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How to get free security updates for Windows 10

If you are a home/consumer user using Windows 10 – because you are unwilling to, or unable to (due to hardware restrictions) to upgrade to Windows 11, and not able or wanting to buy a new modern PC, this blog shows you how to take advantage of Microsoft’s free Security updates for Windows 10 until 13th October 2026.

First…head over to Windows Update. Here you may be offered the last Windows Update, but will also see the option to “enroll in extended security updates”.

Click [enroll now].

Microsoft will check your eligibility – must be Windows 10, must not be a corporate device (therefore not Active Directory or Entra ID Joined) and must be a licensed version of Windows.

Assuming you see the message above (which you should), click [Enrol].

Thats it – enjoy free Windows 10 updates until 13th October 2026 whilst you get ready to upgrade, buy a new device or move off Windows to another OS as Windows 10 will be 11 years old when your free security updates expire…

Windows 10 came out in 2015…..that’s an old OS now – older than COVID-19 🙂

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GPT-5.2 now available in Microsoft 365 Copilot

Microsoft has just (11th Dec) started rolling out OpenAI’s GPT‑5.2 across Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Studio, marking another significant leap in AI-powered productivity.

The differences between GPT5 and GPT5.2 provide “a significant upgrade in performance across various metrics”. For example, GPT-5.2 has achieved higher scores on benchmarks like ARC-AGI2 and GPQA Diamond which indicate improved abstract reasoning and scientific knowledge. In coding tasks, GPT-5.2 outperformed GPT 5.0 and 5.1 in accuracy and speed. The model also excelled on CharXiv Reasoning an AIM 2025 scores which measures LLMs capabilities in advanced mathematics and problem-solving.

The update delivers two models under one banner:

  • GPT‑5.2 Thinking, ideal for deep reasoning and complex problem-solving, and
  • GPT‑5.2 Instant, tailored for everyday tasks like writing, translation, and learning – all now integrated into Work IQ for actionable insights across emails, meetings, and documents.

    Within Microsoft 365 Copilot, (as this rolls out), users are able to manually select GPT‑5.2 from the model menu in both Copilot Chat and Copilot Studio, enabling smarter decision-making for tasks such as:
  • Preparing insights ahead of meetings.
  • Conducting comparisons and analysis such as market research of reviewing reports.
  • Extracting strategic takeaways linked to objectives and milestones.
Model Selection for GPT5.2 in Copilot Chat

Microsoft has sad that Copilot Studio agents will transition automatically from GPT‑5.1 to GPT‑5.2 in early-release environments and early in 2026, the default model in Copilot Chat will shift from GPT 5 to GPT5.2

These improvements therefore deliver improvements for tasks requiring complex reasoning and problem-solving skills. How their fair in day to use will be down to you as user to evaluate and determine. For now – we get the choice to dip in and out.

This rapid launch reinforces Microsoft’s commitment to offering model choice allowing users to access the latest innovation tuned for enterprise-grade security, compliance, and performance.

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When the Cloud Sneezes: a look at the ‘Outage Season’

The past few months have been a bruising reminder that even the biggest cloud providers can stumble. AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Cloudflare have all suffered major outages, disrupting any services that rely on them from websites to shopping sites to CRM and Finance systems and AI tools. For businesses (and their customers / users) there cause huge problems, lower confidence, impact services and reputation. Many are asking what happened, why and what can be done about it?

The Outages – What Happened?

There’s been a fair few this autumn, some causing performace issues, others huge impacts bringing  down lots of services. Most recent examples include:

  • Amazon Web Services (20 October 2025): A DNS automation bug in the US‑East‑1 region corrupted internal records for DynamoDB, cascading into failures across Lambda, API Gateway, and thousands of downstream apps which then replicated across other regions. 
  • Microsoft Azure (29 October 2025): A faulty configuration in Azure Front Door’s CDN nodes caused global downtime, impacting Microsoft 365, Xbox Live, and airline systems. 
  • Cloudflare (two recent ones – 18 November & 5 December 2025): According to their support pages, the first outage was the result of a bot‑management configuration file which got too big and grew beyond expected limits, crashing traffic‑handling software worldwide. The recent one last week, was different, caused by a firewall update triggered a bug, disrupting almost a third of (29%) of HTTP traffic globally. 


Whilst we hear a lot about cyber threats (similar to the CrowdStrike problem a couple years ago) these were not cyber-attacks or capacity limit failures. They were internal configuration and metadata errors. This may have been bad change management, inadequate fail back and validation controls or something else!

What are these Providers doing about it?

As you’d imagine, these major cloud providers need to tell their customers what is going on, provide assurance as to their stability and ability to recover. Following these, each have (and remember every cloud service does suffer outages from time to time for a number of reasons) has a requirement to update customers on the root cause and long term strategies to improve resilience. As an example:

  • AWS have said they are rolling out their “Route 53 Accelerated Recovery” and will be partnering with partnering with Google Cloud for multi‑cloud failover. This will be part of their premium resiliency services.
  • Microsoft have committed to strengthening their change‑management processes, checks and controls and are publishing detailed post‑mortems.
  • Cloudflare, in similar vein to Microsoft, are adding extra guardrails to monitor more controls and configuration parameters to prevent issues such as oversized configuration files. They are also committed to improving their Web app firewall testing and failover services.

How can organisations can be better prepared

It’s always tough when a business relies on Cloud providers to host and power their business as their hands can be tied and them left a little helpless when outages or performance issues occur – often it’s the visibility (or lack of) of what is happening that is most daunting for organisations and for IT. Whilst the benefits of cloud are not being disputed here, businesses can find themselves in tricky situations, having to answer to their customers, the board and shareholders as outages to their business can cause everything from mild inconveniences to value and reputational damage.

A multi cloud strategy can of course help, mitigating some of the impact of an outage of one, a hybrid (on prem/cloud) approach can do the same, but each of these add huge amount of complexity to their infrastructure management and cost so it’s about weighing up the impact and cost vs impact cost.

So, what else can organisations do then?

Visibility and Early Warnings

With any cloud service, it is often the visibility (or lack of) of what is happening that is most daunting for organisations and for IT. Just like tsunami warnings or those sniffles you get that let you know you have a cold or flu coming, there are services that can provide a holistic view across all your cloud services and help IT understand the continuous, predicted and previous performance and reliability of such services.

Cisco ThousandEyes as an example, is an incredible powerful service that provides end‑to‑end visibility across Internet Service Providers (ISPs) SaaS, and all cloud providers.

It helps detect outages early and quickly, can pinpoint root causes (DNS, CDN, SaaS, routing), and prove whether performance issues or service outages are external or internal. There are also plug-ins for desktops devices and browsers that can do this for remote and cloud users.

ThousandEyes also offers digital experience monitoring for apps like Microsoft 365, Service Now, Salesforce, and Zoom, and they have AI‑driven insights to flag risks before they cascade.

It can’t fix it as such, but if do have failovers, contingencies or DR in place, it can help organisations prepare, understand where the issue is and how to help communication with leadership, customers and other stakeholders and sooth the stress (slightly) of diagnosing the issues.

Failover Services

Of course, visibility and understanding are great but depending on how big the risk and cost of these outages, many organisations (many giant content providers do this) are looking at ways to add more contingency, failover, etc.

Where the issues are with DNS or content delivery providers, many organisations look at leveraging Multi‑CDN/DNS providers with auto Failover. This can help keep traffic flowing by rerouting when one provider fails. 

These tools often provide their own native cloud monitoring. Whilst not as in-depth as Thousand Eyes, they will typically provide dashboards that provide telemetry and status of these services and can instigate failover automatically or on-demand.

Cloud providers also provide their own status and performance monitoring tools often with in-depth telemetry but limited of course to their own platforms.

Chaos Engineering

This is really the approach, organisations will ypically employ as part of their DR/BC planning. Chaos Engineering is essentially the process organisations use to simulate outages to enable them to validate (and improve) their recovery plans before the real thing happens. This of course needs cultural buy-in, a continuous improvement approach and awareness across different aspects of their environment to ensure the impact of such outages can have. Again – visibility tools can help.

