Microsoft Ignite 2025 Under the Sign of AI

In response to the growing number of agents (IDC predicts 1.3 billion by 2028), Microsoft introduced Agent 365. This is a central management and governance portal for all of an organization's AI agents. Agent 365 extends the familiar management infrastructure (Entra ID, Microsoft 365 Admin Center, Purview, Defender) to the agent level. It offers five core functions: An agent registry(list all agents centrally), granular access control for agents, visualization of relationships between agents, people and data in real time, interoperability (integration of apps/data to simplify human-agent workflows) and security (protection against threats, monitoring of agent activities). Basically, Agent 365 is a kind of MDM for AI agents - essential as organizations scale from pilot projects to AI in production use. Agent 365 is initially available as part of the Frontier program. Initial partners such as Adobe, SAP, ServiceNow, Workday and others are already working with Microsoft so that their agents can be managed seamlessly under Agent 365.

In order to make the flood of new agents manageable, tools for developers and admins were announced. With App Builder, even non-programmers can create and deploy their own apps (and agents) in minutes via voice dialog, while the Workflows Agent automates routine tasks on a time- or event-driven basis (both available in the Frontier program). Microsoft Copilot Studio now supports both OpenAI and anthropic models in order to be able to use the best AI model for a task. The brand-new OpenAI GPT-5.1 model has also been added and is now available in Copilot Studio (model access varies by region). Microsoft Agent Factory ensures the seamless use of self-developed AI helpers: This service allows, in Copilot Studio or Microsoft Foundry agents created with one click - in Microsoft 365 Copilot or externally - and without pre-licensing, purely on a consumption basis. Agent Factory is now generally available.

With Work IQ, Copilot gains a deeper understanding of users, tasks and companies. This layer combines work data (emails, files, meetings, chats), individual habits & preferences and contextual conclusions into a holistic knowledge. Microsoft 365 Copilot not only knows the formal organizational structure, but also informal work patterns ("work chart") and can, for example, automatically suggest suitable AI agents that fit the current task. Work IQis embedded in everyday apps such as Word, Outlook and Teams and continuously learns to better tailor Copilot's responses to the individual user and their organization. This basic AI update is now part of Microsoft 365 Copilot (launched at Ignite 2025).

Microsoft 365 Copilot can now use Word, Excel and PowerPoint agents to work together with users on high-quality documents. A new feature is the agent mode in the Office apps, which enables iterative work with Copilot directly within Word, Excel or PowerPoint. For example, in Word, Copilot can be used as an KI coauthor without leaving the app. The agent mode in Word is now generally available (GA), in Excel, users can even choose between different AI models (OpenAI or Anthropic) in agent mode, and the agent mode in PowerPoint is initially accessible via the Frontier program (Early Access). At the same time, Microsoft is introducing dedicated Office agents in Copilot Chat - small AI assistants that help with creating a document, for example. These Word, Excel and PowerPoint agents in the chat are initially available in the Frontier program. Overall, these innovations allow seamless collaboration with AI in Office: you can either start in Copilot chat and have documents created there or interact with Copilot in agent mode directly in Word/Excel/PowerPoint.

Microsoft 365 Copilot can now be addressed by voicejust like a colleague. In the Microsoft 365 Copilot mobile app, you can simply speak into the phone, e.g. "What are my top priorities today?" or "Summarize the meeting I missed". This Voice Modewill be generally available in December 2025. Also Copilot in Outlook Mobile now supports voice input - you can organize emails and appointments on the go using voice commands (currently in public preview). In addition, new One-Tapactions in Outlook Mobile, e.g. "Summarize and reply", help you analyze and reply to incoming emails with a tap from Copilot. These quick mail functions will also be generally available shortly (AI-supported inbox help will be launched in preview at the beginning of 2026).

An important step is Copilot Chat for all Microsoft 365 subscribers. Copilot Chat - a secure AI chatbot specifically for the work environment - will soon be available at no extra cost to all M365 users. This will give every employee an AI point of contact to ask questions or generate content, even if the company does not have a full co-pilot license. A preview launch is planned for early 2026. In this preview, Copilot Chat will then also have access to agent mode and the Office agents as well as understanding emails/calendars (similar to Copilot in Outlook).

Copilot turns from a single helper into a team player. The new Teams Mode turns a 1:1 conversation with Copilot into a group chat on Teams. This allows you to "bring a running Copilot chat into the team" so that everyone can continue the AI-supported conversation together (Public Preview since Ignite). In addition, teams get KI teammates: so-called "Collaboration-focused Agents". One example is the facilitator agent for meetings, which structures meetings - follow the agenda, take notes, tasks - and thus makes meetings more efficient (this meeting assistant is now generally available). AI agents can now also get involved in Teams channels, even accessing third-party tools: Via a new Model Context Protocol (MCP) interface, channel agents can search for information in Jira, Asana or GitHub, for example. For example, if you ask "Are there any open risks for our launch?" in the project channel, the agent can query the Jira data and, for example, directly schedule a team meeting on the risk status. These cross-channel agents with third-party app integration are currently available in Preview.

