Microsoft Semantic Kernel & AutoGen
Microsoft Semantic Kernel & AutoGen are complementary AI orchestration frameworks that enable developers to build sophisticated conversational AI agents and multi-agent systems through structured programming interfaces and automated conversation flows. Semantic Kernel provides a lightweight SDK that integrates large language models with conventional programming languages, enabling developers to combine AI capabilities with existing codebases through semantic functions, plugins, and memory management systems. AutoGen focuses on multi-agent conversation orchestration, allowing developers to create teams of AI agents that engage in structured dialogues, collaborative problem-solving, and automated workflows through configurable conversation patterns. These frameworks incorporate prompt engineering best practices, function calling capabilities, and integration with Azure OpenAI services to streamline enterprise AI development. Semantic Kernel emphasizes planners, connectors, and semantic memory systems that enable AI agents to reason about tasks and maintain context across interactions. AutoGen specializes in conversation management, role-based agent interactions, and automated group chat scenarios that facilitate complex multi-turn dialogues. In October 2025 Microsoft merged both lines into the Microsoft Agent Framework, an open-source SDK and runtime for .NET and Python that combines Semantic Kernel's enterprise foundations with AutoGen's multi-agent orchestration; Semantic Kernel and AutoGen moved into maintenance mode, and the unified framework reached its 1.0 release in April 2026.
Related terms
Related services: Agentic AI consulting.
Ready to put agentic AI to work?
Book a free 45-minute consultation. We'll map one real process worth automating with production-grade AI.