Insurance Safety Net

Even with resilience tools in place, redundancy and well architected fail-over solutions, outages will always happen, and this can mean lost revenue. Many “tech” insurers offer cyber insurance with many also offering “business interruption cover”, compensating for lost earnings due to outages caused by IT fails. I’ve not gone into details here, but some of these include:

  • Hiscox UK: Offers optional cyber business interruption cover, including income loss if systems fail. 
  • Clarke Williams Insurance Brokers: Provides Dependent Business Interruption (DBI) coverage for third‑party service failures, such as internet or cloud outages. 
  • Grove & Dean Insurance Brokers: Offers cyber insurance with explicit business interruption protection, covering lost income due to downtime from cyber incidents. 

This means UK businesses can not only plan for resilience but also insure against the financial impact of outages. Of course, a continuous increase in outages may increase these insurance premiums….

Conclusion

The cloud outages at prove that cloud isn’t “always on”, despite the various up-time (sometimes financially backed) SLAs providers promise. Providers are tightening controls, but businesses must assume failure and design for resilience. Whilst observability tools like Cisco ThousandEyes can’t stop an outage, they do help you see them faster, understand them better, and recover more effectively.

Combined with multi‑cloud strategies, failover planning, chaos testing, and cyber insurance with business interruption cover, organisations can turn inevitable outages into manageable events — protecting both operations and earnings.

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More Anthropic Models coming to Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft is making a major change to how AI models are integrated into Copilot experiences. From 7 January 2026, Anthropic’s models will be enabled by default for Microsoft 365 Copilot licensed users, moving away from the current opt-in setting to a standard feature under Microsoft’s own contractual terms rather than Anthropic’s.

What’s Changing?

  • Default Enablement: Anthropic models, which were previously optional, will now be switched on by default for most commercial cloud customers. UK and EU/EFTA customers will find this OFF by default, requiring manual opt-in for others it will be ON.
  • Microsoft Sub processor Status: Anthropic is now a Microsoft sub processor, meaning its operations fall under Microsoft’s Data Protection Addendum and Product Terms (previously Anthropic use was under Anthropic own Commercial Terms).
  • Admin Controls: A new toggle should now be active in the Microsoft 365 Admin Centre.

Why It Matters

This update extends Microsoft’s enterprise-grade data protection standards to Anthropic-powered Copilot features and makes more of a secure broker around AI models with less of a dependance on just Open AI. Working with companies like Anthropic in this “AI sub-processor” approach ensures:

  • Contractual Safeguards: Anthropic operates under Microsoft’s direction and compliance frameworks.
  • Choice and Flexibility as well as ensuring access to specific models to perform the best tasks drive quality and refinement to Copilot.
  • Enterprise Data Protection: Your data remains covered by Microsoft’s commitments, including the DPA and Product Terms.

Why Microsoft Is Adding Anthropic Support

Microsoft’s goal is to give organisations more choice and flexibility in Copilot experiences. Anthropic’s Claude models are known for strong reasoning and safety alignment, which complements Microsoft’s own AI capabilities. By onboarding Anthropic as a subprocessor, Microsoft can:

  • Offer advanced generative AI features in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Copilot Studio.
  • Maintain consistent compliance and security standards across all integrated models.
  • Enable customers to select external models for specialised use cases without sacrificing enterprise-grade protections.

Regional and Cloud Exceptions

  • UK & EU/EFTA: Toggle remains OFF by default; admins need to opt in.
  • Government & Sovereign Clouds: Anthropic models are not yet available.

Controlling access to other AI Provides like Anthropic

To do this, head to the Admin Centre, Go to Copilot, Settings and choose Data Access Tab

Decide if to enable (or disable)

Looking Ahead

This change signals Microsoft’s commitment to expanding AI capabilities responsibly by leveraging the best model for the job or task. Enabling Anthropic (and other models) unlocks richer functionality – especially in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Copilot Studio – while maintaining strong data protection standards and still giving organisations choice.

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Microsoft 365 Price Changes: Preparing for July 2026

With over a 1,000 new features and updates across the Microsoft 365 stack in the last couple of years, Microsoft has confirmed that the commercial Microsoft 365 suite will undergo pricing increase from July 1, 2026.

This follows “adjustments” to Personal and Home subscriptions at the end of the summer, and now the Enterprise/Commercial side is being reshaped to reflect the growing set of features delivered in the suite especially around AI and Security which have both had significant investments and updates.

For customers, partners, and technical teams, the key is not just to note the new numbers, but to understand how to plan ahead, optimise licensing, and make sure you’re getting the most value from the platform. 

Updated Microsoft 365 Pricing from July 2026

Microsoft 365 SuiteCurrent List PriceList Price (July’26)% Increase
Business Basic $6.00$7.0016.67%
Business Standard$12.50$14.0012%
Business Premium$22.00$22.000%
Office 365 E1  $10.00$10.000%
Office 365 E3$23.00$26.0013%
Microsoft 365 E3$36.00$39.008.33%
Microsoft 365 E5$57.00$60.005.26%
Microsoft 365 F1$2.25$3.0033.33%
Microsoft 365 F3$8.00$10.0025.0%

What’s Driving the Change

As usual with such price changes, they will apply globally with local market adjustments for our commercial products and nonprofit pricing will be adjusted in line with commercial pricing

Microsoft is pointing us to understand and recognise the value and breadth of new features delivered across the suite. Recent additions include: 

  • Copilot Chat (which always has the latest AI models available at no cost) now embedded across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote, with inbox and calendar understanding plus Agent Mode for iterative document and presentation creation.
  • Microsoft Loop and Copilot Notebook feature as well as huge updates and simplification of add on suites.
  • Security improvements such as Defender for Office P1 expanded to E3, URL checks added to E1 and Business SKUs, and Security Copilot embedded directly into Defender, Entra, Intune, and Purview for E5 customers.
  • Management tools like Intune Remote Help, Advanced Analytics, and Intune Plan 2 now included in E3/E5, with Endpoint Privilege Management and Cloud PKI in E5. 

Looking Beyond the Price

Whilst many will look at this and think “wow that’s already expansive”, it’s important to look beyond this as just a greedy cost increase.

Microsoft like to remind us of the extent of new features added across the stack and the value these product suites still bring.

New capabilities added (c) Microsoft

Whilst many will naturally re evaluate the value proposition (which they should), it is worth considering the wider business value of Microsoft 365 and this is a good time to take stock, keep calm and review the value of the suite and your other technology and subscription investments.

  • Consolidation of tools: Many organisations still pay for third-party add-ons for endpoint management, analytics, or security. With the Intune Suite now bundled into E3/E5, there’s an opportunity to simplify and reduce spend. 
  • Security Copilot: AI-driven security capabilities are now part of the platform, reducing the need for separate tools and helping teams respond faster. 
  • Integrated management: A single, consistent approach to endpoint, identity, and compliance reduces complexity compared to juggling multiple vendors.

Re-Evaluating the Business Value.

Via your Microsoft Partner, it’s worth looking beyond the cost and looking at structured tools like a business case builder to quantify the impact and refresh the value of the software tools you use across the business. It’s also worth looking at all your other subscriptions to see what duplicate products/tools you have as well as what tools you own but don’t use (or even know about).

These help weigh not just the headline subscription costs, but the wider opportunity to consolidate vendors, reduce duplication, and strengthen compliance…and adopt what you have invested in! 

Security and compliance are prime areas for this conversation. 

  • IDC forecasts global security spending will reach $377 billion by 2028, growing at over 12% year-on-year. Much of this spend is fragmented across multiple point solutions, with organisations often layering overlapping tools for endpoint, identity, and compliance. 
  • Gartner projects worldwide information security and risk management spend will hit $213 billion in 2025, rising to $292 billion by 2028. At the same time, Gartner highlights that enterprises are juggling more SaaS applications than ever, with tool sprawl creating duplicate spend, compliance blind spots, and security risks. 

