backstory

Microsoft announced a batch of new Copilot capabilities in September 2026, including features called Home, Code, and Autopilot.

Those tools are currently rolling out under the Frontier program. Think of Frontier as an early-access lane, where some customers get new features before the wider user base does.

The bigger shift may be financial rather than technical. Usage-based billing for Copilot is expected to go live in early to mid-November, which would put the change only days or weeks ahead of the conference.

Usage-based billing works like a utility meter. Rather than paying a fixed price per seat whether people use the tool or not, customers pay according to how much they actually consume.