The rise of the agent runtime: The compute platform behind production agents

The New Stack · 3 hours ago ● 2 sources

Microsoft has introduced Azure Container Apps Sandboxes as a runtime platform designed specifically for production AI agents, addressing infrastructure challenges like fast startup, stateful persistence, security, and tool integration. The platform features sub-second startup times from pre-warmed pools, supports execution of untrusted code in isolated environments, includes 1,400+ enterprise connectors, and manages identity and access control at the runtime layer rather than in prompts. This infrastructure shift aims to prevent the estimated 40% of agentic projects Gartner predicts will be canceled by 2027 due to unclear business value and inadequate risk controls, by providing enterprises with governance, scaling, and tool orchestration capabilities built into the platform.