Microsoft is expanding Copilot with specialized AI agents that independently handle certain business processes. For example, the Sales Development Agent was presented, which relieves sales employees by automatically researching and qualifying leads and preparing personalized outreach emails. It connects to CRM data (Dynamics 365 or Salesforce) and works directly in the familiar M365 tools. The sales agent will be available from December 2025 via the Frontier program. In addition, there were insights into a new Workforce Insights Agent - an AI assistant for executives that processes cross-team trends and key figures (e.g. on engagement, fluctuation, skills) in real time. This tool is designed to make data-based decisions easier for managers and is also initially available in the Frontier program. Both examples show how Microsoft wants to transform business processes with agents - from sales to HR.

SharePoint, as a central location for files and intranet content, has been specifically developed to make Copilot even smarter. Specifically, Microsoft 365 Copilot can now fully access and "think" about other content in SharePoint:

• Metadata in document libraries: Copilot now also takes user-defined metadata from SharePoint files into account. This allows questions that require precise information (e.g. "Show me all contracts with status Pending") to be answered more reliably. According to Microsoft, this understanding of "data about the data" is unique on the market and has been generally available since Ignite.

• Intranet pages: Content from SharePoint pages (e.g. company wiki or news pages) now flows into Copilot's knowledge base. The AI can therefore respond to internal guidelines, project documentation or FAQs that are posted on intranet pages. (Also GA since Ignite.)

• Office files in full depth: Copilot now also "understands" the complete content of Office documents, including embedded images, graphics or diagrams in PowerPoints. Previously, the focus was primarily on text; now visual information is also captured, which enables more precise answers, for example, when knowledge is available in image form (GA).

• Encrypted/sensitive documents: Even encrypted files with sensitivity labels can now be analyzed by Copilot without violating compliance. The AI naturally respects all access controls and DLP policies while still being able to extract insights from sensitive content (GA).

• These extensions - all available now - ensure that Copilot can use the full range of corporate knowledge, from metadata to intranet posts to protected documents. For users, this means more precise and comprehensive answers to their questions.

The Knowledge Agent was launched in public preview back in September; updates were made at Ignite. This agent extends SharePoint with AI-supported content management, e.g. the automatic completion of metadata fields or recognition of thematically similar documents. Over 1,800 companies are already testing the Knowledge Agent in preview. An important Ignite update: When generally available (targeted for early 2026), the Knowledge Agent will be included in the Microsoft 365 Copilot license at no additional cost. In addition, admins in the preview can now activate the agent specifically per site instead of just tenant-wide in order to introduce it in a controlled manner. Initial customer feedback - from Mars, Mott MacDonald and Allegis, for example - has been very positive, as Knowledge Agent opens up completely new possibilities for intelligent curation, automatic content classification and efficient document processes.

Microsoft 365 Copilot is evolving into a creation platform. A new feature is the ability to create SharePoint pages and lists on-demand in Copilot Chat. Using @ mentions such as "@SharePoint page agent create a page on the intranet XYZ with progress and milestones" you can instruct Copilot, to immediately build a formatted SharePoint page. In a similar way, "@SharePoint list agent" can be used to generate a list (e.g. task list) via chat. This integration of SharePoint agents in the Copilot chat is new and currently available in the Frontier program. It shows how Copilot goes from being a pure Q&A assistant to a productive tool that can create content and anchor it in the digital workplace.

Companies can build their own no-code agents - often this is done in SharePoint (e.g. as a Power Platform Bot). Microsoft has announced that all agents created in SharePoint can now be used directly in Copilot Chat. So you can build a company-specific Q&A bot in SharePoint and use it immediately in the Copilot window, without context switching. In addition, such agents can be published in the central Agent Store and even distributed via the Teams App Store. An example: Microsoft's own legal department has built a SharePoint-based agent that answers legal questions for 3,000 marketing employees. The result: they work almost 3 times faster with AI help when searching for information. Such success stories should now be possible for many companies with the simpler provision of agents in the entire M365 environment.

Fittingly, the Microsoft 365 Admin Center has been expanded to display and control all Copilot agents centrally. A new dashboardnow combines both agents built in SharePoint and other Copilot agents ("single pane of glass"). Admins can block agents there if required, view the sources of the agents and track their use via reporting. Agent usage reports - including license and billing data - are now also available and help to keep an eye on costs and adoption. This agent overview and reporting in the Admin Center are generally availablesince Ignite. In the future, the data will also appear in the Viva Insights Dashboard to measure the impact of agents on productivity.

