May 6, 2025 • 8 mins
Manage the rise of generative AI across your organization using the Copilot Control System in Microsoft 365. Control who can find, use, and create agents, define permissions, approve or block agent deployments, and configure billing models including pay-as-you-go or prepaid options.
Get detailed visibility into how agents are used, which users and groups are driving consumption, and how much they’re costing you. With Microsoft Purview integration, monitor for sensitive data exposure, track compliance risks, and audit agent activity to stay secure and aligned with your organization’s data policies.
Jeremy Chapman, Director of Microsoft 365, shares how to configure, deploy, monitor, and secure AI agents at scale.
► QUICK LINKS:
00:00 - Copilot Control System
01:34 - Copilot Chat
02:21 - Manage agent use
03:23 - Agent deployment
04:09 - Visibility into how agents are used
05:10 - Copilot Dashboard
06:06 - DSPM for AI
06:47 - Microsoft Purview agent protections
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Agents are the evolution of generative AI,
and if you're in IT andlooking to support this shift,
we've built you new options
as part of the Copilot Control System,
like control over who can discover,
use, and author agents,
whole visibility into which agents
are being used and if there's risk
with how they're being used,
and the ability to viewpotentially risky agent activities
(00:25):
directly and search if sensitive
or high-value information
is shared with or processed by agents.
Microsoft 365 Copilot
is the only service of its kind
to provide completeenterprise-ready controls
across agent management,starting with agent discovery,
access management, and user permissions.
(00:45):
From the Microsoft 365 Admin Center,
navigating to Copilot takes you
to the Copilot Control System Central Hub
to configure Copilotsettings and view insights
into Copilot in how people are using it.
As part of these updatesto Copilot Control System,
we've added new options forOverview, Agents & connectors,
(01:05):
Prompts, Billing & usage, and Settings.
First, from Settings and under Agents,
you can configure exactly
which groups or users will be able
to find and access agents in Copilot Chat,
as well as otheragent-enabled Copilot apps.
Importantly, if any of your managed users
have a Microsoft 365 Copilot license
and they're scoped for this control,
(01:27):
they can use and createretrieval-based agents
using Microsoft Graph knowledgeas part of that license.
That said, for the free Copilot Chat
that's included with any Microsoft 365
or Office 365 license,
agents can still be used withconsumption-based billing,
where agent usage is metered with messages
(01:47):
as the measure of time and effort taken
by the agent to respond to user prompts
and ultimately, how costs are calculated.
You can now set up pay-as-you-go billing
without a prepaid commitment
right from the Microsoft 365 Admin Center
where you can create andmanage billing plans.
Now, these billing plansuse an Azure subscription
(02:09):
and resource group aspart of the configuration
and billing process.
Additionally, the prepaidmessage pack option
as part of Microsoft 365Copilot Studio license
is also available.
Now, once you grant the right permissions
and you've configuredwhat you need for people
to start creating,finding, and using agents,
at that point, you cannow manage agent use
(02:31):
right from the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
Under Copilot controls,
Agents & connectors is yourprimary hub for managing agents
used with Microsoft 365 Copilot,
including your agentinventory as a unified view
of the agents that people build
in Copilot Studio themselves,
agents published to the Agent Store
by your organization, oragents that you've approved
(02:53):
from third parties.
You can now see whether agents
are managed, their availability,
and in which apps they'resupported, and more.
From each, you can also take actions
like blocking or publishing the agent.
More on that in a second.
Or get more details,
including users whereyou can manage access
and see who is using each agent,
(03:15):
then moving over to requested agents.
These are agents that aresubmitted for approval
from IT where you can take action
to approve or block them.
For the shared and third-partyagents that you manage
from the Agent Store, as an administrator,
you also have full controlover agent deployment,
where you can select theagents that you want to deploy,
(03:36):
target users or groups whowill have access to the agents.
Here, for example,
I'll specify the users andgroups that I want to include,
and for agents thatrequire special permissions
to external knowledgevia connector or API,
you can authorize agent access
using strong authentication and ensure
that only the users andgroups that you added in scope
(03:58):
will be able to access that data.
And from there, you can confirmand finish the deployment
to make the agents available
to users that you added in scope.
Next, as agent adoption grows,
you have the visibility intohow agents are being used.
As a Microsoft 365 admin,
you'll find detailed reporting
(04:19):
in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center,
alongside other Copilot reports.
Starting with the messageconsumption report,
it provides you details on the costs
associated with agentuse in your organization.
