Model Mondays: Build Your Model IQ
🌟 If you find this series useful, give us a star on GitHub!
As an AI native engineer, your journey starts with model choice. But with 10K+ models in Microsoft Foundry, 2M+ open-source model in Hugging Face, and new model releases every day, how do you make informed decisions? With Model Mondays, we have three resources to help you go from awareness to action to adoption.
- Model Mondays livestream - every Monday at 1:30pm EST with news, tech spotlights & customer stories
- Foundry Friday AMA - every Monday at 1:30pm EST with demos, Q&A featuring subject matter experts
- Models For Beginners - curriculum planned for release in 2026.
Build your Model IQ one week at a time - and go from scenario to solution by learning model fundamentals, understanding model selection, exploring model customization, and building trustworthy AI solutions with end-to-end observability. Join us by taking two actions today:
- Join the Discord - and follow the #model-mondays channel for regular updates!
- Register for the Livestream - and watch for new updates to the schedule in 2026
Season 3: Dec 2025 - Apr 2026
In Season 3, we are putting the tech spotlight on Microsoft Foundry and bringing in product group leads and subject matter experts to talk about the unified platform and tech stack that powers the app and agent factory! Season 3 is currently planned for a 16-episode arc going from Dec 2025 to Apr 2026. In addition to tech spotlights, watch for new customer stories and new segments including Study Corner and Partner Spotlights.
Partner Spotlights 🌟
In our featured Partner Spotlights, we put the focus on key model families with featured speakers from our industry partners.
- When: Feb 23, 2026 at 1:30pm ET
- Where: REGISTER FOR LIVESTREAM
- Join us as we go Hands-on with Claude in Microsoft Foundry with our featured spotlight on Anthropic.
Tech Spotlights
With 21 livestream episodes and 31 AMA sessions completed, we now have a well-defined format that has resonated with AI native engineers and decision-makers alike. As we began planning Season 3, we thought about how we could use the platform to support one additional audience: learners and partners. In 2026, look for new segments like Partner Spotlights featuring model providers, This Week In Hugging Face spotlighting open-source models, and Study Corner showcasing self-guided labs and curricula for skilling.
🆕 · This Week In Hugging Face 🤗
Did you know Microsoft Foundry gives you access to 10K+ open-source models through the Hugging Face Collection? Starting in Feb 2026, look for a weekly update on what’s trending in Hugging Face where we feature 3 models and give you some intuition for what makes them notable for AI devs.
- Visit this page to learn more & view shared models
- Track this tag for a weekly blog post & deep-dive.
Nov 2025: Mission Agent Possible At Microsoft Ignite
So many models - so how do you actually learn how to do model selection right? The best way is to work with existing tools and platforms to solve a real-world problem. You learn more by doing!
What if we put the “fun” back into Model Fundamentals? Model Mondays joined forces with the M365 Advocacy team to try an interesting experiment at Microsoft Ignite. Stay tuned for a special segment on Model Mondays Season 3 where we share insights from the contest, and celebrate our winners!
- Read The Contest Rules - to understand requirements
- Read The Contest Blog - to learn the tasks & get started
- RSVP to Model Mondays - for a featured celebration in December.
Season 2: Jun 2025 - Sep 2025
Season 2 kicked off on Jun 16, 2025 and will run through Sep 2025. =Use the Register links to get reminders for upcoming events, and visit the Replay and Recap links to revisit past episodes and AMAs. Watch the complete playlist of all series of Model Mondays
| Episode |
Topic |
Monday Livestream |
Friday AMA |
Slides |
Blog |
| S2:E01 |
Advanced Reasoning |
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| S2:E02 |
Model Context Protocol |
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| S2:E03 |
SLMs and Reasoning |
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| S2:E04 |
AI & Dev Experience |
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| S2:E05 |
Fine-Tuning & Distillation |
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| S2:E06 |
Research & Innovation |
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| S2:E07 |
AI-Assisted Azure Dev |
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| S2:E08 |
On-Device & Local AI |
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| S2:E09 |
AI Agents |
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| S2:E10 |
Document Processing |
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| S2:E11 |
AI Foundry Speech Playground |
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| S2:E12 |
Models & Observability |
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| S2:E13 |
Open-Source Models (Hugging Face) |
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Want to get more details about each session? Check out the Season 2 page for more information on each session including speakers, description and links to recaps and slides.
Season 1: Mar 2025 - May 2025
Our pilot season featured 8 episodes covering models (green badges) and tools (magenta badges) in Microsoft Foundry. Visit the Season 1 page for details or click the episode specific badge below to go directly to the replay.
Great devs don’t build alone! In a fast-pased developer ecosystem, there’s no time to hunt for help. That’s why we have the Azure AI Developer Community. Join us today and let’s journey together!
- Join the Discord - for real-time chats, events & learning
- Explore the Forum - for AMA recaps, Q&A, and help!
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