For IT administrators, a special KI agent for SharePoint-Governance was introduced as public preview. The SharePoint Admin Agentautomatically monitors things like inactive sites, overshared documents or escalating permissions. It can proactively make suggestions or take direct action (e.g. archiving an idle site or revoking excessive access rights) to ensure order and security. Especially during the introduction of Copilot, which brings more content and user activity, this agent should help to maintain the balance between openness and governance. The SharePoint Admin Agent is now available in Public Preview for customers with M365 Copilot licenses.

Modern work also requires smooth workflows and integrations. With this in mind, there were some additional innovations at Ignite:

• E-Signature in Microsoft 365: Fully integrated into Office: Users can now send documents directly from Word or SharePoint for electronic signature. Adobe Sign and DocuSign are supported. The documents remain within the company compliance limits (audit logging via Purview). This e-signature function is now generally available (Monthly Enterprise Channel).

• Viva Amplify integration: Microsoft Viva Amplify - the communication tool for publishing messages across multiple channels - is now directly integrated into SharePoint. Specifically, you can publish a SharePoint News post to Outlook, Teams, Viva Engage and other sites with one click, without having to duplicate the content manually. There is also analytics on how the news performs in all channels. This multi-channel feature "Promote post" is now generally available.

• FAQ web part with AI support: The SharePoint FAQ web part gets an upgrade with AI. New (in Public Preview) are AI-supported update suggestions - the system suggests updates for questions & answers based on changes in reference documents or frequent new questions. You can also import existing FAQs via copy/paste and specify SharePoint pages as references for answers. In short: FAQ pages are easier to keep up-to-date and relevant.

• AI-based workflows: The creation of automated workflows in SharePoint (Power Automate) is simplified by natural language. A new, dialog-oriented interface ("Madlib-style") makes it possible to define workflows with simple sentences that the AI converts into automatisms. This should be available soon ("coming soon") and automate routine tasks directly in lists/libraries even more easily.

• Storage pay-as-you-go: Also announced (relevant for admins) is the option to purchase SharePoint storage space according to usage instead of in fixed packages. This PAYGO storage model is set to arrive soon and will offer more flexibility and cost control as data volumes grow.

Microsoft Viva - in particular Viva Engage, formerly Yammer - also received new AI and analytics updates that strengthen knowledge sharing and networking within the company:

• KI Community Assistant: Similar to Teams, there are now agents in Viva Engage Communities. A Community Agent acts as a virtual moderator, answering questions, pointing out unanswered posts and generating answers from existing content. It accesses the knowledge of the respective community - i.e. posts, files and other relevant content - and thus helps to share expertise without community managers having to answer everything manually. This agent has been in the public preview since Microsoft Ignite and is available to all users with an M365 Copilot license.

• Engage content in Copilot chat: All public Viva Engage posts and threads are now used by Microsoft 365 Copilot as a source of knowledge. So if a user asks Copilot something that has already been discussed in Viva Engage, Copilot will include or reference this information. This extension is generally available - Copilot makes the informal knowledge from company communities searchable.

• Smarter analytics and moderation: Engage community admins receive new topic trend analyses: The tool automatically recognizes which keywords and topics are currently being discussed a lot in a community and displays sentiment evaluations for them. (This feature is GA for Viva Suite users.) In addition, analytics can now be filtered by organizational attributes (country, department, role, etc.) to see how different groups are using the platform. Another highlight: AI-supported topic moderation is now generally available. Admins can define specific topics (don't have to be exact keywords) and the system will alert or filter conversations that match. Unlike simple keyword filters, this moderation uses LLMs to recognize contextual matches (also multilingual) - a powerful new help for community moderators.

• Multi-language posting: Newly announced is a multi-language posting function that allows managers to manually create posts in multiple languages and bundle them as one post. This allows employees to see the version in their preferred language directly. Different images/videos are also possible for each language version. This feature will be rolled out for general availability in the coming weeks. Together with Copilot support and AI moderation, Viva Engage significantly improves global employee communication.

• Live events with Teams Town Hall: Finally, the integration of Viva Engage with Teams Town Hall (the new large event function in Teams) was presented. Community admins can now produce live events via Teams Town Hall. This enables virtual events with up to 10,000 participants, including live subtitles, translations, reactions and an integrated Q&A function. Large "all-hands" meetings or webinars run directly via Teams (Town Hall), but remain embedded in Viva Engage Communities - event content and discussion are in one place. This feature is available since Igniteand shows the focus on seamless, scalable large-scale events in the digital workplace.