Whilst there is an argument for not putting all ones “security eggs” in the same basket, many organisations have many duplicate security and compliance tools. This is not just a financial issue – it creates operational drag. Multiple consoles, inconsistent policies, and siloed reporting make it harder for IT and security teams to respond effectively. 

In contrast Microsoft 365’s integrated approach with Intune Suite for endpoint management and Security Copilot embedded across Defender, Entra, Intune, and Purview offers a path to reduce reliance on third-party add-ons. Consolidation here can mean:

  • Lower total cost of ownership by retiring duplicate tools. 
  • Improved compliance posture through consistent policy enforcement. 
  • Simplified management with fewer contracts, renewals, and integrations to maintain. 

Preparing for the change

  • Talk to your licensing partner to understand the impact on your organisation.
  • Explore price lock-in options on longer-term SKUs to mitigate the increase – before July 26. 
  • Optimise and right-size your licensing to ensure you’re not paying for unused features. 
  • Review where Microsoft 365 can replace standalone products from endpoint management to security to unlock better value and integrated management.
  • Use a business case builder to model the cost of current third-party tools against the integrated capabilities now included in Microsoft 365. 
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Microsoft Ignite 2025 – “The Agentic Shift”

Microsoft used Ignite 2025 to tell the world that “agents are now the primary interface for enterprise work“. The focus throughout Ignite was about evolution from chat-bots to multi-discipline teams of agents across organisations and the unlaying architectural envelopments being done to make this work.

Agents are already changing how people work, and IDC predicts there will be 1.3 billion agents by 2028. Agent 365 is the control plane for agents, extending the infrastructure you trust to manage your people to agents.

This was about spelling out the developments across platform and the unifying of intelligence layers so agents can be treated as identity‑bound workers and allow security and governance to be baked in in the same way we manage human workers today. Below is a summary of the key aspects and ingredients of this approach.

For more on the latest developments and Microsoft Research on AI Frontier Firms, check out the WorkLabs

Fabric IQ

What it is: Fabric IQ layers semantic meaning and business ontologies on top of data stores so agents reason in terms of customers, orders, assets, and events rather than raw tables.

Why it matters: Agents that lack consistent business context make brittle or risky decisions. Fabric IQ gives agents a shared vocabulary and entity model, reducing ambiguity across analytics, automation, and agent workflows.

Example: A retail replenishment agent uses Fabric IQ to translate “low stock” signals into SKU hierarchies, supplier lead times, and regional demand forecasts. The agent then creates the correct purchase order, selects the right vendor SLA, and schedules delivery windows – cutting stockouts and manual reconciliation time.

Foundry Control Plane

What it is: Foundry will become the unified platform for building, routing, and operating agents with model selection, versioning, and governance hooks built in. It includes a built‑in control plane that brings security, observability, and cost signals directly into the developer experience. It surfaces alerts, policy violations, performance issues, and budget warnings where teams already build – and exposes Microsoft Entra, Defender, and Purview controls as simple toggles so identity, data protection, and threat detection can be enabled without re‑architecting toolchains.

Why it matters: Foundry reduces model selection risk, standardises deployment patterns, and makes governance a first‑class concern rather than an afterthought. It’s the place teams certify agents, attach policies, and monitor behaviour. It means developers can ship agents that are secure from day one, remain protected through updates, and automatically flow into Agent 365 governance at deployment. By meeting teams in their existing workflows, Microsoft removes much of the friction between building agents and securing them — a much needed “fix” for an area that has tripped up many enterprises and halted mass adoption.

Example: A financial services team certifies an underwriting agent in Foundry. The control plane enforces data access policies, routes sensitive scoring to on‑prem models, and produces audit trails for regulators – enabling faster production rollouts without compromising compliance.

Agent 365

What it is: Agent 365 treats agents like employees: Entra identities, scoped permissions, lifecycle management, and telemetry. It produces a security framework for how agents should be deployed and managed within an organisation. It gives IT and SecOps teams a single, consistent way to discover, manage, and secure agents wherever they’re built.

Agents are already changing how people work, and IDC predicts there will be 1.3 billion agents by 2028. Agent 365 is the control plane for agents, extending the infrastructure you trust to manage your people to agents.

Microsoft Ignite 2025

Agent 365 extends Entra ID with the same controls organisations already use to manage their people into the agent world with a – Entra Agent ID for identity and access, Defender for threat detection and posture, and Purview for data protection and compliance. Rather than new tools, this provides the familiar surface control plane where agents can collaborate and interact with users, keeping behaviour visible inside the tools people already use.


Why it matters: When agents have identity and governance, organisations can scale fleets safely. You can onboard, revoke, and audit agents the same way you manage human users.

IT gets a central registry of every agent across the estate; developers can register third‑party or custom agents via SDKs; and security teams gain continuous monitoring, anomaly detection, and enforcement capabilities such as conditional access.

For organisations wrestling with shadow AI and governance gaps, Agent 365 is a practical answer – it treats agents as first‑class entities that must be onboarded, scoped, audited, and revoked just like human accounts.

Example: An HR department deploys multiple document‑generation agents. Agent 365 ensures each agent only accesses approved templates and employee records, preventing accidental PII exposure and making incident investigations straightforward.

Azure Copilot for Cloud Ops

What it is: Azure Copilot orchestrates specialised cloud agents for migrations, observability, remediation, and optimisation – this can turn runbooks into agent workflows.

Why it matters: Cloud operations shift from manual dashboards to intent‑driven orchestration. Agents can triage, remediate, and coordinate across services faster than human‑only teams.

Example: During a cross‑region outage, Azure Copilot coordinates agents to triage logs, roll back a faulty deployment, and provision temporary capacity – reducing mean time to recovery from hours to minutes.

Conclusion

Ignite 2025 reframeed “AI” from an add‑on to an operational fabric for every organisation as we start to transition into the next phase of AI maturity and adoption.

Microsoft’s combination of Fabric IQ, Foundry and Agent 365 creates a practical path to agentic operations for business, but success still very much depends on the fuel for AI – disciplined data modeling, governance by design, and small, measurable pilots.

Organisations that treat agents as governed, identity‑bound teammates will be the ones that gain speed and resilience fastest – those that don’t face sprawl and risk and stalled or failed initiatives.

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What is Work IQ?


Microsoft Ignite 2025 focus this year saw Microsoft fully committed to Agentic AI as the next platform layer. Across all of the briefings, keynotes, technical sessions, and partner announcements, Microsoft repeatedly emphasised that AI is no longer an add-on – and that is becoming the “operating system” for modern work.

Alongside this was the announcement of Work IQ at Ignite 2025 was probably one of the biggest impact announcements – which was announced during the day 1 keynote – hosted by Judson Althoff (CEO of Commercial Business at Microsoft) and LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky.

What is Work IQ?

Work IQ was positioned as a multi-level intelligence layer that delivers company-specific, job-specific, and user-specific data to inform Microsoft 365 Copilot and agents. This was not about smarter tools, models or even a new first party agent, but instead was about Microsoft playing true to their initial vision of Copilot whereby (unlike other AI tools), about a new layer of contextual intelligence that adapts to how your organisation actually work. 

This layer actually includes Work IQ, Fabric IQ, and Foundry IQ – each designed to accelerate AI innovation and support organisations in becoming Frontier Firms. But Work IQ is the cornerstone of what this all about.

Microsoft positioned Work IQ as being built on three pillars: 

  • Inference – ability to connect dots, predict next actions, and recommend the right agent. 
  • Data – the rich knowledge inside emails, files, meetings, and chats and Entra ID  
  • Memory – your specific preferences, habits, and workflows. 

This framework enables Copilot to access data, retain memory, and understand how tasks and tools interact. Inference helps predict the most suitable action or agent for each job. 

Work IQ is deeply integrated into Microsoft 365 apps like Word and Excel, enabling Copilot to continuously learn through what Microsoft calls an AI-powered feedback loop. This loop far surpasses traditional connectors by retaining context and evolving with your business. 

