We're using embedding-guided tool routing, adaptive clustering, and a streamlined 13-tool core to deliver faster experience in VS Code. The post How we’re making GitHub Copilot smarter with fewer tools appeared first on The GitHub Blog.

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Boost your testing workflow with GitHub Copilot testing for .NET, available now in Visual Studio. Automatically generate, build, and run high-quality unit tests for files, projects, or entire solutions. The post Supercharge Your Test Coverage with GitHub Copilot Testing for .NET appeared first on .NET Blog.

This post shares how to work with the new Azure Developer CLI (`azd`) agents extension. The post Announcing the azd AI agent extension: Publish Microsoft Foundry agents directly from your development environment appeared first on Azure SDK Blog.

This post announces the November release of the Azure Developer CLI (`azd`). The post Azure Developer CLI (azd) Nov 2025 – Container Apps (GA), Layered Provisioning (Beta), Extension Framework, and Aspire 13 appeared first on Azure SDK Blog.

Transform your creative workflow with AI-generated video – what it means for IT We're excited to announce that OpenAI's Sora 2—their breakthrough video and audio generation model—is now available in Microsoft 365 Copilot. This integration brings professional-grade AI video creation directly into your familiar Microsoft 365 environment, empowering users to generate compelling video content while maintaining the enterprise security and compliance standards you expect from Microsoft. Building on our commitment to rapidly deliver cutting-edge AI capabilities, this integration transforms how organizations create video content. The Create experience in Microsoft 365 Copilot, allows users to generate various visual content, and now generative AI videos with Sora 2, using natural language prompts with prompt templates to inspire your creations. The bottom line up front AI-powered video generation arrives in your enterprise environment: Licensed Microsoft 365 Copilot users can now access Sora 2's advanced video generation capabilities in the Create experience via the Frontier program , for Microsoft 365 Copilot licensed users who are who are opted in. IT maintains control and visibility: Admins will have the ability to enable or disable Sora 2 functionality through a dedicated admin toggle which will be enabled when the feature is generally available. The content generated remains within your Microsoft 365 boundary with full Microsoft Purview data security and compliance controls, including audit logging, retention policies, and eDiscovery, as part of the Copilot Control System.as part of the Copilot Control System. Enterprise-grade security from day one: Your data stays protected by Microsoft's encryption, privacy safeguards, and compliance certifications. The Microsoft Product Terms and Data Protection Addendum apply to Sora 2 interactions. Understanding Sora 2's breakthrough capabilities Sora 2 brings several game-changing features Microsoft 365 Copilot video creation: Microsoft 365 Copilot video creation: Physically accurate video generation In Sora 2, if a basketball player misses a shot, it will rebound off the backboard—the model’s respect of physics is far improved compared to prior versions. This physical accuracy means your generated videos look believable, with objects that move naturally and interact realistically. Synchronized audio and dialogue As a general purpose video-audio generation system, Sora 2 is capable of creating sophisticated background soundscapes, speech, and sound effects with a high degree of realism. Your videos aren't just visual—they include audio designed to match the action on screen. Advanced controllability The model is a big leap forward in controllability, able to follow intricate instructions spanning multiple shots while accurately persisting world state, and excels at realistic, cinematic, and anime styles. Users can specify camera angles, shot types, and artistic styles of their choice. How it works in Microsoft 365 Copilot When users access Microsoft 365 Copilot and navigate to Create, they'll have the option to create a video project or create a clip using Sora 2. Ask Copilot to "generate a video of a cat jumping over the moon," and Copilot may ask for clarification before choosing whether to use the existing video creation capabilities (which use stock footage) or the new Sora 2 model for AI generation. Users work within the familiar Copilot interface they already know, with the enterprise protections they rely on. Generated videos are stored in OneDrive for Business, maintaining your existing workflow while adding powerful new capabilities. Data protection and security Your data stays in Microsoft's boundary Sora 2 models are hosted within Microsoft's environment. This means: For Sora 2 generated videos a visible “AI-generated” watermark will overlay the video to help ensure AI-generated content is identifiable and accountable. While sensitivity labels cannot be applied directly to video files, Purview can detect sensitive information types (SITs) in video titles, transcripts, or other metadata, and DLP policies will enforce protection based on these detections. Data used for Sora 2 is encrypted with TLS 1.2. Customer Key encryption applies to OneDrive and SharePoint content, including videos generated with Sora 2. RAI safeguards built in OpenAI trained the Sora 2 models with RAI safeguards built in, and Microsoft has implemented additional RAI safeguards against AI-focused risks such as harmful content and prompt injections, and for content copyright concerns, Microsoft provides protected material detection and our Customer Copyright Commitment within the prompt, but not within the generated video content. Admin controls you can trust The implementation includes a specific Sora 2 admin control that allows IT to enable or disable the use of this model across your organization. This toggle is separate from other content creation controls, and will be usable by admins at public preview. You maintain authority over whether and how your organization uses Sora 2 for AI video generation. Comprehensive data security and compliance integration Your existing Microsoft Purview controls extend to Sora 2 generated content: Audit Logging: Interactions with Microsoft 365 Copilot, including with Sora 2, are logged and traceable. Communication Compliance: Detect, capture, and take remediation actions for video generating prompts that contain inappropriate information, including harassment or sensitive content. Retention Policies: Generated videos saved in SharePoint and OneDrive for Business follow their respective retention policies for retention and/or deletion. The prompts and responses with Microsoft 365 Copilot to generate the video also follow its retention and/or deletion policy according to your organization’s rules and regulations. Data loss prevention: Prevent unintentional or accidental sharing of sensitive information in your videos both inside and outside of your organization with a data loss prevention (DLP) policy. DLP alerts are triggered when checking for sensitive information in the keywords in the title, transcript, or other information in the video metadata. eDiscovery: eDiscovery supports video search, playback, and export. The file can be identified and collected by searching specific SharePoint or OneDrive locations, or alternatively, searching for the video title or words in the transcript. Video metadata such as transcripts, chapters, or custom thumbnails are supported in eDiscovery for review and export, as does the prompts and responses used to generate the video. Insider Risk Management: Tracks user behaviors with video files as part of office indicators. Conclusion The integration of OpenAI's Sora 2 into the Create experience in Microsoft 365 Copilot marks a significant milestone in enterprise AI adoption. It demonstrates that organizations don't have to choose between innovation and security—you can have both. With IT firmly in control through admin toggles, audit capabilities, and compliance integration, your organization can embrace AI video generation on your terms. Your data stays protected by Microsoft's encryption, privacy safeguards, and compliance certifications, as the Microsoft Product Terms and Data Protection Addendum apply to Sora 2 interactions, while your users gain access to breakthrough creative capabilities. As AI continues to transform how we work, partnerships like this ensure enterprises can adopt new technologies responsibly. Sora 2 in Microsoft 365 Copilot isn't just about making videos—it's about reimagining what's possible when cutting-edge AI meets enterprise-grade security. Frequently Asked Questions General Availability Q: When is Sora 2 available in Microsoft 365 Copilot? A: Sora 2 integration is available today for Microsoft 365 Copilot licensed users in Frontier . Q: Which apps support Sora 2 video generation? A: Access is through the Microsoft 365 Copilot app Create experience, with storage options in Microsoft Clipchamp and OneDrive for Business. Admin Controls and Governance Q: How can IT disable Sora 2 if needed? A: A specific Sora 2 admin toggle is rolling out late November 2025. Q: Can we restrict Sora 2 to specific users or groups? A: The admin control allows you to enable or disable Sora 2 organization-wide, or scope to specific users and groups. Q: How are generated videos retained? A: Videos follow SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business retention policies, with priority cleanup options available. Security and Compliance Q: Is OpenAI processing our data? A: No. Sora 2 is hosted within the Microsoft environment. Q: Can Purview scan video content for compliance? A: Currently, Purview controls work at the file and text level, not on video content. Communication Compliance monitors prompts, and transcripts (if generated via Microsoft Clipchamp) become searchable metadata. Q: Are videos watermarked as AI-generated? A: Yes. Sora 2 generated videos include visible watermarks for transparency. Q: How does copyright protection work? A: The OpenAI Sora 2 System Card describes the copyright protection system utilized to mitigate potential copyright infringement. For content copyright concerns, Microsoft also provides protected material detection and our Customer Copyright Commitment. Technical Capabilities Q: What video formats and durations are supported? A: Initially, Microsoft 365 Copilot integration of Sora 2 will support 1280 x 720 resolution and up to 12-seconds video duration. Q: Is audio included in generated videos? A: Yes. Sora 2 may generate synchronized audio including dialogue, sound effects, and ambient sounds. Q: Will Cameo avatar feature be available? A: No. Microsoft 365 Copilot will not support Cameo. Data Protection Q: Where is video data stored? A: Videos are stored in your SharePoint Online or OneDrive for Business, following existing data residency commitments. Q: Is video content used to train AI models? A: No. Microsoft does not use your content to train AI models, maintaining our enterprise privacy commitments. Q: What encryption is applied? A: TLS 1.2. Customer Key or Microsoft Managed Key encryption at rest applies to stored videos in OneDrive and SharePoint, depending on your admin configurations. Ready to transform your organization's video creation capabilities? Contact your Microsoft representative to ensure your Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses are configured for maximum value. For technical documentation and updates, visit the Microsoft 365 admin center.