Here you can see messageconsumption trends
for metered usage ofMicrosoft 365 Copilot Chat
help you understand where and how messages
(04:40):
and agents are being consumed.
You'll find top agent and usermessage consumption details
to help you plan andmanage resource allocation
and make agent deployment decisions.
Then in the Agents report,
you can see overall usagetrends by license type,
and below that, the typesof agents people are using,
like user and organization-created agents,
(05:01):
as well as agents builtby Microsoft and partners,
along with a list of top agents in use
and top users leveraging those agents.
And for broader reporting
that you can share with other stakeholders
in your organization,
you can use Copilot Analyticsas part of Viva Insights,
where you'll find summaries
for the number of agentsessions of enabled agents
(05:22):
across your environment, howusage is trending over time,
user satisfaction and resolution rates
for agents at aggregate levels,
and you can even see the top agents used
and how many peopleare engaging with them.
In fact, drilling intothat report also shows you
how each agent istrending month over month,
the satisfaction per agent
(05:44):
and resolution rate for each.
Drilling in Further, you'llfind additional details
for session outcomes,
if they were abandoned,escalated, or resolved,
estimates of agent-assistedhours to gauge ROI,
and even a detailed breakdown
of the most popular topicspeople are using agents for.
(06:05):
Next, let's switch gears
to your data security optionsfor AI apps and agents
as part of Microsoft Purview.
In Data Security PostureManagement, or DSPM, for AI,
you'll find details for each agent in use
in your organization.
Each shows protection status,high-level usage trends
and accounts of protection
(06:26):
and compliance policiesthat apply to each.
Then drilling into any agentgives you even more detail
about potentially riskyactivities used with that agent,
unethical or inappropriate use
flagged by communicationcompliance policy controls
that you have in place,
and the use of classifiedand labeled content
as part of agentinteractions and sessions.
(06:48):
And that's just scratching thesurface for agent protections
and controls in Microsoft Purview.
In fact, all agent activity
is recorded in audit logs
to help conduct investigationswhenever needed,
and these activities also power
additional Microsoft Purview solutions
like insider risk management,
letting your security teamsdetect risky AI prompts
(07:08):
as part of their investigationsinto risky users,
communication complianceto aid investigation
into non-compliant use and AI interactions
such as a user trying to get information
on sensitive informationlike an acquisition plan,
and eDiscovery where interactions
across your Copilot's agents and AI apps
can be collected and reviewed,
(07:29):
help conduct investigationsand respond to litigations.
And those were your controls
to set up services and deployagents in Microsoft 365.
Also, where you can find usage insights
and your data protection controls
specific to agents in Microsoft Purview.
To learn more, check outaka.ms/CopilotAgentControls
(07:49):
and keep watching Microsoft Mechanics
for the latest updates, andthanks so much for watching.
Agents are the evolution of generative AI,
and if you're in IT andlooking to support this shift,
we've built you new options
as part of the Copilot Control System,
like control over who can discover,
use, and author agents,
whole visibility into which agents
are being used and if there's risk
with how they're being used,
and the ability to viewpotentially risky agent activities
(00:25):
directly and search if sensitive
or high-value information
is shared with or processed by agents.
Microsoft 365 Copilot
is the only service of its kind
to provide completeenterprise-ready controls
across agent management,starting with agent discovery,
access management, and user permissions.
(00:45):
From the Microsoft 365 Admin Center,
navigating to Copilot takes you
to the Copilot Control System Central Hub
to configure Copilotsettings and view insights
into Copilot in how people are using it.
As part of these updatesto Copilot Control System,
we've added new options forOverview, Agents & connectors,
(01:05):
Prompts, Billing & usage, and Settings.
First, from Settings and under Agents,
you can configure exactly
which groups or users will be able
to find and access agents in Copilot Chat,
as well as otheragent-enabled Copilot apps.
Importantly, if any of your managed users
have a Microsoft 365 Copilot license
and they're scoped for this control,
(01:27):
they can use and createretrieval-based agents
using Microsoft Graph knowledgeas part of that license.
That said, for the free Copilot Chat
that's included with any Microsoft 365
or Office 365 license,
agents can still be used withconsumption-based billing,
where agent usage is metered with messages
(01:47):
as the measure of time and effort taken
by the agent to respond to user prompts
and ultimately, how costs are calculated.
You can now set up pay-as-you-go billing
without a prepaid commitment
right from the Microsoft 365 Admin Center
where you can create andmanage billing plans.
Now, these billing plansuse an Azure subscription
(02:09):
and resource group aspart of the configuration
and billing process.
