MCP Servers: Your Gateway to Extending AI

MCP servers are becoming pretty important. And that makes sense. Copilot gives you the interface, but without a way to reach your own systems, it can’t do much more than talk. MCP servers fill that gap. They form the bridge between AI and the rest of your world. If you look at how they work, most of it comes down to structure. You define what the AI can do and what data it can access. Sometimes it’s a small action. Sometimes it’s a full workflow. It all depends on the scenario.

At the European Collaboration Summit 2026, Stephan Bisser, Thomas Golles, Rick van Rouselt, and I will walk through the basics of setting up your first MCP server. We’ll keep it practical. No silver bullets. No promises that fall apart once you go to production. We’ll cover the common pitfalls too. Security and authentication are the big ones. The spec gives you the foundation, but you still need to make solid choices yourself. The good news is that once you set this up well, the rest stays manageable.

The goal is simple: help you start building with confidence. So Copilot doesn’t just answer questions, but can actually take action in your environment.

And yes, you’ll probably hear a couple of “don’t try this in production” stories too 😉.