Microsoft unveils Agent 365 to manage company AI systems

Microsoft has introduced Agent 365, a tool that allows IT administrators to monitor and manage AI agents across company systems.

Agent 365, announced at the Ignite conference in San Francisco, can detect AI agents developed using Microsoft’s software as well as those from Adobe, ServiceNow, Workday, and other providers.

The tool enables administrators to approve new agents, review their popularity, track perceived time savings, and block agents if security risks are identified.

Agent 365 also gives end users the ability to analyze agent activities.

The software will display both third-party agents and those built with Microsoft’s Azure AI Foundry and Copilot Studio, with other vendors able to integrate their agents.

Microsoft said customers in its Frontier early-access program can request to try Agent 365, but pricing details have not been announced.

🔗 Source: CNBC

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Agent 365 discovery and registry with evolving shadow coverage

Agent 365 gives a view of agents in your organization, including those with an agent ID, you register, and shadow agents 1. Shadow agents are unregistered AI agents adopted by employees outside IT control, with support marked as “soon” 2.
Agents built on non‑Microsoft frameworks can be managed through integrations and the Agent 365 SDK 2 3. Microsoft hasn’t detailed how unmanaged shadow agents will be detected 1.
Agents from Adobe, Cognition, Databricks, Glean, ServiceNow, and Workday will show up in Agent 365 via partner integrations rather than network scanning 4.
Agent 365 provides a registry, access control, plus observability via telemetry and dashboards 2. Agent 365 is in Microsoft’s Frontier early‑access, and capabilities may evolve 1. Telemetry means agent logs and data.

ISVs can integrate non‑Microsoft agent frameworks with Agent 365

Agent 365 spans Microsoft platforms, open‑source frameworks, and partner clouds 2. You can build with Copilot Studio or Azure AI Foundry for AI apps or Microsoft Agent Framework or the Agent 365 SDK 2.
Integrations can register agents with Microsoft Entra, Microsoft’s cloud identity and access management that issues agent IDs for governance 1. Telemetry can appear in Agent 365 dashboards 2. Policy guardrails use Entra access control and policy templates 2.
Developers can use the Microsoft 365 Agents SDK to build agents and integrations 3. API plugins are actions for declarative agents within Copilot and are not a governance mechanism for Agent 365 5.