Learn how Visual Studio 2026 and GitHub Copilot app modernization upgrade .NET versions and frameworks, fix build issues, and migrate apps to Azure with less manual effort The post A step-by-step guide to modernizing .NET applications with GitHub Copilot agent mode appeared first on .NET Blog.

Prevent accessibility issues before they reach production. The Annotation Toolkit brings clarity, compliance, and collaboration directly into your Figma workflow. The post Level up design-to-code collaboration with GitHub’s open source Annotation Toolkit appeared first on The GitHub Blog.

In the past, moving to the next major version of Visual Studio could take hours, sometimes days, to recreate your dev environment the way you like it. Visual Studio 2026 makes it easier than ever to stay current with the latest productivity features, performance improvements, and security fixes all without disrupting your flow. With the […] The post Spend Less Time Upgrading, More Time Coding in Visual Studio 2026 appeared first on Visual Studio Blog.

Earlier this month we announced voice in the Microsoft 365 Copilot mobile app. Today, we’re expanding that offering, introducing voice in Microsoft 365 Copilot app on desktop and the web, as well as in the Microsoft 365 apps, starting with Outlook, Word, and PowerPoint, and a new wake word “Hey Copilot” – an opt-in feature to start a voice chat hands-free on Windows devices. Voice enables Microsoft 365 Copilot users to have natural, back-and-forth conversations with Copilot simply by speaking. It lets you quickly capture your ideas, whether you’re brainstorming, drafting a response, or preparing for a meeting. Just say “help me prepare for my next meeting” to get an instant response from Work IQ, grounded in your work data, context, and preferences. Copilot turns your words into polished drafts, asks clarifying questions, and suggests next steps—helping you move faster and lightening the cognitive load. We’ve observed that users interact with Copilot twice as much when using voice vs. text*, so using voice is also more engaging. Voice is transforming the way we work with Copilot—turning it into a true thought partner that helps you stay focused and productive. You can now click “Start a new voice chat” in the Copilot input box in your favorite apps, starting with Word and PowerPoint. Brainstorm new ideas, catch up on long documents, and ask about things in the document to get related answers from all your work content. It is rolling out to the desktop and web version of Word and PowerPoint starting today. Because on-the-go is where voice really shines, we are also bringing voice to Outlook mobile. Start by opening Copilot in Outlook mobile and tapping “Voice catch up” to launch an interactive voice experience that summarizes unread emails and guides you through actions like drafting replies, deleting, archiving and flagging – all hands-free. Early access is available for iOS and Android users via Apple’s TestFlight program and Google Play’s Beta testing program. With voice, users can easily switch contexts and collaborate more naturally. Whether you’re driving to pick up your kids or leaning back at your desk, it’s a natural way to get ready for the workday, catch up on messages or prep for meetings. You can even start a voice chat in the Microsoft 365 Copilot mobile app, then pick it up using text when you get to your desk. Just go to Chats in the Copilot app to continue using text. Finally, you can now start a voice chat with Copilot completely hands free by saying “Hey Copilot.” This allows you to stay focused or multitask without any interruption of switching apps and windows. This opt-in feature makes it easy to start a conversation with Copilot voice whenever the feature is enabled and your PC is unlocked. Learn more about Hey Copilot. The feature will be available through the Frontier program in the coming weeks. Voice in Copilot is also available through Windows shortcuts. Long press the Copilot key, or for devices without a Copilot key, the Win+C shortcut to open the voice controller, a small window that stays on screen for multitasking with voice in Copilot. This shortcut eliminates the need to switch between screens, keeping users in the flow of your work as you talk through your needs. Learn more about using Windows shortcuts to activate voice in Copilot. As we build and deploy more AI solutions, accessibility is foundational. Voice in Microsoft 365 Copilot helps make work more inclusive by supporting users with diverse needs and preferences. Using voice in Copilot on mobile, users can turn on/off closed captions and change audio speed at any time, right in the voice chat window. Learn more to get started with voice features. Availability Today, voice in Microsoft 365 Copilot is generally available in the Microsoft 365 Copilot app on desktop (Windows and Mac) and the web. Voice in Microsoft 365 Copilot is subject to service capacity. Users will be informed in product when they are approaching service capacity for the day. Learn more about priority access and to check voice availability across platforms, please refer to frequently asked questions about voice. How to provide feedback Microsoft 365 Copilot voice features are continuously evolving. Your feedback helps improve the experience. After ending the voice chat, use the thumbs-up or thumbs-down icons at the bottom of the chat to share feedback. *Based on internal Microsoft telemetry of work-related queries of users using Work Tab for the week of 10/27/25-11/2/25; when comparing the turn per conversation rate (as measured by the number of times a user prompts Copilot and receives a response within a single session), engagement was twice as high during the relevant time period when users used voice vs text. Other Resources Introducing voice in Microsoft 365 Copilot: a more productive way to work on the go. Get started with voice features in Microsoft 365 Copilot - Microsoft Support How "Hey Copilot" voice chat wake word works in Microsoft 365 Copilot - Microsoft Support Enterprise data protection in Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat Data, Privacy, and Security for Microsoft 365 Copilot

