Strengthen Governance Over AI Agents With the Microsoft Ecosystem

Although generative artificial intelligence assistants have captured much of the buzz for the past few years, agentic AI isn’t far behind. Agents use AI intelligence to automate processes, removing friction and making multistep workflows more efficient. For example, an employee working on a procurement bid could use an agent to gather all of the necessary information instead of emailing back and forth with several colleagues. The shift that’s underway is toward AI agents that serve almost like human assistants, working alongside employees to simplify daily workflows.

Of course, agentic AI raises questions about which systems and data agents can access and how organizations can ensure that agents have only the access they need. In response, many organizations are prioritizing governance as leaders recognize the risks of agents being created without proper controls or IT oversight, including agent sprawl and excess permissions. Organizations that intend to make use of agents need integrated solutions such as Microsoft Agent 365 so they can see what agents are operating in their environments, control their data access and establish proper lifecycle management.

There’s a question that’s top of mind for leaders today: How can we use AI to give us an edge without creating risk? For Microsoft users, that control plane is Agent 365, and it complements an agentic AI ecosystem that includes Agent Builder, Copilot Studio, Microsoft Foundry and Work IQ.

Microsoft users have three ways to build their own agents: Agent Builder, Copilot Studio and Microsoft Foundry. Agent Builder is a no-code, user-friendly tool that lets employees create basic automations with little customization. A typical use case would be an HR agent that lets employees query employee handbooks and policies, helping them find answers quickly instead of searching multiple files.

Copilot Studio is a low-code tool that lets employees create enterprise-level agents at scale with some degree of customization. Studio could build an agent that helps sales teams locate the best sales enablement materials for a customer — in essence, surfacing the most appropriate material for a specific situation at a specific point in the sales funnel. For very large organizations with extensive product lines, such an agent would make it easier for sales teams to give customers the most useful information without having to manually search for it.

Microsoft Foundry, designed with IT and developer teams in mind, enables advanced coding and customization to build complex agents. These agents could leverage data in Azure, for example, to perform complicated tasks. Another common use case is employee-facing chatbots that automate IT support tickets and route them to the right place.

Work IQ is the intelligence layer that connects AI agents with the data they need to perform certain functions. It provides the context that makes AI tools useful in a specific environment, whether employees are creating agents or simply using Microsoft Copilot to support day-to-day activities. Work IQ is what enables AI agents and assistants to recognize, for example, that the organization in which they are operating manufactures medical devices, providing the contextual detail that increases AI’s value and employees’ productivity.

The easier it becomes for teams to create AI agents, the more critical it is for organizations to maintain control and governance. Microsoft Agent 365 is the platform that lets organizations see what agents they have, what those agents can do, and which systems and data they can access.

Agent 365 also supports agent lifecycle management, which is crucial. Without that oversight, an employee could build an agent without the proper controls and then leave the company, creating a potential risk that a bad actor could leverage that agent to gain unauthorized access to its data. With a robust control plane, however, organizations gain complete visibility into all of the agents that employees have created — ensuring that agents, their access and their lifecycles are responsibly managed. Agent 365 also provides visibility into agents created with software outside the Microsoft suite, which is critical as agent creation becomes a standard offering from multiple vendors.

Agent 365 supports real-world adoption of AI. The vast majority of organizations take a “crawl, walk, run” approach as they gradually mature their AI capabilities and their AI governance. Microsoft’s agentic AI ecosystem is a solution designed for that reality — enabling both agentic AI creation and the oversight organizations need to deploy those agents safely and securely.

CDW can help leaders leverage agentic AI for a competitive advantage while ensuring they proactively control agent sprawl and manage risk.