The GitHub Copilot modernization agent is a new capability (currently in public preview) that helps development teams transform legacy applications so they are cloud- and AI-ready.

Embedded directly where developers already work, it acts as a smart assistant that can:

• Run code assessments on existing applications
• Generate customized modernization plans for each app
• Execute framework and runtime upgrades
• Deploy updated applications directly to Microsoft Azure

Instead of treating modernization as a one-off project per application, the modernization agent is designed to help teams rethink their overall approach and handle modernization in a more structured, repeatable way, with developers staying in control of decisions and changes.

The modernization agent is built to help organizations reimagine modernization as a portfolio-wide effort, not just a series of isolated upgrades.

It can act as an orchestrator across many applications by:

• Running multiple code assessments in parallel across different apps
• Creating a unique modernization plan for each application, based on its specific codebase and requirements
• Automating framework and runtime upgrades according to those plans

Because these capabilities are designed to scale, teams can move from modernizing one application at a time to managing a broader, coordinated modernization program, while still keeping oversight and control over what is changed and when.

Microsoft is introducing new agentic capabilities in both Azure Copilot and GitHub Copilot that are designed to work together for modernization scenarios.

In practice:

• GitHub Copilot focuses on the developer experience, embedded where developers write and manage code. It helps assess applications, propose modernization plans, and execute code-level upgrades.
• Azure Copilot complements this on the cloud side, helping teams plan and manage how modernized applications are deployed and operated on Azure.

Together, they help teams reshape how they approach modernization—from code changes in GitHub to deployment and operations in Azure—while being “built to scale and designed for control,” so organizations can modernize more applications without losing governance or visibility.