Today we’re introducing Project Opal in Microsoft 365 Copilot – a new AI-powered capability that executes task-based work inside a secure, observable environment you control. Every organization faces the challenge of repetitive, manual work – tasks that consume valuable time and take away from strategic priorities, creativity, and high-impact work. Consider the time it takes to gather information across multiple sites and tools for a compliance audit, onboarding new employees with equipment orders and system access, or validating purchase orders – all important tasks that need to get done, and the type of work that Opal is designed to do. Our early preview customers are starting to use Opal to: Automate evidence collection for quarterly compliance audits—navigating required websites, capturing and organizing screenshots, and validating documentation. At Microsoft, engineers have saved up to 20 hours per week on audit tasks by delegating these steps to Project Opal. Streamline secure group membership requests by automating multi-step approval workflows. Simplify HR processes such as submitting timesheets and requesting holiday leave. Execute onboarding checklists by adding new employees to distribution lists, ordering devices, and notifying facilities—ensuring a smooth, consistent start for every new hire. Let’s take a look at how Opal works. Project Opal Experience To access Project Opal, users open the Microsoft 365 Copilot app on desktop or web and select the Frontier module in the left rail. A new browser is opened where users can kick off a new job or see previous jobs that have been completed. To start a new job, users select 'New' and describe the work they want to get done and click 'Start'. Project Opal creates a plan, launches a secure Windows 365 Cloud PC, and uses an advanced reasoning model and computer use to complete the task. Users can view Project Opal's actions in the activity view, pause and take control at any time, and guide the work as needed. Users can update and adjust the task by entering in a new command or request in the conversation box and Opal processes the information and updates the plan accordingly. Project Opal uses several capabilities to get work done: Task-First Experience: Project Opal puts tasks front and center. You can kick off new jobs, re-run previous ones, or select from curated suggestions. Every job is observable and steerable, so you’re always in control. Advanced Reasoning Model: The reasoning model turns your request into a dynamic plan, sequences the right tools, and adapts mid‑flow to complete the job. Computer-Use: Project Opal executes certain steps in the plan by using Microsoft Edge in a compliant Windows 365 for Agents Cloud PC. To use the browser, the reasoning model sends step-by-step instructions for computer use to click, type, and navigate in Microsoft Edge – just like a human user. It can only navigate to sites allowed by the organization, and the user can take control at any time. No screenshots are saved when the user is in control. Real-Time Observability: You can watch Project Opal work in real time or review its activity later. The job view includes a detailed plan, a live computer view (with the ability to replay everything that happened while Project Opal was in control), and an activity timeline that logs every action and user interaction. Steerability: If Project Opal encounters a step that needs your input – like entering sensitive information – it will let you know in the activity timeline or browser notifications (if you have them enabled) so that you can take control of the Windows 365 Cloud PC. Project Opal pauses, lets you intervene, and then resumes the work. Admin Controls & Security: Project Opal is opt-in and governed by granular admin controls. Organizations decide exactly what Project Opal can access via allow lists, configure scenario starters, and add context for better decision-making. Security and Safety Project Opal is built with enterprise-grade security, transparency, and control by default: Secure, Compliant Execution: Every job runs inside a dedicated, secure Windows 365 Cloud PC, which is Entra-joined and Intune-enrolled. All actions and messages sent or received by Project Opal are transparent to the user. Learn more about Windows 365 for Agents here. Oversight (Supervisor): A separate supervisor provides independent checks on the reasoning model – monitoring actions, enforcing guardrails, and prompting for human input when needed. User Control: The user can pause task execution at any time and can even take control of the Windows 365 Cloud PC. No screenshots are taken while you’re in control. Allow list: By default, Project Opal cannot access any sites; admins define exactly which domains are permitted by specifying an allow list that’s applied via Edge policies. Admin Controls Project Opal is opt-in and managed through the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. Other settings can be configured in the Project Opal Admin Portal: Deployment: Toggled off by default; admins must turn on Project Opal for their organization. Configuration: Admins set up a Windows 365 Cloud PC pool, define the website allow list, and customize scenario starters. Guidance: Organization-specific instructions and hints help Opal be more effective. Getting Started Project Opal is available via the Frontier program for Microsoft 365 Copilot licensed customers. It’s early and will change substantially - that’s by design. If your organization is willing to try out Project Opal in these early stages and help us shape the experience, we’d love for you to come build with us! Learn more about how to get started: Admin Setup: For IT admins to set up and deploy Project Opal in their organization. User Support: For end users to leverage step-by-step guidance for the experience. Join us at Microsoft Ignite For anyone attending Microsoft Ignite in San Francisco or online, make sure to join in on the following: Watch our breakout session BRK280: Project Opal in Action: Executing Task-Based Work (both in-person and livestreamed) on Wednesday, November 19 at 1:30PM – 2:15PM PST Come talk live in-person with the Project Opal team to ask your questions and see it in action at the Agent 365 & Project Opal Expert Meet Up in Moscone North/South Exhibit Level at the Hub

