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Microsoft Adds AI Agents to Windows 11 Taskbar and Introduces Agent 365 for Enterprise Oversight

Early previews let testers invoke contained agents from Ask Copilot under an opt-in, workspace-based security model.

Overview

  • A new Windows Insider build exposes an 'experimental agentic features' switch that enables Agent Workspaces, where agents run in isolated sessions with separate identities and scoped, user-approved access to known folders.
  • Agents can be launched from the taskbar via Ask Copilot, including by typing '@' to pick an agent, with hover previews, progress badges, and notifications for required approvals or completed tasks.
  • Microsoft announced Agent 365 at Ignite as an early-access tool that discovers, governs, and can quarantine AI agents across organizations, with dashboards for usage and time-saved metrics.
  • Agent 365 surfaces Microsoft and third‑party agents, including options from Adobe, Cognition, Databricks, Glean, ServiceNow, and Workday, as well as custom agents built with Azure AI Foundry and Copilot Studio.
  • Microsoft outlines security principles such as non‑repudiation, explicit authorization, audit logging, and least privilege, warning of novel risks like injection attacks; features are off by default and require admin enablement, while reviewers flag ongoing privacy questions.