Microsoft Agent 365 & Entra Agent ID

As AI agents become increasingly prevalent in enterprises, IT departments face a new challenge: How do you manage, secure, and control autonomous AI systems that independently execute tasks and access corporate resources? At Build 2025, Microsoft introduced two groundbreaking solutions: Microsoft Agent 365 and Microsoft Entra Agent ID.

What is Microsoft Agent 365?

Microsoft Agent 365 is the central control plane for managing AI agents in the enterprise. It extends the existing Microsoft 365 infrastructure that organizations already use for their employees to AI agents – with capabilities specifically tailored to their unique requirements.

Core Features of Agent 365

FeatureDescriptionAgent RegistryComplete visibility into all agents in your organization – including registered agents, self-created agents, and shadow agents.Access ControlLeast Privilege Access: Agents only receive access to the resources they need to complete their tasks.VisualizationReal-time monitoring of agent behavior and performance. Visualization of connections between agents, people, and data.InteroperabilityIntegration with Microsoft 365 apps, Work IQ, and standard onboarding templates for seamless human-agent workflows.SecurityThreat protection, detection and remediation of attacks targeting agents. Data protection for data created and used by agents.

What is Microsoft Entra Agent ID?

Microsoft Entra Agent ID is the identity solution for AI agents within Microsoft Entra. It extends the proven security capabilities of Entra – which already protects over 1 billion enterprise identities – to autonomous AI systems.

Agent Identities – A New Concept

Agent Identities are specialized identity accounts within Microsoft Entra ID that uniquely identify and authenticate AI agents. Unlike human identities, which are tied to passwords, MFA, and passkeys, Agent Identities do not require human authentication mechanisms.

Key Difference Microsoft 365 is designed for users. Agent 365 is designed for agents. Both systems are complementary but optimized for different requirements.

Core Capabilities of Entra Agent ID

**Conditional Access: **Risk-based access policies specifically designed for agents
**Identity Protection: **Detection of anomalous activities and automatic risk assessment
**Identity Governance: **Lifecycle management from creation to decommissioning
**Network Controls: **Traffic inspection and control of agent network traffic
**Protocol Support: **Support for MCP (Model Context Protocol) and A2A (Agent-to-Agent)

Agentic Users – Agents as Full Organization Members

A particularly interesting concept is Agentic Users. These enable agents to operate as full members of the organization:

Own email address and mailbox
Own OneDrive storage
Appear in the org chart and people cards
Can be @mentioned in Teams, documents, and Microsoft 365 apps
Own principal name (e.g., agent at contoso dot onmicrosoft dot com)

Authentication Flows

Agent 365 supports two authentication modes:

FlowUse CaseApp-only AuthThe agent acts with its own identity and its own permissions.Delegated AuthThe agent acts on behalf of a user with their delegated permissions.

Integration with Microsoft Products

Agent 365 and Entra Agent ID integrate seamlessly with the Microsoft ecosystem:

**Microsoft Purview: **Data protection policies and audit capabilities for agent activities
**Microsoft Defender: **Detection, investigation, and remediation of threats
**Copilot Studio: **Automatic Agent ID assignment when creating agents
**Azure AI Foundry: **Native integration for pro-code agent development
**Microsoft 365 Admin Center: **Central management interface for IT administrators

Availability & Access

Microsoft Entra Agent ID is currently in Public Preview. Access is available through the Frontier program, Microsoft’s early access program for the latest AI innovations.

How to Find Agent IDs in Your Tenant 1. Open the Microsoft Entra Admin Center 2. Navigate to Enterprise Applications 3. Set the Application Type filter to Agent ID (Preview)

Practical Implications for Enterprises

The introduction of Agent 365 and Entra Agent ID marks a paradigm shift in enterprise identity management:

**Governance: **IT administrators gain the same level of control over agents as they have over human users
**Compliance: **Complete audit trails for all agent activities
**Security: **Protection against shadow agents and unauthorized AI usage
**Scale: **Bulk creation and management of agent identities

Conclusion

Microsoft Agent 365 and Entra Agent ID provide the foundation for secure, scalable AI agent deployments in the enterprise. Organizations already working with Microsoft Entra can seamlessly extend their existing infrastructure to agents. While the preview status means features may still change, the direction is clear: AI agents are being treated as Digital Employees – with corresponding identities, permissions, and governance.

Get Started Now Register for the Frontier program at microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-agent-365 and test Agent 365 in your environment!

Microsoft Agent 365 and Microsoft Entra Agent ID are important because AI agents need identity, access control, governance and monitoring just like human users. The concept of an agent identity such as agent at contoso onmicrosoft com should be treated as an enterprise security object, not as an unmanaged script or hidden service account.