--- title: "Microsoft Foundry | AI Apps & Agents | StartCloud" description: "Build and govern AI apps and agents with Microsoft Foundry. 11,000+ models, enterprise security, and full lifecycle management. 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It gives you access to over 11,000 AI models and a full set of tools for building enterprise-grade AI solutions." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "How is Foundry different from using ChatGPT or other AI tools?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Foundry is a development and governance platform, not a chatbot. It lets you build custom AI agents that connect to your business data and systems, with enterprise security, compliance, and content safety built in from the start." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Do I need Azure to use Microsoft Foundry?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Yes, Foundry runs on Microsoft Azure. As a Microsoft Solutions Partner, StartCloud handles the Azure setup, configuration, and ongoing management so you can focus on what your AI agents need to do." } } ] } ] ] --- [![StartCloud](/assets/StartCloud-Logo-ByZE1kzP.svg "StartCloud: Cybersecurity-First Managed IT Services Perth")](/ "StartCloud | Managed IT Services Perth") - Cybersecurity - AI Solutions - Cloud - Technology - Networking - Explore [Contact Us](/contact "Contact StartCloud, Perth IT Support") Open menu Overview What Is It? Why It Matters How It Works Results Why StartCloud StartCloud deploys and manages Microsoft Foundry (Azure AI Foundry) for Australian businesses. Foundry is a unified platform for building, deploying, and governing AI applications and agents. It provides access to over 11,000 AI models from Microsoft, OpenAI, Meta, Mistral, and others, plus tools for building intelligent agents, grounding AI in business data, and managing governance at scale. StartCloud handles secure deployment, integration with existing Microsoft 365 and Azure environments, and ongoing support. 1. [Home](/) 2. [Cloud](/cloud) 3. Microsoft Foundry Microsoft Foundry # Build AI Apps and Agents That Understand Your Business Microsoft Foundry gives you access to over 11,000 AI models and a complete platform for building intelligent agents that connect to your business data, automate complex processes, and operate under your existing security policies. Whether you're exploring AI for the first time or scaling existing projects, StartCloud helps you deploy Foundry securely and get real value from it. [Talk to Us About Foundry](/contact)[See What's Included](#foundry-how) The Basics ## What Is Microsoft Foundry? Microsoft Foundry (also known as Azure AI Foundry) is a unified platform where you can discover AI models, build intelligent agents, and govern everything from one place. Used by developers at over 80,000 enterprises, including 80% of the Fortune 500. ### 11,000+ AI Models in One Place Browse and deploy foundation models from Microsoft, OpenAI, Meta, Mistral, and more. Compare benchmarks, test outputs, and pick the right model for your use case without juggling multiple platforms. ### Build Agents That Act on Your Data Create AI agents that understand your business context. Connect them to your systems through 1,400+ enterprise connectors and let them handle complex, multi-step processes on your behalf. ### Governance and Security Built In Every model and agent runs under your existing Microsoft security policies. Entra ID, Defender, and Purview integrate natively so your data stays protected and compliant from day one. Why It Matters ## The Risk of Unmanaged AI AI is already in your organisation, whether you planned for it or not. Without a proper platform, you're flying blind. ### Scattered AI Tools with No Oversight When teams experiment with different AI services independently, you lose visibility into what data is being shared, which models are being used, and whether outputs are reliable. ### Manual Processes That Don't Scale Your team spends hours on repetitive tasks that could be automated. Without a proper platform to build and deploy AI agents, these inefficiencies just keep growing. ### Security Blind Spots When Using AI Most AI tools operate outside your organisation's security perimeter. Sensitive data gets sent to unknown endpoints, and there's no audit trail for what the AI sees or produces. Our Approach ## What's Inside Microsoft Foundry Foundry brings together models, tools, agents, and governance in a single platform. Here's what you get access to. 1 ### Foundry Models Access a catalogue of over 11,000 models from Microsoft, OpenAI, Meta, Mistral, Cohere, and more. Compare performance benchmarks side by side and deploy the right model for your workload. 