As organizations adapt to evolving regulatory requirements and operational demands we’re focused on the parallel evolution of our Copilot and Agent controls infrastructure. The Copilot Control System (CCS), includes three core areas of Copilot infrastructure: Security and Governance, Management Controls, and Measurement and Reporting. This blog offers customers a practical overview of what’s new in Copilot and agents administration at Ignite 2025 for IT administrators and security professionals. Announcing Agent 365 As Frontier firms integrate AI agents into their workflows, administrators must have the ability to manage, secure, and enable them across the entirety of the enterprise. To address this need, we’re pleased to introduce Microsoft Agent 365, a new control plane designed specifically to address the need for agent registration, access control, visualization, interoperability, and security. Microsoft Agent 365 management experiences are built directly into the Microsoft 365 admin center, enabling administrators to manage every agent in a familiar context while using purpose-built infrastructure and capabilities designed to address agent-specific needs. Agent 365 is initially rolling out in a Public Preview program – interested customers can sign up through the Frontier early access program to trial Agent 365 in their tenants. Learn more at the Microsoft Agent 365 web page. Data Security, governance, and threat protection Managing data responsibly is a foundational concern for organizations operating across multiple regions. One of the most significant updates we’re introducing this year is in-country processing under normal operations for Microsoft 365 Copilot prompts and responses in 15 geographic locations starting with Australia, UK, India, and Japan by the end of 2025, and 11 additional geographic locations including United Arab Emirates, Canada, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States coming online in 2026. In-country processing of prompts and responses supports compliance by ensuring that customers can both store and process AI prompts and responses according to local regulations and privacy requirements when necessary. This helps teams address legal obligations and maintain trust in environments where data sensitivity and security is paramount. For additional details, read our announcement blog. Security administrators often ask us for recommendations about security settings. Baseline security mode (BSM) applies Microsoft-recommended security settings across Office, SharePoint, and Teams. By standardizing protections administrators can more easily identify gaps and reduce risk, supporting a consistent security posture across cloud environments. General Availability in November 2025. The adoption of AI can accelerate the ability for malicious actors to exploit configuration gaps, specifically legacy configurations that can be the most vulnerable, in your enterprise environment. Baseline security mode delivers preconfigured defaults that protect against known vulnerabilities from legacy configurations and emerging AI risks exploiting them. By blocking legacy authentication flows, restricting addition of new password credentials, and limiting end-user consent to risky apps, BSM reduces exposure to common attack vectors in an increasingly AI-forward digital work environment. BSM also allows you to test configurations safely in simulation mode before rollout, making adoption straightforward and minimizing risks. Moreover, take advantage of BSM’s purpose-built integration with Microsoft 365 – available with your Microsoft 365 license and regularly updated to keep pace with the rapidly evolving threat landscape, helping to ensure that your security protections stays current. To learn more, read the Ignite '25 Spotlight: Announcing Microsoft Baseline Security Mode (BSM) blog. Accidental data leakage is also always top of mind. That’s why we’re excited to announce that we are expanding Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention (DLP) for Microsoft 365 Copilot to safeguard prompts containing sensitive data, which helps to ensure this data stays protected. Now, if a prompt includes sensitive data, like credit card numbers or personal details, Purview DLP for Copilot prompts immediately blocks Copilot and agents from responding, ensuring that the sensitive information is not used for grounding in Microsoft 365 or through a web search. This feature is designed to safeguard confidential data during everyday interactions with Copilot and agents. Public Preview starts in November 2025 with a planned GA rollout in Q1 of 2026. For data stored in SharePoint and OneDrive, Microsoft Purview Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) Data risk assessments item level investigation and remediation automatically detects and remediates risky links, reducing the likelihood of unauthorized access. Rolling out to Public Preview in November 2025. The Content Governance Agent, powered by SharePoint Advanced Management (SAM), helps enforce governance policies, and manage site lifecycles, permissions, access, and storage, rolling out to Public Preview in November 2025, while new Content Management Assessment tools are designed to evaluate and improve content management, identify content risks, ensure compliance, and maintain data integrity. Rolling out to General Availability in November 2025. Oversight of automated agent activity is addressed through Microsoft Purview AI Observability in Data Security Posture Management (DSPM), which provides full visibility into agents operating across your data environments, including both Microsoft and non-Microsoft agents, helping security teams make informed decisions and proactively manage risk. Public Preview starts in December 2025. Finally, we’ve heard from many of our Copilot customers who serve as first responders and healthcare providers that their users must have access to sensitive content that is otherwise blocked by our content safety filters. In response we recently released the Harmful Content Protection policy or HCP. With HCP, administrators can now give users the ability to disable content protection measures to access sensitive content when it’s essential to the performance of their duties. This setting only applies to content returned in Copilot chat and does not have any effect on security protections. Generally Available since September 2025. Management and Productivity controls As organizations expand the use of Copilot and agents, it’s critical that they have the controls they need to ensure that licenses are allocated efficiently to users who need them, that agents are managed throughout their lifecycle, and that associated costs are controlled and contained. We are introducing several new CCS features in the Microsoft 365 admin center that are designed to further refine how IT teams can manage Copilot and agent deployments. We’re adding several new controls to support and manage billing associated with agent usage. New Agent Billing Policies allow admins to assign agents to specific billing policies, improving cost tracking and financial transparency. Usage and Cost Insights for pay-as-you-go (PAYG) provide detailed analytics for PAYG services, supporting budgeting and resource allocation decisions. And with prepaid Copilot credit capacity now integrated into billing policies in the Microsoft 365 admin center, organizations can apply prepaid capacity to agents, helping control usage costs. Public Preview started in October 2025 with a planned GA rollout in December 2025. Agent lifecycle management tools are also evolving rapidly. For starters, we’re consolidating agent management to a single agent inventory in the Microsoft 365 admin center. SharePoint Agents are now in the agent inventory, meaning that all the agents your organization uses with Microsoft 365 are now manageable through a single pane of glass - helping improve governance and security while reducing operational risk. Agent pinning makes it easier for admins to promote and manage frequently used or critical agents, streamlining workflows. And finally, ownerless agent management identifies agents without assigned owners and reassign them to other users or admins, supporting proper lifecycle management and oversight to reduce governance and security risks. General Availability in October 2025. We’re also introducing agent usage insights under Billing & usage in the Microsoft 365 admin center. Now, AI admins have real-time, granular visibility into consumption and spending for Copilot pay-as-you-go services at the billing policy level. Admins can monitor usage, set budget limits, receive usage threshold alerts, and allocate costs accurately, ensuring resources are used efficiently and budgets are managed proactively Public Preview started in October 2025 with a planned GA rollout in December 2025. Measurement, observability, & reporting Understanding how Copilot and agents are used is essential for ongoing optimization and maximizing value. We’re excited to announce several new enhancements to our collection of AI reports we refer to as Copilot Analytics. These updates provide broader and deeper insight into how employees are adopting Copilot and agents across the organization and give analysts easier access to the underlying data to create their own custom reports. Understanding the adoption of agents in your organization and making data-driven decisions is critical. The Agent Dashboard provides a single, centralized view for tracking agent activity and adoption across your organization. Leaders, AI adoption specialists, and analysts can instantly monitor key metrics — including active agents, user engagement, responses, and usage retention — all in one place. The Agent Dashboard helps you analyze how different groups use agents to get work done. It’s easy now to identify your most popular agents, uncover how specific agents are used or deep dive into specific agents to measure performance at a more granular level. The initial release supports agents within Microsoft 365 Copilot, with plans to expand support to additional agent types and metrics in future updates. Private preview starts in December, with Public Preview to follow in January and a planned GA rollout in February 2026. The Copilot Dashboard now offers new Copilot Chat adoption reports. These reports provide organizations with valuable insights into Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat adoption and usage. They enable users to view total users, track adoption trends by group, analyze usage intensity, and monitor retention. Additionally, these reports help organizations understand how different groups utilize Copilot Chat across various Microsoft 365 apps, helping leaders accelerate adoption and optimize Copilot Chat engagement across the organization. Of course, we know that customers often want to create custom reports and solutions to help them with analytics and decision making, in addition to the pre-built reports we provide in product. The new Copilot Dashboard Data Export enables users to pull data via CSV file from the Copilot Dashboard for deeper analysis in your own reporting tools. Data export will be available in public preview in November. We’re also adding Copilot Analytics data to the Microsoft Graph API. This will enable the creation of customized reporting and analytics for users who prefer an API solution. Metrics included in the Graph API will match those available in the Microsoft 365 Copilot usage report in the Microsoft 365 admin center, including tenant-level count of enabled users and active users, as well as last activity date per user (all up and per Microsoft 365 app). This will be available in November. We will make additional metrics for Copilot Chat, agents available over time. Conclusion & next steps The latest CCS updates and the introduction of Microsoft Agent 365 are designed to help IT administrators and security professionals address practical needs: establishing clear guardrails for data and collaboration, managing cost and configuration, and measuring usage and outcomes. These features can be used to align with regional data requirements, standardize protections, map agents to policies and budgets, and analyze adoption using built-in dashboards and programmatic access. Teams can use this information to plan incremental rollout or refine existing deployments. Learn more in the Getting Started with CCS playbook and Microsoft 365 Copilot agents deployment blueprint.

