Microsoft announced at its FabCon 2026 conference that it is joining Apache Ossie, an industry-wide effort to create a vendor-neutral open standard for AI and analytics data. The community-led initiative aims to standardize how business data and logic are understood across platforms.
The move marks a shift for Microsoft, which had previously been a notable holdout. Apache Ossie is incubating at the Apache Software Foundation. Competitor Snowflake initiated the effort, which also includes Google, Amazon Web Services, Salesforce and Databricks.
Microsoft’s participation signals a greater emphasis on interoperability for its AI products, including Copilot and Fabric.