Microsoft Fabric Expands with CosmosDB and Open Source Innovations to Simplify Enterprise AI Data

Microsoft Fabric is rapidly evolving as a unified data platform designed to tackle the complexity and fragmentation that have long challenged enterprise AI initiatives. Traditionally, databases tightly coupled compute and storage, causing scalability issues and data silos. Fabric’s strategy is to create a common data layer across Microsoft’s data and analytics tools, enabling seamless integration and improved performance.

A major milestone announced at Build 2025 is the integration of CosmosDB into Microsoft Fabric. CosmosDB is a NoSQL document database that powers critical AI workloads, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Walmart’s e-commerce platform. By embedding CosmosDB, Microsoft Fabric allows organizations to deploy NoSQL databases without managing complex infrastructure, thanks to an innovative caching system that ensures millisecond latency and near real-time synchronization with OneLake, Microsoft’s global SaaS data lake.

OneLake serves as the unified data lake that stores all data in open source formats such as Apache Parquet and Delta Lake. This open source approach eliminates the traditional performance penalties associated with data format conversions and duplication, enabling all Fabric services—from SQL Server to Power BI and CosmosDB—to access the same data seamlessly. This strategy reduces vendor lock-in risks and supports a unified architecture for diverse data types.

Microsoft is also open sourcing DiskANN, a vector search technology originally developed by Microsoft Research and used in Bing and CosmosDB. DiskANN enables approximate nearest neighbor search optimized for disk-based operations, making it ideal for large-scale vector databases that exceed memory limits. This open source release democratizes enterprise-grade vector search capabilities, critical for retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems that underpin advanced AI applications.

These innovations collectively address the integration complexity and data fragmentation that hinder enterprise AI adoption. By unifying data platforms, embracing open source standards, and delivering high-performance AI data infrastructure, Microsoft Fabric empowers enterprises to shift focus from managing complex pipelines to building impactful AI applications. With over 21,000 organizations and 70% of the Fortune 500 as customers, Fabric’s approach is setting a new standard for enterprise AI readiness.

Key Benefits of Microsoft Fabric’s Latest Enhancements

• Eliminates data silos by unifying SQL, NoSQL, and unstructured data in a single platform
• Reduces infrastructure overhead with CosmosDB integration and innovative caching
• Supports open source data formats to avoid vendor lock-in and improve interoperability
• Empowers AI applications with open source DiskANN vector search for fast, scalable semantic retrieval

As enterprises increasingly compete on AI capabilities, Microsoft Fabric’s unified data platform offers a compelling solution to overcome data fragmentation and infrastructure complexity. By integrating CosmosDB and embracing open source standards, Microsoft is enabling organizations to accelerate AI innovation with reduced operational burden and enhanced data accessibility. This positions Fabric as a critical enabler for businesses seeking to leverage AI as a competitive advantage.