At Microsoft, we’re continuously evolving our platform to make it easier for organizations to connect their data, unlock insights, and maximize their Copilot experience. The Copilot connector ecosystem has expanded from 30 to over 75+ connectors, enabling seamless integration with the tools your organization relies on every day — from ServiceNow, Jira, and Confluence to shared drives and line-of-business applications. By indexing data from these key business apps, Copilot Connectors help connect all enterprise knowledge to Copilot experiences, unlocking deeper insights, enhancing context, and making information discoverable wherever work happens. Connectors can be easily set up and managed through an intuitive experience that makes connecting your data faster and more effortless than ever. 1. Discover: A Unified Home for Connectors Copilot Connectors are managed within the Copilot Control System, bringing connectors and Copilot together under one unified experience. Navigation: Microsoft 365 Admin Center → Copilot Control System → Connectors This unified experience streamlines access, aligns connector management with Copilot and Agents, and makes administration faster and more intuitive. The modern Connector Catalogue offers a structured, easy-to-navigate layout where admins can explore connectors by category, search by name, view detailed listings with publisher information and Microsoft or ISV indicators, discover recommended options for quick starts, and tap into a growing ecosystem of integrations. 2. Set Up: Built-In Guidance and Simplified Configuration Getting Started guides outline prerequisites, roles, and permissions — so admins know exactly what’s needed before setup begins. This clarity helps eliminate unnecessary back-and-forth and ensures a smooth configuration experience. Each guide consolidates: Required roles and permissions for admins and data owners Identity, network, and configuration details in one place Source-specific notes to prevent setup surprises One-click setup across 75+ connectors, authentication is seamless and key settings are preconfigured — enabling working connections in minutes without custom app registrations or multiple setup guides. Simplified Authentication means admins no longer need to manage their own app registrations. Supported connectors use a Microsoft-owned, multi-tenant auth app, so there’s no manual configuration of permissions, client IDs, or secrets — reducing setup time from hours to minutes, while improving consistency and security. Pre-Publish Validation - Before publishing, the admin center automatically runs targeted checks for issues like missing permissions, incorrect endpoints, schema mismatches, or network constraints. Admins see exactly what to fix — resolving items in context before a crawl starts. 3. Manage: Smarter Administration and Ongoing Control Actionable Insights and Sync Status Admins get clear diagnostics and next steps instead of generic error codes. Sync status appears where connections are managed, helping admin teams confirm progress and troubleshoot quickly. Safe Edits Routine changes no longer require rebuilding connections. Admins can safely adjust filters or user mappings, keeping production connections stable while fine-tuning scope and permissions. This feature will be enabled incrementally for different connectors. Building for the Future With the expansion from 30 to 75+ connectors, a modernized catalogue experience, one-click setup, and enhanced analytics, we’re reimagining how organizations connect their data to Copilot. This makes it simpler than ever to discover, configure, and manage the data connections that power Copilot — helping every organization build a more connected, intelligent, and productive future with Microsoft Copilot. Coming soon to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center — Copilot Connectors Usage Analytics gives admins deep visibility into how connected data powers productivity. Track connection trends, content citations, and adoption insights to see how connectors are driving real impact across your organization.

Introducing the Employee Self-Service Agent Today, we're excited to announce that the Employee Self-Service Agent (ESS Agent) in Microsoft 365 Copilot is general available and starting to roll out today, transforming AI-powered employee service delivery for enterprise organizations. This week, during Microsoft Ignite - whether you’ll be onsite in San Francisco or catching the programming online - we hope you join us to learn more about the agent, the value proposition, and a look at the future roadmap. Employees today often navigate a complex web of knowledge bases, apps, and systems for routine employee service delivery tasks, commonly for HR or IT support. This fragmentation can create unnecessary friction, slow down service delivery, and lead to an increase in support tickets, ultimately impacting productivity and employee satisfaction across the organization. The Employee Self-Service Agent addresses these challenges with centralized, AI-powered service delivery within M365 Copilot, beginning with HR- and IT-focused scenarios. Rather than relying on one-size-fits-all solutions, as a custom agent configurable and extendable in Copilot Studio, Employee Self-Service enables you to create a tailored centralized experience in Copilot where employees can get trusted answers, complete key tasks, or get handed off to the right agent, all within the flow of work. For organizations, this means fewer support tickets, faster resolution times, and a more satisfied, productive workforce. The agent leverages deep integration with the Microsoft Graph and connects to your core HR and IT systems (such as SAP SuccessFactors , ServiceNow and Workday) as well as knowledge bases like SharePoint, the Microsoft-built ServiceNow Copilot Connector, and M365 Self-Help. It also unlocks employee services-focused capabilities in Copilot – from specialized maker features in Copilot Studio to optimized employee experiences in Copilot. HR and IT today, with more coming soon Adoption of the Employee Self-Service Agent begins with HR and IT scenarios and can later be extended to additional business areas as needed. The agent offers a jump start to a broad range of high-impact employee use cases – including but not limited to: HR Support: Employees can check leave balances, update personal email, retrieve compensation and benefits data, or submit HR tickets- all in one place. IT Assistance: From device troubleshooting and replacement, to submitting support tickets and live agent escalation, IT help is just a prompt away. Manager Tools: Managers can review team data and service anniversaries, as well as update reportee information, directly through the agent. Agent handoffs: Connect Employee Self-Service Agent to any specialized Copilot agents, first- or third-party agents, so employees get a seamless experience inline and with context, without navigating to other tools or agents. [Future] More Verticals: Looking ahead, support for other verticals including Facilities—such as visitor registration, campus dining ordering, and maintenance requests—will be available as accelerators expand, increasing the agent’s value and breadth even further. In the meantime, you can enable these scenarios today via custom extensibility, just like Microsoft has done. Why Employee Self-Service Agent Beyond a traditional chatbot, the Employee Self-Service Agent is designed to work with and extend the value of your current systems and agents to be the centralized experience for all employee services needs. Expands on M365 Copilot: Microsoft 365 Copilot anchors personal productivity by enabling tasks like writing emails, creating reports, and prepping presentations with contextual insights. Employee Services Delivery needs specialized agentic experiences that unify HR and IT services, reflect brand identity, and provide trusted access to policy and systems of record. Employee Self-Service Agent extends AI-powered solutions across the enterprise, driving operational savings and ROI through reduced support tickets. Fully extensible and customizable: Employee Self-Service is a starting point – because it is built on the Copilot Studio foundation, makers and admins can fully extend and customize workflows beyond those included with the agent, to tailor the agent to organizational needs. This maximizes flexibility while giving a head start on common needs. Employee Self-Service Agent includes a growing library of Copilot Studio sample code and open-source extensibility code, available on GitHub. These resources provide templates and guidance for building custom workflows and connectors. If you can define the workflow, you can build it into the agent. Designed for Employee Service Delivery: Employee Self-Service Agent unlocks scenario-driven capabilities throughout the M365 Copilot ecosystem, including leveraging authoritative sources of information (important for the distinction of official policies, for example), customizable agent-level and per-message disclaimers, tunable inline handoffs to specialized agents, and more. Centralized Experience: Integrations with leading HRIS, HCM, and IT systems deliver one agent experience for your employee service delivery needs, starting with HR and IT scenarios—no more jumping between apps and agents. Employee Self-Service Agent enables the ability to provide generative knowledge responses, company-crafted & tailored answers, and direct task completion - from leave requests to troubleshooting IT issues. In some cases, other specialized agents may be the best place to direct employees – in ESS, those conversations with other agents can happen inline - with shared context. Jumpstart org-wide employee service delivery with accelerator packs While Employee Self-Service provides the flexibility for nearly unlimited extension and customization through Copilot Studio, it also includes a set of “accelerator packs” to help makers get started more quickly than building an agent from scratch. These accelerators include Microsoft-built connectors, starter workflows, and inline agent handoff for common HR and IT scenarios—like leave management, updating employee profiles, troubleshooting Microsoft products, and creating or tracking support tickets. The ESS Agent’s integration with key HRIS, HCM, and IT partners is a game-changer for centralized enterprise employee services. Accelerator packs for SAP SuccessFactors, ServiceNow and Workday allow organizations to automate HR and IT processes, surface real-time data, and ensure a centralized support experience. These accelerators significantly reduce implementation time, enabling faster deployment and time to value. Advanced features such as inline action-taking, inline contextual handoffs to specialized agents for expanded scenarios, support for sensitive topics with custom disclaimers, and deep personalization based on employee role, geography, and company policies enables a responsive and compliant service experience – all without leaving Employee Self-Service, keeping the conversation and context intact. Read more about the Employee Self-Service Agent accelerator packs and how to strategize your AI-centric employee service delivery roadmap. Customer spotlight: Engie Engie, a global energy leader focused on sustainability based out of France, serves customers in 30+ countries. Engie employes approximately 100,000 people, with employees who manage their work profile data, deal with IT issues, and look for corporate and role-related policies on a daily basis. This employee experience has been fragmented across multiple systems, making it cumbersome for employees to constantly switch between systems. Engie’s technology team has deployed and is testing the Employee Self-Service Agent to curate information across multiple HR and IT systems, bringing answers and actions from these systems into a single, secure M365 Copilot experience - built for scale and governance, honoring existing permission models. Microsoft’s own journey adopting the Employee Self-Service Agent Microsoft's own HR, IT, and facilities organizations have served as “customer zero” for the Employee Self-Service Agent, deploying the solution internally prior to general availability. By implementing the agent within Microsoft, across 200,000+ employees, we’ve been able to streamline employee services workflows, consolidate access to HR, IT, and campus services resources, and reduce ticket volumes while gathering real-world feedback to refine the agent’s features. This early adoption not only demonstrated the system’s scalability and ability to integrate with existing Microsoft and employee service delivery tools, but also provided valuable insights that helped shape today’s general availability product for broad scale enterprise use. Early results show up to 31% fewer support tickets and a 25% increase in response accuracy, underscoring the Agent’s real-world impact. From a recent Microsoft Inside Track blog, we expect to see following outcomes going forward: 400,000 and 600,000 HR support ticket deflections when employees use Employee Self-Service 50,000 hours of employee time saved per year using Employee Self-Service for visitor registration at Microsoft buildings Getting Started Ready to transform employee experiences with AI? The Employee Self-Service Agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot is now rolling out in phases. After Employee Self-Service is configured and enabled by IT admins in Copilot, employees can access the agent if they have a Copilot license or using Copilot Credits via Copilot Chat. Visit the Employee Self-Service Agent Adoption page to get started, learn best practices for deployment, and connect with your Microsoft representative to bring the Employee Self-Service Agent to life in your organization. Join us this week at Microsoft Ignite, November 18-21, 2025 Are you attending Microsoft Ignite in San Francisco or online this week? If you’ll be onsite in San Francsico, we’re ready to meet you and answer any questions during these exciting events. Three ways to connect: Get hands-on experience during either of our two lab sessions LAB562 or LAB562-R1: Jump start AI-powered HR and IT support with Employee Self-Service Agent o LAB562 | Tuesday, November 19, 1:00 - 2:15PM Pacific o Lab562-R1 | Wednesday, November 20, 11:45AM - 1:00PM Pacific Join us for an in-depth discussion at breakout session BRK286: Get HR and IT tasks done faster with the Employee Self-Service Agent o Thursday, November 20, 3:30-4:15PM Pacific o This session will be livestreamed and recorded Stop by the Employee Experiences booth in the Expert Meet Up expo to chat with our team and see the Employee Self-Service Agent in action. With the Employee Self-Service Agent, your employees now have a smarter, faster way to get HR and IT tasks done, and your organization unlocks new levels of operational efficiency. The future of employee service delivery is here—centralized, secure, and ready to scale with you.