Instead of reactive assistants waiting for prompts before acting, Work IQ interprets relationships, intent, and context. It connects documents, meetings, and workflows into a living map of organisational knowledge, powered by the Microsoft Graph- a competitive advantage no rival can match.  Whilst other AI’s such as ChatGPT can “plug-in” to Microsoft 365 via APIs, this is nothing compared to the power of the Microsoft Graph (which is what WorkIQ is). Work IQ (the Microsoft Graph) is about value creation inside the governance boundary. Work IQ respects permissions, compliance, and sensitivity labels, making it a trusted foundation for enterprise AI. 

Agents Powered by Work IQ

Work IQ is also the engine of the agent era. Agents can only act independently when they understand environment, history, dependencies, and intent. Without context, an agent is just a reactive assistant with a fancier name. With Work IQ, Microsoft enables true agentic behaviour – agents that can coordinate, reason, and act across the enterprise. 

This aligns with Microsoft’s broader vision of “Frontier Firms” – organisations that are human-led and agent-operated. Microsoft say that, already, more than 90% of the Fortune 500 use Microsoft 365 Copilot, and Work IQ is set to deepen that reliance by embedding intelligence into everyday workflows.  This got huge cheers at Ignite!

With Work IQ, Microsoft are raising the standard of the AI workplace – positioning itself as the core intelligence layer of the modern organisation and building the foundation of the next decade of digital work.   

What about other 3rd Party AIs?

Many of Microsoft’s Competitors are able to “plug in” to either apps though plug ins.  ChatGPT, Gemini, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Atlassian etc can all build smart vertical intelligence inside their own stack or products, but in terms of the wider enterprise context, they operate in silos. Even with APIs, they do not have the awareness, context and breadth of reach that Microsoft has with the connected Microsoft ecosystem and the Graph. They lack a unified fabric, and without it, they cannot deliver the seamless agentic experience Work IQ enables. 

Microsoft’s isn’t trying to win the AI assistant market as such; they are building the architecture for the agentic workplace. Think of it as the difference between building a smart car versus building the entire road system it drives on. 

Final Thoughts

Work IQ as the missing piece that makes Copilot more than a productivity tool. It’s the connective tissue that transforms AI from assistant to organisational intelligence. 

The real question is how quickly enterprises will adapt to this new standard, and how competitors will respond when Microsoft have just raised the bar so high. 

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Windows at 40: Milestones that changed computing for ever

Windows at 40

It was Forty years ago (now that makes me feel. Old) that Microsoft launched Windows 1.0. This was a graphical shell that was layered over MS-DOS. Whilst it was clunky, slow, and barely usable – it created the framework and vision for what would become the Windows that has powered work and creativity for decades. 40 Years ago, was the time Back To The Future was in our Cinemas – just to put that time into perspective.

Today, Windows powers billions of devices across the globe. As it has evolved over the decades it has become more than just an operating system it has marked a place in history. From iconic cursors and start up chimes, the start menu, voice assistants and now the shift from menu and mouse driven interactions to voice and AI-driven agents. Windows has evolved through eras of innovation, fan fair releases, a few missteps, re-invention and innovation.

At Ignite this week, Microsoft has also unveiled its vision for an “agentic OS” in Windows 11 25H2 (with very mixed views) but today, here’s a look back at the milestone releases that truly changed computing. Here I dive into the history milestones as we celebrate Windows at 40!

The GUI Awakens (1985–1992)

Windows 1.0, released in 1985 – introduced the business world to the graphical user interface. Windows gave us windows, icons, mouse and pointers (the WIMP environment). It was a radical shift from command-line computing and MS-DOS, although initially Windows was essentially a shell that still run in Microsoft Disk Operating System (MSDOS).

Image (C) Wikipedia


Windows has updates over the years with Windows 2.0, 3.0 and then 3.1 and 3.11 (Windows for Workgroups). This brought mass adoption and became the stable at work. We had network printers, Program Manager, Task Manager, File Manager, and the introduction of TrueType fonts which made Windows the OS for business and publishing.

The Desktop Revolution (1995–2000)

In 1995, Microsoft released, arguably the biggest innovation to the Windows OS ever, which still is deep rooted in the Windows we know and use today. Windows 95 brought 16-bit computing, much loved Start menu, taskbar, and revolutionary hardware plug-and-play support which completely defined the modern desktop environment we know today. A year later, Microsoft Internet Explorer was released which wiped the floor with all other Internet Browers at the time and quickly wiped Netscape from existence.

We also saw the launch of the “Microsoft Network” or MSN and saw IM tools like Instant Messenger and the early modern browsers powered by those dial-up modems we all loved and hated!

Oh…and we can’t forget the infamous Blue Screen of Death (BSoD)!

Security and Stability As Standard

In 2000, we saw Windows 2000 – an enterprise-grade, secure Operating System built on their Windows NT 3.51 and 4 Server Operating System. This was built on the NT (New Technology) secure kernel (rather than the underlaying MSDOS) and became the backbone for future releases of Windows.

Stability and Dominance (2001–2009)

In 2001 (with major updates in 2002), we saw the release of Windows XP which will always be remembered for the “teletubby wallpaper”.

Windows XP Desktop

Windows XP unified the consumer and business experience. It was loved for its more friendly interface, rich graphics, powered in-box apps. It was also the first version of Windows that actively supported (or tried) to support pen, ink and touch. Whilst this was probably ahead of its time, we saw a new range of touch tablets (this is pre-iPad days) with Windows XP Tablet Edition. – Check out my blog of the RM Windows XP Tablet.

Windows XP powered homes, cash point machines, hospitals, and offices for over a decade.

In 2009, Microsoft gave us Windows 7. Arguably this was the most “loved” Windows Operating System ever – according to multiple sources. It was a sleeker version of Windows XP but also very familiar, meaning adoption rocketed.

Windows 7, restored user trust after Windows Vista (a poor and rushed attempt at refreshing Windows XP which). Windows 7 was fast, stable, and became dominant in commercial, public sector and enterprise IT.

Twenty four years later – it’s still not uncommon to see the odd device, information screen etc pop up still running this OS !

The Service Update Era (2012–2015)

In 2012, along with Microsoft’s first attempt launch of Tablet and touch computing (again maybe too early), we got Windows 8 -and then Windows 8.1. This was mainly a flop with the world not being ready for such a major shift to the UI, with a bold, touch-first redesign which mirrored that of the Windows Mobile.

Microsoft (to the hate of users), removed the Start menu (which they did bring back in Windows 8.1) and introduced their Metro UI which features innovative “live tiles” and the also introduced to the app store. There was also an ARM based version of Windows 8 to run on Surface RT devices – Microsoft’s again (too early) attempt of Windows on ARM – which today is what powers many Copilot Plus PCs and many of the world’s smart phones.

Then in 2015, we got Windows 10. This was the first version of Windows that essentially didn’t have versions as Microsoft shifted to “Windows as a Service.” This gave us continuous updates, cross-device integration and an OS that supported a blend of traditional Windows 7 style and aspects of the Metro / Live Tile interface of Windows 8.

Windows 10 on Surface Pro


The AI Frontier (2021–2025)

As we existing Covid-19, Microsoft unveiled Windows 11. This was built on the reliability and stability of Windows 10, but brought a fluent design, centred taskbar, and (later) Microsoft Copilot AI integration. A modern aesthetic with AI at its core.

Image (c) Bleeping Computer

This autumn, Microsoft released Windows 11 25H2 which marks the 40th anniversary of Windows. At Ignite in November (this month at time of writing), Microsoft unveiled their vision for an agentic OS – the next evolution of Windows, where AI agents orchestrate tasks across apps and devices. This could be a bold leap into ambient computing – but again there are many that would rather Microsoft left Windows alone and left the AI stuff to optional apps.


Final Thought

Windows has always been a mirror of its time — from GUI to cloud, from mouse to touch, and now from manual to agentic.

As we celebrate 40 years, we’re not just looking back. We’re standing at the edge of a new paradigm. The next chapter isn’t about what Windows does its about infusing AI into our workflow and apps.

With the change in how people use and access their devices and role of AI in our lives, the question is – what will Windows look like at 50!

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With Security Copilot now part of Microsoft 365 E5 – what do you actually get?