2 ### Foundry Agent Service Build context-aware AI agents that automate complex business processes. Agents connect to your enterprise systems through 1,400+ connectors and work within your existing security policies. 3 ### Foundry IQ Ground your AI in real business data. Foundry IQ connects to your knowledge bases and documents using retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) so responses are accurate and relevant to your organisation. 4 ### Foundry Tools A complete toolkit for prompt engineering, fine-tuning, and evaluation. Test different approaches, measure quality, and iterate quickly without building infrastructure from scratch. 5 ### Content Safety Built-in guardrails protect against prompt injection attacks, hallucinations, and biased outputs. Content Safety filters run automatically so your AI applications stay trustworthy and responsible. 6 ### Foundry Local Run AI models at the edge for scenarios where low latency or data residency matters. Process sensitive workloads on-premises or on local devices without sending data to the cloud. ![Microsoft Solutions Partner for Modern Work](/assets/microsoft-solutions-partner-DqvNMv91.png "Microsoft Solutions Partner: Modern Work") ### Microsoft Solutions Partner Modern Work Designation StartCloud holds the Microsoft Solutions Partner designation for Modern Work, recognising our proven capability in deploying and managing Microsoft cloud solutions for Australian businesses. Platform Scale ## A Platform Trusted by Global Enterprises Microsoft Foundry is the same platform used by the world's largest organisations to build and govern their AI solutions. 11,000+ AI Models Available 80,000+ Enterprises Using Foundry 1,400+ Enterprise Connectors [Explore Foundry with StartCloud](/contact) The StartCloud Difference ## Why Choose StartCloud? AI platforms are powerful, but only when they're set up properly and managed well. That's where we come in. ### Microsoft Solutions Partner We hold the Modern Work designation, which means Microsoft has verified our expertise across the Microsoft cloud stack. We bring that same rigour to Foundry deployments. ### Security-First AI Deployment We don't just connect your data to AI and hope for the best. Every Foundry deployment includes proper identity management, data governance, and content safety configuration. ### End-to-End Integration We connect Foundry to your existing Microsoft 365, Azure, and Dynamics 365 environments so your AI agents have the context they need to be genuinely useful. ### Ongoing Support and Governance AI isn't a set-and-forget project. We provide ongoing monitoring, model evaluation, and governance support to make sure your AI investments keep delivering value. [Get Started with Foundry](/contact) ### Related Topics Microsoft Foundry Azure AI Foundry AI platform for business enterprise AI agents Microsoft AI models Power Platform AI AI governance responsible AI enterprise AI deployment Microsoft AI partner Australia AI model catalogue Foundry Agent Service ![StartCloud](/assets/StartCloud-Logo-ByZE1kzP.svg "StartCloud: Cybersecurity-First Managed IT Services Perth") Cybersecurity-led IT for Australian businesses. We manage security, compliance, and modern IT environments, so risk is governed, not guessed. Ground Floor West, 6 Gibberd Road, Balcatta WA 6021 [08 6285 0001](tel:+61862850001 "Call StartCloud on 08 6285 0001") Serving Perth businesses from Balcatta, Western Australia. ![Microsoft Solutions Partner - Modern Work](/assets/microsoft-solutions-partner-DqvNMv91.png "Microsoft Solutions Partner: Modern Work") ### Services - [Cybersecurity](/cybersecurity "Cybersecurity Services Perth | StartCloud") - [AI Solutions](/ai "AI & Automation Services Perth | StartCloud") - [Cloud](/cloud "Cloud Services Perth | StartCloud") - [Technology](/technology "IT Services and Support | StartCloud") - [Networking](/networking "Business Networking Perth | StartCloud") - [Packages](/packages "IT Support Packages Perth | StartCloud") ### Company - [About](/about "About StartCloud, Perth IT Support Team") - [Company Facts](/facts "StartCloud Company Facts | Perth Cybersecurity-First AI MSP") - [Resources](/resources "IT Resources & Guides | StartCloud Perth") - [Service Areas](/it-support-perth "IT Support Perth | StartCloud") - [Contact](/contact "Contact StartCloud, Perth IT Support") ### Locations - [All Service Areas](/locations "Perth IT Support Areas | StartCloud") - [IT Support Perth](/it-support-perth "IT Support Perth | StartCloud") - [Cybersecurity Perth](/cybersecurity-perth "Cybersecurity Perth | StartCloud") - [MSP Perth](/managed-service-provider-perth "Managed Service Provider Perth | StartCloud") - [Industries We Serve](/industries "IT Support by Industry Perth | StartCloud") © 2026 Start Technologies Pty Ltd trading as StartCloud. 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