The new Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot are dedicated agents that help users create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations—directly in chat. Built on Microsoft’s deep expertise in productivity, these agents use the latest reasoning models to deliver structured, high-quality outputs. Bridging Chat-First and App-First Experiences with Copilot With dedicated Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot, users can now start projects in Copilot Chat—using natural language prompts to quickly generate documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. These agents don’t just create; they guide users with clarifying questions, helping shape outputs that match specific goals and use cases. This chat-first approach makes it easy to get started, whether you’re drafting a strategic plan, analyzing data, or building a presentation. Once the initial draft is ready, Copilot makes it seamless to move into Word, Excel, or PowerPoint for deeper editing and customization. Inside each app, Copilot continues to assist, help refine content, apply formatting, and it’s easy to continue collaborating with others. Agent Mode in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint extends Copilot’s capabilities within each application, enabling you to make direct edits and changes with powerful, app-specific features—unlocking new Copilot interactivity and action that just weren’t possible before. Notably, Agent Mode in PowerPoint is new to Frontier, bringing enhanced creation and editing capabilities to presentations for the first time. This integrated flow—from chat-first creation to app-first refinement—means users get the best of both worlds: rapid ideation and easy editing, all powered by Copilot. Designing Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Agents Just as we’ve seen the emergence of coding agents in Software Engineering, our goal was to extend that paradigm to Office, so that our Agents can orchestrate time consuming, complex tasks on behalf of the user to generate meaningful, high-fidelity Office artifacts. To that end, a key bet we took was on an agentic harness, which allowed us to model these complex tasks at scale, leveraging the power of various underlying AI models. This approach allows for these Agents to use the same Word, Excel and PowerPoint skills used in Agent Mode in the apps, to generate rich and complex documents, workbooks, and presentations now within Copilot Chat. AI based code-optimized reasoning allows the agents to plan, validate, and refine through multiple stages, producing results that are both robust and reliable. Combined with the Office product architecture and Microsoft’s enterprise-grade infrastructure and graph, this approach represents a new milestone in AI-driven co-creation. Early results are promising. By applying our standard evaluation processes and quality metrics, we observe that output quality and relevance are comparable to other agentic systems. And this is only the beginning - there’s much more to come as we continue to refine, expand, and reimagine how AI and Office work together to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more. We designed our agentic harness using the skills pattern, a modular framework that enables Word, Excel and PowerPoint Agents to plan, reason, and collaborate across tasks with precision. The key challenge here was to run the agents in isolation with secure and trusted access to M365 services. We built a compliant sandbox and provided it with access to key resources needed for these agents to generate Office documents. While the pattern offers strong agility, building complex agents remains challenging. We used agentic harness hooks and the sub-agent pattern to ensure control, reliability, and modularity. We built a secure, scalable system that runs each agent in an isolated, locked-down container with no direct internet access. All interactions occur through secure APIs and a brokered WebSocket, enabling task execution and data access without exposing sensitive information. Instead of generating Office files directly, the agent produces an intermediate representation that is later transformed into fully compatible Office documents. This approach ensures high quality, fidelity, and security while keeping user data protected. Each agent runs within a secure, isolated environment, and all privileged access such as to Microsoft Graph is handled externally through authenticated user permissions. Together, these safeguards and integrations enable advanced AI-driven content creation without compromising performance, security, or reliability. Key Differentiators of Our Approach Office-native file generation: Our solution’s key advantage is that it uses real Office applications - not approximations - to generate content. By creating documents through headless versions of the Word, Excel, PowerPoint apps themselves, we ensure high-quality, fully compatible files with styles, themes, and formulas that open and co-author seamlessly in Office. Using official endpoints also prevents unsafe elements like macros or external links while also preserving key data protection elements like sensitivity labels, unlike many AI generators that stitch XML files together. Our approach lets Office itself build the final artifact, leveraging decades of engineering for reliability and security. Enterprise grounding (via Work IQ) and context: A key differentiator is the ability to ground creation in enterprise data. Integrated within the Copilot ecosystem, our agents securely retrieve organizational information such as notes, emails, or shared documents to enrich outputs with real context. Grounding occurs through Microsoft Graph, with full permission checks and transparent citations, ensuring privacy and control. By leveraging the knowledge across Microsoft 365, our agents deliver more accurate, relevant, and enterprise-grade results than standalone AI solutions. Compliant storage in OneDrive: When generated Office files are stored in OneDrive, secure, compliant, and governed management is ensured. Files inherit organizational retention policies and sensitivity labels, benefiting from enterprise-grade encryption, access controls, and audit logging. This approach keeps all data within the Microsoft 365 environment while enabling seamless sharing, co-authoring, and collaboration through familiar Office apps. Multi-step, tool-using AI reasoning: Our Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Agents use a multi-turn reasoning process that mirrors how a human consultant works: planning, researching, drafting, and reviewing rather than producing a one-shot output. This structured approach delivers more accurate and reliable results. Throughout this process, multiple intermediate validation loops run to check reasoning, verify calculations, and refine drafts—ensuring that every output remains consistent, accurate, and trustworthy. For instance, when building an Excel model, the agent can run intermediate calculations to verify logic before generating the final sheet. By combining reasoning, code execution, and contextual recall, the system produces well-structured, factually sound content far beyond simple prompt-based generation. Reusing Office’s Agent Mode investments: We built on existing foundations developed alongside Agent Mode in Office apps, reusing shared frameworks and skills. Many capabilities, like intermediate HTML structures, clarifying question logic, and commands like “insert image” mirror those in the in-app Copilot experiences. This reuse ensures consistency, accelerates development, and allows Word, Excel, and PowerPoint agents to automatically benefit as headless Office capabilities evolve. Looking ahead Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot are just the beginning. As more organizations join the Frontier program, we’re committed to expanding capabilities, refining the experience, and listening to your feedback. Expect ongoing improvements—like richer enterprise grounding in Excel, smoother transitions between chat and app, and new ways to collaborate and create. Whether you’re drafting a report, analyzing data, or building a presentation, these agents are here to help you move from idea to finished product with less friction and more confidence. Stay tuned for updates as Copilot continues to be a great AI co-creator in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Join the Frontier program to try Word, Excel, and PowerPoint agents today!