At Ignite this week, Microsoft announced that Security Copilot will now be included in Microsoft 365 E5 (and E5 Security) at no additional cost. Security Copilot delivers “AI-powered, integrated, cost-effective, and extensible security capabilities” that elevate an organisations IT Security Operations or SOC’s efficiency and resilience.

So, what does it actually include and what are the catches?

1. Integrated AI-driven defense across the Microsoft stack

Security Copilot agents are natively embedded into Microsoft Defender, Entra, Intune, and Purview, which means that IT / Sec teams don’t need to juggle separate tools. This allows for a single, cohesive workflow where identity, endpoint, data, and threat protection are all reinforced by AI and can be reviewed, configured and monitored with just a prompt!

2. Autonomous and proactive protection

As part of this announcement, Microsoft has also introduced a dozen new AI agents that enable “agentic defense” — adaptive, autonomous responses to threats. Instead of just alerting, Copilot can recommend or even automate actions, helping teams stay ahead of evolving attacks or reasons for concern and to plan for action.

3. Included at no additional cost with E5

For Microsoft E5 customers, Security Copilot will now be included as part of the core entitlement.

Here’s the important part: Organisations receive 400 Security Compute Units (SCUs) per month per 1,000 users, scaling up to 10,000 SCUs/month — enough to cover (Microsoft say) most typical enterprise scenarios without extra spend.

4. Faster incident response and investigation

Copilot in Copilot Security is designed to accelerates triage, root cause analysis, and remediation by summarising complex signals into actionable insights. This can significantly reduce mean time to detect (MTTD) and mean time to respond (MTTR), freeing analysts to focus on strategic threats rather than repetitive tasks.

5. Customisation and extensibility

Beyond the built-in agents, Microsoft also provides extensive developer tools and APIs so organisations can create custom agents or connect other systems securely specifically tailored to their environment. This means it is possible and configure Security Copilot to unique workflows, integrate with third-party systems, and align it with your specific compliance or operational needs.

Surface Management Portal is also included 🙂

Enablement

Depending on your organisation, you might qualify for funded workshops for awareness and enablement of Security Copilot. Speak to your Microsoft Partner to find out more.

Read more at Microsoft Learn:

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Sora-2 now in Microsoft 365 Copilot

Sora 2 - Copilot

At Ignite 2025 this month, amongst a long list of AI and Security updates, Microsoft announced that OpenAI’s Sora 2 text-to-video model is now integrated into Microsoft 365 Copilot in their Create Agent bringing AI video into enterprise productivity.

Sora 2 can make content much more realistic than the previous version of Sora and has earned both praise and criticism, since AI-generated videos are quite a debated and controversial topic. Sora 2 also supports a “cameos” feature that creates the likeness of a person that can then be placed in content – again met with mixed opinions.

Sora 2 is available today (in the US) and rolling out to other regions, for Microsoft 365 Commercial users who are part of Microsoft’s Frontier program

What’s New with Sora 2

For those not familiar with Sora 2 the integration into Microsoft 365 Copilot (at no additonal cost) beings:

  • Improved realism and physics: Videos now follow motion dynamics more closely, from gymnastics routines to buoyancy on water.
  • Longer, coherent clips: Open AI’s Sora 2 can generate richer, more sustained video sequences than its predecessor.
  • Cameos feature: Users can insert likenesses (with consent) into videos, opening up new possibilities for training and storytelling.
  • Enterprise integration: Within Copilot’s Create experience, commercial users in the Frontier program can generate short clips, add voiceovers, music, and brand kit elements for consistency.

Whilst this may still feel like novality, it shows how far this is coming on and unleases new levels of quality allowing creators and marketiers to embedding video creation into the same environment where organisations already manage documents, presentations, and collaboration.

How to Access Sora-2 in Copilot

Users with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license can create video project with Copilot (powered by the Sora-2). It can be used for video and voiceovers, leverage your organisation brand kit and then be editied to add music, and include other visual elements using ClipChamp.

Note: Today, your oganisation must be enrolled in the Copilot Frontier (early adopter programme)

Why It Matters for Microsoft 365 Customers

Microsoft positions Copilot as a multimodal hub, combining text, images, documents, audio, and now realistic video. For enterprises, this means:

  • Marketing teams can rapidly prototype campaign assets.
  • HR and L&D can produce onboarding explainers without outsourcing.
  • Anyone can create and enrich presentations with dynamic video narratives.

Since all this happens inside Microsoft 365, identity, compliance, and governance frameworks apply. That’s a major differentiator compared to consumer-first AI video tools and helps business further enable this level of creativity within risking corporate data leakage.

Video also coming to Copilot Notebooks

Along side this new feature, Microsoft are also bringing video into Copilot Notebooks. ALong with the already available audio podcast feature, Copilot Notebooks can now create enhances overview pages, proactive topic suggestions, and …wait for it, audio and video summaries and podcasts.

What’s Next?

Sora 2 in Copilot is more than a feature—it’s a signal of where enterprise communication is heading. Video will sit alongside slides, spreadsheets, and documents as a default medium. The organisations that thrive will be those that treat AI video not as a gimmick, but as a strategic lever for clarity, engagement, and impact.

Read Microsoft’s Official Post here:
Available today: OpenAI’s Sora 2 in Microsoft 365 Copilot | Microsoft Community Hub

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Microsoft 365 Copilot for small and medium businesses

Microsoft has just announced a much more affordable aka cheaper (but fully featured license) for small and medium businesses.

From December 1st, Microsoft 365 Copilot Business becomes available to organisations with fewer than 300 users. It’s priced at $21 per user/month, and can be added to organisations with  sBusiness Standard or Business Premium plans up to 300 seats.

This is $9 pupm than the enterprise version of M365 Copilot but with all the same features.

For a 300 users organisation that uses Microsoft 365 Copilot, this represents a $97,000 saving over 3 years.

What does Microsoft 365 Copilot Business include?

In short, it includes everything that is in Microsoft 365 Copilot and can be added to existing (or new) Microsoft Business licenses. It includes:

Microsoft Copilot options.
  • Copilot Chat across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Loop, and Teams
  • Copilot Search to surface insights from your own data
  • Copilot Pages for structured knowledge hubs
  • Work IQ, the intelligence layer that learns your context
  • Custom agents to automate workflows and tailor experiences

Enterprise Grade Security and Privacy

Just like the enterprise version, Copilot Business respects all existing security, privacy, and data boundaries.

Copilot Business Availability

This is available to purchase direct or via your Microsoft CSP partner from December 1st 2025.

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Windows 365: What, Where and Why?

As Windows 365 settles well into its forth year, there have been huge advancements in capability, connection methods, endpoint innovation, and licensing options – with even more expected as Microsoft Ignite approaches next week

In my role, I spend a lot of time talking with clients about Modern Work solutions and where Windows 365 fits within their organisation: how it can be adopted and leveraged for simplicity, security, governance, access & management, contractors, and frontline staff.

This blog walks through many of these themes in my own way, reflecting how we often describe them to clients when shaping strategy and deployment. 

So, what is Windows 365? Windows 365 is a cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) that provides a new type of dedicated Windows virtual machine (Cloud PCs) for your end users. The Cloud PC lets users access their Windows desktop from various devices, including Windows, Web, iOS, and Android etc.

Ways to Connect to Windows 365

Microsoft now highlights three/four primary ways to connect to a Windows 365 Cloud PC: 

  • Via Web Browser (at https://windows365.microsoft.com) 
    • The fastest way to access and deploy, no installation required (and no plug-ins). 
    • Ideal for occasional access or unmanaged devices and even on home TV.
    • Works across platforms (Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux) with no apps needed.
  • Remote Desktop App  (being deprecated)
    • Full-featured experience with richer integration. 
    • Supports multiple monitors, device redirection, and local resource access. 
    • Best suited for power users who need a seamless desktop feel. 
  • Windows App
    • Unified app for both Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365. 
    • Modern interface, simplified management. 
    • Designed for organisations standardising on Microsoft’s evolving app ecosystem. 
  • Windows 365 Link 
    • Microsoft first purpose-built Cloud PC device. 
    • Boots directly to Windows 365 in seconds, with dual 4K monitor support and optimised video conferencing. 
    • Runs a locked-down OS withno local data, apps, or admin rights, reducing attack surface. 
    • Managed via Intune and Entra, with flexible deployment models (IT-driven or user-driven

Each method balances simplicity, performance, and integration differently. The right choice depends on your team’s workflows, devices, and IT governance model. Of course in some situations a mix may be used as per my use example below.