Additionally, the prepaidmessage pack option
as part of Microsoft 365Copilot Studio license
is also available.
Now, once you grant the right permissions
and you've configuredwhat you need for people
to start creating,finding, and using agents,
at that point, you cannow manage agent use
(02:31):
right from the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
Under Copilot controls,
Agents & connectors is yourprimary hub for managing agents
used with Microsoft 365 Copilot,
including your agentinventory as a unified view
of the agents that people build
in Copilot Studio themselves,
agents published to the Agent Store
by your organization, oragents that you've approved
(02:53):
from third parties.
You can now see whether agents
are managed, their availability,
and in which apps they'resupported, and more.
From each, you can also take actions
like blocking or publishing the agent.
More on that in a second.
Or get more details,
including users whereyou can manage access
and see who is using each agent,
(03:15):
then moving over to requested agents.
These are agents that aresubmitted for approval
from IT where you can take action
to approve or block them.
For the shared and third-partyagents that you manage
from the Agent Store, as an administrator,
you also have full controlover agent deployment,
where you can select theagents that you want to deploy,
(03:36):
target users or groups whowill have access to the agents.
Here, for example,
I'll specify the users andgroups that I want to include,
and for agents thatrequire special permissions
to external knowledgevia connector or API,
you can authorize agent access
using strong authentication and ensure
that only the users andgroups that you added in scope
(03:58):
will be able to access that data.
And from there, you can confirmand finish the deployment
to make the agents available
to users that you added in scope.
Next, as agent adoption grows,
you have the visibility intohow agents are being used.
As a Microsoft 365 admin,
you'll find detailed reporting
(04:19):
in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center,
alongside other Copilot reports.
Starting with the messageconsumption report,
it provides you details on the costs
associated with agentuse in your organization.
Here you can see messageconsumption trends
for metered usage ofMicrosoft 365 Copilot Chat
help you understand where and how messages
(04:40):
and agents are being consumed.
You'll find top agent and usermessage consumption details
to help you plan andmanage resource allocation
and make agent deployment decisions.
Then in the Agents report,
you can see overall usagetrends by license type,
and below that, the typesof agents people are using,
like user and organization-created agents,
(05:01):
as well as agents builtby Microsoft and partners,
along with a list of top agents in use
and top users leveraging those agents.
And for broader reporting
that you can share with other stakeholders
in your organization,
you can use Copilot Analyticsas part of Viva Insights,
where you'll find summaries
for the number of agentsessions of enabled agents
(05:22):
across your environment, howusage is trending over time,
user satisfaction and resolution rates
for agents at aggregate levels,
and you can even see the top agents used
and how many peopleare engaging with them.
In fact, drilling intothat report also shows you
how each agent istrending month over month,
the satisfaction per agent
(05:44):
and resolution rate for each.
Drilling in Further, you'llfind additional details
for session outcomes,
if they were abandoned,escalated, or resolved,
estimates of agent-assistedhours to gauge ROI,
and even a detailed breakdown
of the most popular topicspeople are using agents for.
(06:05):
Next, let's switch gears
to your data security optionsfor AI apps and agents
as part of Microsoft Purview.
In Data Security PostureManagement, or DSPM, for AI,
you'll find details for each agent in use
in your organization.
Each shows protection status,high-level usage trends
and accounts of protection
(06:26):
and compliance policiesthat apply to each.
Then drilling into any agentgives you even more detail
about potentially riskyactivities used with that agent,
unethical or inappropriate use
flagged by communicationcompliance policy controls
that you have in place,
and the use of classifiedand labeled content
as part of agentinteractions and sessions.
(06:48):
And that's just scratching thesurface for agent protections
and controls in Microsoft Purview.
In fact, all agent activity
is recorded in audit logs
to help conduct investigationswhenever needed,
and these activities also power
additional Microsoft Purview solutions
like insider risk management,
letting your security teamsdetect risky AI prompts
(07:08):
as part of their investigationsinto risky users,
communication complianceto aid investigation
into non-compliant use and AI interactions
such as a user trying to get information
on sensitive informationlike an acquisition plan,
and eDiscovery where interactions
across your Copilot's agents and AI apps
can be collected and reviewed,
(07:29):
help conduct investigationsand respond to litigations.
And those were your controls
to set up services and deployagents in Microsoft 365.
Also, where you can find usage insights
and your data protection controls
specific to agents in Microsoft Purview.
To learn more, check outaka.ms/CopilotAgentControls
(07:49):
and keep watching Microsoft Mechanics
for the latest updates, andthanks so much for watching.
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