Running a small business means wearing a lot of hats. Now you can tap into the power of AI productivity to streamline your business operations. This week, at Microsoft Ignite, we’re announcing Microsoft 365 Copilot Business—an AI-powered productivity tool envisioned just for small- and medium-sized businesses. Copilot for growing businesses Microsoft introduced Copilot in 2023, and it quickly became an essential AI companion for companies worldwide. We heard from smaller companies that they wanted a version that would fit their needs and budgets, too. So we’re making that happen. Available worldwide on December 1, 2025, Copilot Business will bring all the same Microsoft 365 Copilot capabilities to you at an SMB-friendly price. All you need is a Microsoft 365 Business plan and fewer than 300 users. Key features and functionality Copilot Business delivers a unified experience, connecting across familiar tools like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams. Work IQ -- the intelligence layer that enables Microsoft 365 Copilot to know you, your job, and your company inside and out, means that Copilot Business is AI that is truly ready for work, delivering personalized productivity gains. It automates routine tasks and surfaces valuable insights—while respecting your existing security, privacy, and compliance settings. Knowing your sensitive information is protected, you can adopt AI safely and confidently. No extra setup is required, and your data remains private and under your control. Competitive advantage More than just another AI tool, Copilot Business helps SMBs tackle real challenges so you can seize new opportunities. Its enterprise-grade AI empowers your team to automate emails, reports, and proposals, freeing up time for strategic work. Copilot includes Copilot Chat, Search, Pages, Notebooks, and customizable agents in a single, unified UI at no additional cost, making advanced AI accessible for your business. For SMBs, every dollar counts Copilot Business will be priced at a competitive $21 per user per month. You get the same powerful functionality at a price designed for growing businesses. Image: Introducing Microsoft 365 Copilot Business Choose the plan that fits your business For the best value and to simplify purchasing, we’re taking it even further to help get you started by bundling Copilot Business with qualifying Microsoft 365 Business plans. Choose the best plan for your team: Microsoft 365 Business Basic and Microsoft 365 Copilot Business. Get the essential web and mobile AI-powered apps your team needs to run your business with confidence, so you can make faster, more informed decisions. Microsoft 365 Business Standard and Microsoft 365 Copilot Business. Everything in Business Basic, plus the full suite of desktop Office 365 apps as a single, integrated solution, for a more complete work experience from any device, anywhere. Microsoft 365 Business Premium and Microsoft 365 Copilot Business. Everything in Business Standard along with the comprehensive security features and device management tools to protect your team and your customers as your business grows. These bundles will be available on both Microsoft.com and through Microsoft Partners beginning December 1, 2025. Get started at Ignite Microsoft Ignite is the perfect place to learn more, connect with experts, and see Copilot Business in action. We’re here to guide you every step of the way, from onboarding your team to maximizing your investment. Attend the SMB session Scaling your small business with Microsoft 365 and Copilot on Friday, November 21 at 10:15 AM PST to learn more about what Microsoft can do for your business. And read articles curated just for SMBs on our Tech Community blog like this one. Join the conversation Join the conversation at Microsoft Events and share your feedback. Your feedback shapes the future of what we do for SMBs, and together, we can build solutions that truly empower businesses like yours. Learn more, get involved, and let’s make history together with this new era of AI productivity, innovation, and growth.

Over the past few years, AI has transformed the way work gets done – reshaping tasks, roles, and even entire organizational structures. As businesses become more dynamic, the challenge isn’t just keeping pace; it’s helping employees and leaders thrive in this new era of work. For employees, that means navigating change with confidence – building the right connections, simplifying daily tasks, and developing the skills needed to grow. For managers and leaders, it’s about seeing the bigger picture – understanding team structure, identifying gaps, and preparing for a future where AI is part of everyday work. To support this transformation, we’re introducing three new agents at Microsoft Ignite 2025 designed to foster connections, accelerate skill development, and unlock workforce insights. Make connections effortlessly Finding the right person at the right time is becoming increasingly challenging as organizational structures evolve. Powered by WorkIQ, the People agent brings all your people-related information together in one place – helping you quickly find colleagues by role or skill, view your top collaborators, and prepare for upcoming interactions. This agent offers a guided experience with suggested prompts tailored to your role, communication patterns, and collaboration history, so you can make meaningful connections faster and nurture existing relationships. With the People agent, employees spend less time searching and more time building relationships that move work forward. The People agent is available now for customers with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license as part of the Frontier program. Stay ahead with personalized upskilling Learning new skills can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re unsure what to focus on or where to start. The Learning agent guides employees through their skill development journey. It understands the tasks you’re working on and provides relevant, actionable recommendations to help you work smarter with Copilot. You’ll receive tailored learning suggestions based on your role and skills. For organizations using LinkedIn Learning, the agent also offers AI-powered role-play scenarios to practice real-world interactions and strengthen soft skills. The Learning agent empowers employees to own their skilling journey and maximize Copilot’s capabilities in everyday workflows. The Learning agent is available now for customers with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license as part of the Frontier program. Make informed workforce planning decisions For managers and leaders, understanding who’s doing what, spotting gaps, and shaping the right team structure can often feel daunting. The Workforce Insights agent provides a clear, up-to-date view of your workforce so you can make smarter decisions about hiring, upskilling, and organizational design – keeping your business ahead of the curve. Instead of spending hours analyzing org charts and static reports, Workforce Insights leverages WorkIQ to deliver dynamic, actionable insights in minutes. With prompts like “Show me how my organization is staffed by role, location, and level. Suggest steps to improve based on industry benchmarks,” leaders can quickly uncover opportunities to rebalance teams, close skill gaps, and plan for growth. The Workforce Insights agent is available now for customers with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license as part of the Frontier program. Ready to see these agents in action? Together, these agents help everyone in your organization build the connections, skills, and insights needed to thrive in the era of AI. Join us at Ignite to see how these agents can help you and your organization navigate the future with confidence.