Key Use Cases and Scenarios

  • Contractors or Temporary Staff → Browser access for quick onboarding/offboarding. 
  • Field Workers and Mobile Teams → Remote Desktop app for resilience and performance. 
  • Developers and Power Users :Windows App or Remote Desktop for multi-monitor and GPU acceleration. 
  • Highly Regulated Industries :Browser or Windows 365 Link for locked-down compliance. 
  • Shared Workspaces and Hot‑desking: Windows 365 Link for instant sign‑in and simplified IT. 
  • IT Modernisation Projects: Windows App and Windows 365 Link for different and future‑proof endpoint strategy. 

Cost Optimisation for Frontline and Part‑Time Users

Licensing is just as important as the connection method. Here are ways to reduce costs without compromising experience: 

  • Windows 365 Frontline 
    • Tailored for shift workers, seasonal staff, and part‑time employees. 
    • Licenses are pooled—multiple users can share Cloud PCs across shifts. 
    • Automatic sign‑out ensures Cloud PCs aren’t left idle. 
    • Currently available with a 20% discount for new customers. 
  • Blended Licensing Strategy 
    • Use Enterprise licenses for full‑time staff needing persistent access. 
    • Use Frontline licenses for part‑time or occasional users. 
    • This mix maximises ROI and avoids over‑provisioning. 
  • Bring Your Own PC (BYOPC) 
    • Employees connect securely from their own devices. 
    • Reduces hardware spend—Forrester estimates ~$750 saved per contractor. 
  • Shared Cloud PCs 
    • Provision temporary desktops for contractors or seasonal staff. 
    • Can avoids the cost of dedicated, always‑on Cloud PCs. 
  • Flexible Provisioning 
    • Scale Cloud PCs up or down based on demand (e.g., retail peaks, healthcare shifts). 
    • Prevents wasted spend during quiet periods (remove license or scale down).

Let’s talk ROI….

A common question is naturally, “how can Windows 365 can offer better lower cost of ownership than a PC bearing in mind a device of some sort is needed to access Windows 365 from in the first place”.

So, and again this depends on the scenario, when you look at a 4‑year device lifecycle, Windows 365 can deliver a lower total cost of ownership than a traditional PC – especially in BYOPC or contractor scenarios. Even when the costs are similar, the added benefits in security, agility, and simplified IT management make the Cloud PC model more compelling. For frontline or part‑time staff, the savings are even greater thanks to pooled licensing.

The Forrester report (below) goes into this in more detail.

Strategic Considerations

Beyond user scenarios, IT leaders should weigh: 

  • Security posture: Browser and Link minimise local footprint, while apps offer richer policy enforcement. 
  • Device diversity: Mixed estates (BYOD, macOS, Linux) lean toward browser; standardised estates benefit from apps or Link. 
  • Future roadmap: The Windows App and Windows 365 Link are evolving rapidly—early adoption may simplify long-term management. 
  • Cost efficiency: Frontline licensing and BYOPC strategies can significantly reduce TCO. 

Sources

There are a bunch of great Microsoft and tech community sites that talk about these things in more detail.. I’ve included the URLs below as these go deep into many areas I have covered above.

Windows 365 – How to Choose the Best Connection Method for Your Team 

Windows 365 Link — The First Cloud PC Device 

Windows 365 Link – Deployment Planning, Setup and Enrollment 
   
Windows 365 Documentation (Microsoft Learn) 

Windows 365 Frontline (Official Microsoft Page) 

Forrester TEI Study — The Total Economic Impact of Windows 365 

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AI Explained: 9 Key Concepts You Need to Know in 2025

Artificial intelligence, whilst a phrase used in most of our daily lives, can feel huge, strange, unknown, scary, exciting and sometimes even intimidating. In this post I decided I would strip back the noise and waffle and share nine crisp, usable concepts. I’ve aimed to provide clarity over jargon and give some practical examples over theory.

Before I start, many and to put into familiar brands, here are a few AI tools and brands you will of already know or at least of have heard of:

1. Common AI Tools to know about

  • ChatGPT – What really started the world of “publicly accessible” Generative AI Chat Bots. ChatGPT (version 5 is the current) is a conversational AI that generates text, pictures, and even video. It can answer questions and help with creative writing. It’s a clear example of generative AI in action, showing how large language models can produce human‑like responses. Free and Paid versions.
  • Copilot (Microsoft) – leverages many different AI models including ChatGPT, Microsoft’s own and others, can do very what ChatGPT can do, but is also integrated across line of business apps and data like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Windows. Copilot acts as an AI agent that helps you create, draft, analyse, and even automate tasks. It’s a practical demonstration of how AI agents and retrieval techniques can boost productivity. Free tier (ChatGPT Pro equivalent) and Premium for Consumer/Family. Microsoft 365 Copilot for Business use.
  • Google Gemini – Google’s AI assistant that blends search with generative capabilities, pulling in live information to give context‑aware answers. Free and Paid tiers.
  • GitHub Copilot – A developer‑focused AI that suggests code snippets and functions in real time. It shows how reasoning models and pattern recognition can accelerate software development.
  • MidJourney / DALL·E – Image generation tools that turn text prompts into visuals. These highlight the creative side of AI, where models learn patterns from vast datasets and apply them to new artistic outputs.
  • Perplexity – Great for research including financial data and educational content. Has free and paid versions.
  • Siri / Alexa – typically home style voice assistants that act as simpler AI agents, interpreting commands and connecting to external systems like calendars, music apps, or smart home devices. Great for simple tasks like “what is weather like today” and for linking to smart home devices – “Alexa, turn on the porch light“.

If you are just starting (or are a beginner), the easiest way to decide which AI tool to use is to match the tool to the problem you’re trying to solve. If you need help writing or brainstorming, generative text tools like ChatGPT or Copilot in Word are ideal. If you’re working with numbers or data, Copilot in Excel can analyse and visualise patterns for you. For deeply creative projects, image generators like MidJourney or DALL·E turn ideas into visuals, while GitHub Copilot accelerates coding tasks. The key is not to chase every shiny new AI release, but to ask: what am I trying to achieve, and which tool is designed for that job? If you are starting out, start small, experiment with one or two tools in their daily workflow, and build confidence before expanding into more advanced applications.

Which AI in 5: Pick the AI tool that fits your task- writing, data, images, or code—and grow from there.

2. What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not really a product though word bingo might have people say ChatGPT or Copilot (at work), but it is far more than that! AI is a broad field of computer science focused on creating systems that can perform tasks which normally require human intelligence. These tasks include many things such as recognising speech, interpreting and understanding images and videos, making decisions, and even generating creative content such as music, videos and images. As of 2025, AI is already embedded in many aspects of our everyday lives – in work and in personal life – from recommendation engines on Netflix to fraud detection in banking, to summarising meetings at work.

At its core, AI combines data, algorithms, and computing power to simulate aspects of human cognition, but it does so at a scale and speed that humans could never achieve.

AI in 5: AI is machines learning, reasoning, and acting like humans.

3. AI Agents

Right, so an AI Agent is a system designed to act autonomously in pursuit of a goal. Unlike traditional software that follows rigid instructions, agents can perceive their environment, make decisions, and take actions with or without constant human input.

For example, a customer service chatbot is an agent that listens to queries, interprets intent, and responds appropriately. More advanced agents can coordinate multiple tasks, such as scheduling meetings, analysing reports, or even controlling robots in manufacturing.

The key is autonomy: agents don’t just follow orders—they adapt to changing conditions.

AI Agents in 5: AI agents are digital helpers that think and act for you.

4. Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)

RAG is a technique that makes AI more reliable by combining generative models (or sub models) with external knowledge sources such as the Web or date from corporate SharePoint sites, email etc.

Instead of relying solely on what the AI model was trained on (which may be outdated or incomplete), RAG can retrieves relevant documents or data in (near) real time and integrates them into its response.

This is especially powerful in business contexts, where accuracy and timeliness are critical – for example, pulling the latest compliance rules or product specifications from an application or data repository, before answering a query. RAG bridges the gap between static training data and dynamic, real-world knowledge.

RAG in 5: RAG = AI that looks things up from multiple sources before answering.

5. Explainable AI (XAI)

One of the biggest challenges with AI is the “black box” problem. What I mean by that is that often do not know how AI arrived at its decisions or answer when instructed.

Explainable AI addresses this by making the reasoning process transparent and understandable to humans. For instance, if an AI is being used by a bank to determine if a customer should/can get a loan or not and that AI  model rejects the loan application, XAI will highlight / explain the factors such as credit history or income that influenced the decision.

In essence this is about seeing it’s workings out. If you have used Microsofts Researcher or Analyst agent at work, you will see some of this as it does its work.

This transparency is vital in ensuring we can trust AI and is required in regulated industries like healthcare, finance, and law, where accountability and fairness are non-negotiable.

By opening this black box, XAI builds trust and ensures AI is used responsibly.

XAI in 5: XAI shows you why the AI answers the way it did, what information it used and how it made its choice.

6. Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI)

While today’s AI is powerful, it is still considered “narrow AI” – specialised in specific tasks despite the advances we see every week.

Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) is a (some say) theoretical future state where machines surpass human intelligence across every domain, from scientific discovery to emotional understanding.

Many might be thinking “The Terminator” here but in reality it is more than conceivable given the current pace of evolution that ASI could in design new technologies, solve global challenges, or even “create” beyond human imagination.

This naturally raises profound ethical and safety concerns: how do we ensure such intelligence aligns with human values and what happens if ASI becomes smarter than the humans that created it?

ASI remains speculative and there are many opinions and research on the matter, but today it is a concept that drives much of the debate around the long-term future of AI.

ASI in 5: ASI is the idea of AI being smarter than all humans in every way.

7. Reasoning Models

Traditional AI models excel at recognising patterns, but they often struggle with multi-step logic.

Reasoning models are designed to overcome this by simulating structured, logical thought processes. They can break down complex problems into smaller steps, evaluate different pathways, and arrive at conclusions in a way that mirrors human reasoning.

This makes them especially useful in domains like legal analysis, financial analysis, scientific research, or strategic planning, where answers are notjust about recognising patterns and finding information but about weighing evidence and making defensible decisions in a way similar to how we as humans might undertake such work.

Reasoning Models in 5: Reasoning models let AI think step by step like us.

8. Vector Databases

AI systems need efficient ways to store and retrieve information, and that’s where vector databases come in.

Unlike traditional databases that store data in rows and columns, vector databases store information as mathematical vectors – dense numerical representations that capture meaning and relationships.

This allows AI to perform semantic searches, finding results based on similarity of meaning rather than exact keywords. For example, if you search for “holiday by the sea,” a vector database could also return results for “beach vacation” because it understands the conceptual link.

Vector Databases in 5: Vector databases help AI find meaning, not just words.

9. Model Context Protocol (MCP)

Finally, MCP is a framework that helps AI agents connect seamlessly with external systems, APIs, and data sources. Instead of being limited to their own training data, agents using MCP can pull in live information, interact with business tools, and execute workflows across platforms. For example, an MCP-enabled agent could retrieve customer records from a CRM, analyse them, and then trigger a follow-up email campaign—all without human intervention.

MCP makes AI more versatile and practical in enterprise environments.

MCP in 5 : MCP is the bridge that connects AI to other tools.

What next and Getting Started

AI is not a single technology but a constellation of concepts – agents, RAG, XAI, ASI, reasoning models, vector databases, and MCP – that together define its capabilities and potential. Understanding these terms helps demystify AI and highlights both its current applications and future possibilities.

As AI continues to evolve, these building blocks will shape how businesses, governments, and individuals harness its power responsibly.

AI is a toolkit of ideas working together to change the world. When we look at what tool to use when, in reality there is not one better than the other it’s more about context of use, the platform you use it on, what your work provides, what you get included in your other software (for example Copilot in Windows, Office apps etc) and what task you are performing. Some AI’s are better at images, some at research and some at writing and analysis.

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Cisco 360 Partner Program: Driving Partner and Customer Value in in the AI Era

This blog summarises the key updates from Cisco Partner Summit 2025 regarding the Cisco 360 Partner Program and its impact on partner profitability, customer value, cross-selling, AI specialisations, and new pathways. This new partner programme takes much inspiration from the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Programme, which has successfully aligned partner incentives with their strategic priorities like AI Adoption, Cloud Transformation and Customer Success (through growth of usage and adoption).

Both Cisco and Microsoft’s programmes now share a common philosophy: simply engagement, reward capability, reward cross selling and prioritise high-growth focus technology areas.

Feature Cisco 360 Partner Program Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program
Launch Date January 2026 July 2022 (ongoing evolution)
Structure 2 tiers: Cisco Partner & Cisco Preferred Partner Capability-based scoring replacing legacy Gold/Silver
Focus Areas Networking, Security, Cloud & AI Infrastructure, Splunk, Collaboration, Services AI Business Solutions, Cloud & AI Platforms, Security
Profitability Model Cisco Partner Incentive (CPI) + Partner Value Index (PVI) Rebates tied to customer consumption & solution areas
Specialisations Secure AI Infrastructure, Secure Networking (Feb 2026) AI Solutions Partner designation + advanced specialisations
Cross-Sell Incentives Yes – portfolio breadth bonus Yes – solution area expansion incentives
Enablement Tools Cisco AI Assistant, Cisco U., Demo Labs Microsoft Learn, AI Skills Hub, Partner Centre
Goal Predictable profitability & AI-driven growth Accelerate cloud & AI adoption with partner-led success

This means new opportunities to increase margins, differentiate through specialisations, and deliver integrated solutions that meet customer demands for AI-ready infrastructure and secure digital workplaces.

Key Highlights from Cisco 360

As we get close to the launch of the new Cisco 360 programme, this post aims to summarise the key changes to the programme which come into effect at the end of January 2026. These are:

Profitability Through Predictability

Cisco Partner Incentive (CPI): A unified incentive structure replacing legacy programs like VIP and Perform Plus.

  1. Partner Value Index (PVI): A new metric that measures partners across four pillars—foundational, capabilities, performance, and engagement—providing transparency and predictability in rewards.
  2. Eligible Offers List: Focused on high-growth areas such as AI, security, campus refresh, and premium services.
  3. Partners can model earnings using the Cisco Partner Incentive Estimator, available post-Summit, to plan rebate strategies effectively.

New Incentives and Bonuses

These are aimed to incentive and promote better partner seller behaviour by essentially driving sellers to cross sell other Cisco portfolio elements and reward partners for doing so- think “bingo card“. These include

  1. Cross-Sell Bonus: Rewards portfolio breadth – encouraging partners to deliver integrated solutions across Cisco’s ecosystem.
  2. Next Generation Specialisation Bonus: These recognises partners that exhibit “deep expertise” in advanced technologies – through certifications, proven install ability (via proof) which in turn will unlocking additional partner rebates.

These bonuses are designed to drive durable growth and ensure partners can earn as more by selling / cross selling more and therefore earning more than under the previous partner rebate programs.

AI-Centric Specialisations

Cisco also re-confirmed that from February 2026, Cisco Partners can earn two new AI focussed specialisations:

  • Secure AI Infrastructure
  • Secure Networking

These are designed to validate partner expertise in designing and deploying AI-ready architectures using Cisco’s integrated hardware, software, and services. Cisco have said that these will unlock “additional incentive bonuses”, making AI a critical profitability lever for partners and also providing revenue (through rebate) back to partners to continue to invest in people, skilling and labs to drive these solutions forward faster.

