Semantic Kernel SDK for Intelligent Applications

About this course

This course features Coursera Coach! A smarter way to learn with interactive, real-time conversations that help you test your knowledge, challenge assumptions, and deepen your understanding as you progress through the course. Learn how to build production-ready AI applications using Microsoft's Semantic Kernel SDK and Azure OpenAI. You'll gain practical experience creating intelligent, context-aware applications that leverage large language models, plugins, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), and enterprise AI design patterns while following modern .NET development practices. The course begins by introducing generative AI, large language models, and the Semantic Kernel architecture before guiding you through environment setup, Azure OpenAI integration, and your first AI-powered chat application. You'll then explore prompt engineering, reusable prompt templates, built-in plugins, native plugins, automatic function calling, and best practices for developing maintainable AI solutions. Next, you'll build a context-aware ASP.NET Core assistant with authentication, persistent chat history, document management, and intelligent workflows. Finally, you'll implement document processing pipelines, OCR, embeddings, vector-based retrieval, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) to create document-aware assistants capable of delivering grounded responses with citations. This course is ideal for .NET developers, software engineers, AI application developers, solution architects, and technical professionals interested in enterprise AI development. Familiarity with C#, ASP.NET Core, and basic cloud concepts is recommended. The course is designed for learners at the Intermediate level. By the end of the course, you will be able to build intelligent applications using Semantic Kernel, integrate Azure OpenAI services, develop reusable AI plugins, implement context-aware assistants with persistent memory, create document processing pipelines, and deploy RAG-powered enterprise solutions that deliver accurate, grounded AI experiences.