As we announced today, Employee Self-Service Agent is now beginning a phased general availability rollout. Let’s dig deeper into how admins and makers in organizations can get a jump start as well as explore strategies in creating a centralized experience for employees to tackle their HR and IT needs. Employee Self-Service Agent is a custom agent in Copilot Studio, for makers to set up, configure, and extend. While the agent provides the flexibility for extensibility and customization, it also includes a set of “accelerator packs” to help makers and admins get started more quickly than building an agent from scratch. These accelerators include prebuilt connectors and starter workflows for common HR and IT scenarios—like leave management, updating employee profiles, troubleshooting Microsoft products, and creating or tracking support tickets. The agent’s seamless integration with key HRIS, HCM, and IT partners is a game-changer for centralized enterprise support. Accelerator packs for SAP SuccessFactors, ServiceNow and Workday allow organizations to automate HR and IT processes, surface real-time data, and ensure a centralized support experience. These accelerators significantly reduce implementation time, enabling faster deployment and time to value. With advanced features such as inline action-taking, contextual handoffs to specialized agents, support for sensitive topics with custom disclaimers, and deep personalization based on employee role, geography, and company policies, employees get a responsive and compliant support experience – all without leaving Employee Self-Service Agent, keeping the conversation and context intact. At GA, the Employee Self-Service Agent accelerator packs consist of three main elements: Connectors to your knowledge sources and to Workday, ServiceNow, and SAP SuccessFactors data via Microsoft-built Power Platform connectors Preconfigured workflows with HR and IT scenarios and topics library to jumpstart your employee service delivery Workflows that hand off to your existing Copilot agents, first- and third-party, installed in your organization Connect to knowledge and existing systems of record via Microsoft-built Copilot Connectors and Power Platform Connectors Copilot Connectors The ServiceNow Copilot Connector built by Microsoft brings ServiceNow knowledge into Microsoft Graph, enabling semantic search and personalized responses. SharePoint integration means employees get accurate, policy-compliant answers from trusted organizational sources. Furthermore, Microsoft 365 Self-Help provides built-in diagnostics and troubleshooting for common IT issues, reducing dependency on live support. Power Platform Connectors The Employee Self-Service Agent includes Microsoft-built Power Platform connectors for the most common HR and IT scenarios—specifically, Workday, ServiceNow, and SAP SuccessFactors. Of course, with Copilot Studio, you can customize even further, ensuring the agent delivers authoritative, context-aware answers, data, and actions tailored to your organization’s needs beyond the Microsoft-built connectors. Preconfigured workflows Employee Self-Service Agent includes preconfigured workflow starters for common HR and IT scenarios to give you a head start and immediate value - you’re not starting from scratch. With these starter workflows, you can read and write employee data, create and manage tickets, and hand off conversations to specialized agents—all with less configuration needed. For example, in Employee Self-Service Agent you can: Understand the caregiving policy given your role, region, and other context Update your personal phone number View your service anniversary Managers can update direct reports’ job titles Create, view, and update HR and IT support tickets Hand off to a live agent for issues that still need resolution Troubleshoot and run diagnostics on a laptop camera that doesn’t work Agent handoff workflows Specialized agents can also be tagged in to handle employee needs – especially for scenarios requiring more business logic. Within Employee Self-Service Agent, you can hand off to any installed Copilot agent inline, as a complementary collaboration to expand to valuable employee experience workflows. Context from your initial Employee Self-Service Agent conversation is maintained to and from the agent. For example, Employee Self-Service Agent can hand off to Ask Workday to: See your leave balance View the service anniversaries of direct reports (for managers) And for example, Employee Self-Service Agent can hand off to Now Virtual Agent by ServiceNow to: Request a new device (e.g. laptop) Report a lost or damaged asset In addition to the previously announced partnerships with SAP SuccessFactors, ServiceNow, and Workday, we’re excited to also expand our collaboration with SAP SuccessFactors, including the ability for Employee Self-Service Agent to hand off to the Joule agent. This integration will enable employees to get HR and payroll insights and tasks grounded on company policies, such as helping employees understand paycheck discrepancy via Joule’s Explain Pay capability. Strategies for a Centralized Experience for Employee Service Delivery A key aspect of Employee Self-Service is enabling a centralized experience for HR, IT, and more for a streamlined employee service delivery. The HR-focused and IT-focused agent starters available now to configure in Copilot Studio are intended to give you the choice to begin your employee service delivery journey in one of three ways: Multiple verticals in a single configured agent. If you want a centralized experience and do not need any of these more advanced capabilities: Special roles for each vertical Separate analytics for each vertical More than 25 shared knowledge sources More than 30 shared workflows Then, you can start with a HR-focused or IT-focused agent starter and expand this one Employee Self-Service agent with shared knowledge, topics, workflows, and connectors across other verticals. The agent starter can be set up for any use - but start with the one that matches your primary focus. [Preview] Multiple domain-specific child agents linked to one single front-door parent agent. This offers the most flexibility and extensibility, but can have some drawbacks – most notably, increased application lifecycle management complexity and a projected small increase in latency. This option is entering Preview in November 2025. Note: If you do not need a centralized experience that encompasses multiple verticals for employees, you can use one or both focused agent starters (HR- or IT-focused) independently from each other. Getting Started The Employee Self-Service Agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot is rolling out to general availability in phases, with access to the agent starter for makers in Copilot Studio soon. After Employee Self-Service is configured and published by IT admins, employees can access the agent in Copilot if they have a Microsoft 365 Copilot license or using Copilot Credits via Copilot Chat. Visit the Employee Self-Service Agent Adoption page to get started, learn best practices for deployment, and connect with your Microsoft representative to bring the Employee Self-Service Agent to life in your organization.

Private Marketplace for VS Code extensions now generally available. Read the full article

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Artificial intelligence has revolutionized the way we code. GitHub Copilot, powered by OpenAI’s models, has become a game-changer for developers, offering real-time code suggestions, generating boilerplate code, and even helping solve complex problems. But like any tool, its effectiveness depends on how you use it. Enter prompt engineering—the art of crafting instructions that get the most accurate and useful results from AI. In this blog, we’ll explore how developers can master prompt engineering to get the best out of Copilot, maximize productivity, and improve code quality. https://dellenny.com/prompt-engineering-for-developers-getting-the-best-out-of-copilot/