Thursday
Room 1
17:40 - 18:40
(UTC+11)
Talk (60 min)
Old API, New Tricks: Add MCP to Existing .NET REST Endpoints
Your existing .NET Web APIs have served you well—but what if they could do more with them in the era of AI? In this session, we’ll explore how to breathe new life into your existing ASP.NET Web API endpoints built with ASP.NET CORE by adding Model Creation Protocol (MCP) capabilities to them.
We'll look at how the MCP C# SDK makes it simple to annotate your existing controllers, instantly transforming your REST endpoints into AI-powered services that can empower LLMs and agents. We’ll also compare this approach to a no-code approaches using Azure API Management.
Finally we'll look at where both of these approaches fall short and are only a starting point for a good long-term MCP design. You can use then to jump start the process and then follow the path we outline together to evolve your APIs from technical plumbing to intelligent, task-focused tools that solve real problems using AI—all without starting from scratch.
Jonathan "J." Tower
Jonathan, or J. as he's known to friends, is a husband, father, and founding partner of Trailhead Technology Partners, a custom software consulting company with employees across the U.S., Europe, and South America. He is a 11-time recipient of the Microsoft MVP award for his work with .NET and is a frequent speaker at software conferences around the world. He doesn’t mind the travel, though, as it allows him to share what he's been learning and also gives him the chance to visit beautiful places like national parks—one of his passions. So far, he's visited 58 of the 63 U.S. national parks.
J. is also passionate about building the software community. Over the years, he has served on several non-profit boards, including more than a decade as president of the board for Beer City Code, Western Michigan's largest professional software conference. Outside of work, J. enjoys hiking, reading, photography, and watching all the Best Picture nominees before the Oscars ceremony each year.