Enablement and Skills Development

Cisco has always invested heavily in skilling and partner enablement since their partners are key to Cisco growth and deployment capability. This investment has increased year on year and this year, they have announced a refresh to their training and learning paths with:

  • Partner Learning Journeys: These are refreshed role-based training paths for technical, support and sales teams- with Cisco expressing the importance of continuous learning with the pace of digital and AI change.
  • Cisco AI Assistant for Partners: AI-powered access to multilingual content and training resources which can be tailored for specific use cases, scenarios and learning levels.
  • Cisco U. AI Skills Expansion: New investments and content to enhance “practical” hands-on training in AI, data analysis, and API integration to help partners better develop devops capabilities to drive greater value with customer solutions.
  • Advanced Cloud Demo Labs: Updated virtual lab environments to enable partners to showcase Cisco solutions without physical hardware costs and software licencing.

Simplified Structure and New Pathways

The Cisco Partner Programme is now extremely mature and consolidates 22 unique specialisations across 15 different business units into six focused portfolios which make it easier for Cisco and their Partners to explain and market. These include:

  • Networking
  • Security
  • Cloud & AI Infrastructure
  • Splunk
  • Collaboration
  • Services

Cisco re-iterated how this works – with partners now being designated as Cisco Partner or Cisco Preferred Partner, replacing the traditional tiered system (no more Cisco Gold Partner status).

Cisco understand that is a major shift from before, but assured partners that it is still profitable and that overall rebate investment will remain flat or increase, ensuring partners are rewarded for value delivery rather than transactional volume. It’s also about (as Microsoft did back in 2023), ensuring the programme is more transparent and relevant in the world of Cloud Services – where adoption, upsell, renewals and cross sell is vital to both Cisco and their partners and to ensure they demonstrate value to their customer base. Partners that do what works best for Cisco and the customer are naturally rewarded.

What Cisco Partners need do now?

Cisco reminded partners that they can review the Cisco Partner Incentive Estimator which will be generally available from 10 November to model profitability under the new structure. They also advise that partners (with their PAM if they have one):

  • They also advice that partners start looking at and planning for the new AI Specialisations, by aligning technical teams with Cisco Learning Journeys and allowing time for training, studying and alignment with Cisco.
  • Review their own Sales Incentives (Sales and Client Success Teams) to start driving cross-sell opportunities across networking, security, observability and collaboration to ensure the best chance of maximising rebates.
  • Engage with Cisco’s new enablement tools (AI Assistant, demo labs, marketing branding toolkit) to accelerate go-to-market readiness.

Summary

Cisco expects AI to drive the majority of partner revenue within five years. The Cisco 360 Partner Program positions partners like Cisilion to lead in this transformation – offering predictable profitability, streamlined incentives, and the tools to deliver AI-ready, secure, and resilient solutions for customers which leverage the latest technologies from Cisco.

For partners that work in both Cisco and Microsoft, this aligns well as both vendors partner programmes now share a common philosophy: simply engagement, reward capability, reward cross selling and prioritise high-growth focus technology areas.

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Cisco Partner Summit 2025: The Infrastructure Behind the Digital and AI Era

Last night I tuned into aspects of the Global Cisco Partner Summit on demand, (the live event taking part in San Diago this week).

Day one messaging to partners was firmly on monetising AI and driving the next wave of digital transformation with Cisco. Cisco were not just  talking about AI as a buzzword – they were clearly (re)positioning themselves as the backbone of this revolution with some of the biggest innovations and product evolutions in decades and the value and importance of their partners to enable this for their customers.

AI doesn’t run on magic – it runs on silicon, bandwidth, and secure, scalable networks. From high-performance data centre fabrics to AI-ready networking and security, Cisco is building the digital highways that will power this era.

AI and Digital Transformation will fail without the right Infrastructure. This new age is as significant as the Internet and Cloud revolution and Cisco is there to power their customers and partners through it.

Think back to the 90s and early 2000s. The Internet was exploding, but none of it would have been possible without the underlying infrastructure – networks, servers, connectivity. Fast forward to today, and we’re seeing history repeat itself. AI is the new Internet, and infrastructure is once again the unsung hero, that invisible layer that defines how well stuff works, connects and secures.

There’s no question that AI is making a significant impact and that influence is only accelerating. We  hear a consistent message from customers and partners: ‘AI is evolving faster than their infrastructure can keep up’. –
Tim Coogan, SVP Global Partner Sales

That statement sums up the challenge perfectly. Data strategies that worked two years ago are now struggling under today’s workloads, and the skills gap is widening.

Cisco’s beleive they are ready to help customer through their global partners to address this with a new wave of innovation designed to help partners and customers scale AI without disruption with connected infrastructure at the heart.

Cisco Unified Edge – for AI at Scale

One of the biggest announcements yesterday at Cisco Partner Summit was Cisco Unified Edge, a purpose-built platform for distributed AI workloads. It can integrate compute, networking, storage, and security at the edge, enabling low-latency, real-time inferencing for agentic and physical AI workloads. This includes:

  • Modular architecture combining compute, storage, and networking in a single chassis.
  • Zero-touch deployment and pre-validated blueprints for predictable AI rollouts.
  • Full-stack observability via Cisco Intersight, Splunk, and ThousandEyes.
  • Multi-layered zero-trust security with tamper-proof hardware and policy enforcement.

“Things like network bandwidth, throughput and power consumption are all becoming massive issues as AI permeates data centres and workplaces. “

Cisco Security: Mind the Trust Gap

AI adoption brings incredible opportunities but also new risks, which led nicely into Cisco’s re-engergized Security Play.

“We’re also seeing what we call a trust deficit… securing all this infrastructure and model safety is critical.” – Jeff Schultz, Cisco.

Security is embedded across Cisco’s tech stack, with Cisco Secure Access extending zero trust to the cloud and with Cisco Access Manager delivering identity-based access control natively through the Meraki Dashboard. This works seemlessly with leading Cloud Providers such as Microsoft 365 and Azure, AWS and GCP too as well as leading Enterprise SaaS providers.

Cisco re-iterated their approach to security in the AI era with their  Multi-layered including:

  • Zero Trust Everywhere – From edge to cloud, every device and workload is verified.
  • Tamper-Proof Hardware – Protecting against physical and firmware-level attacks.
  • Policy Enforcement at Scale – Automated compliance across distributed environments.
  • Model Safety – Ensuring AI models and data pipelines remain uncompromised with their new Cisco AI Defense suite.

In a world where AI decisions can impact millions, trust is the currency of AI adoption and the value of trust that is needed for success what ever business you are in.

Observability & Visibility

The last piece in the puzzle was the importance of observability and visibility. AI workloads are complex, distributed, and dynamic and without visibility, “you’re flying blind” . Cisco are doubling down on full-stack observability (through their Splunk acquisition) to give partners and enterprises the clarity they need without gaps. 

Key capabilities focussed on:

  • Cisco Intersight for infrastructure lifecycle management.
  • ThousandEyes for end-to-end network visibility across hybrid and multi-cloud.
  • Splunk integration for deep analytics and anomaly detection across all platforms.
  • Predictive Insights powered by AI to anticipate performance bottlenecks before they happen.

This was a strong message since Enterprise AI doesn’t just need connectivity, compute power and security and governance. It also needs predictability and reliability. Cisco’s Observability Platform is all about ensuring that every infrastructure component, from GPU clusters to edge nodes, to cloud is optimised and secure.

Cisco are also taking observability further with their AI Canvas. Originally announced at Cisco Live earlier this year, AI Canvas is a new (coming in 2026) collaborative workspace that combines telemetry, AI insights, and automation. It enables teams to troubleshoot issues using natural language, unify data across domains, and accelerate resolution – all powered by Cisco’s Deep Network Model.

Monetising AI for all

Steve Cougan said that Cisco’s strategy success aimed at Partner, Cisco and of course their Customers focuses on three core pillars:

  • Responding faster with partners (sell together)
  • Continuous innovation cycles (leading the pack)
  • Scaling efficiently to maximise customer impact (across all sectors and segments).

Another key thing for me was the investment in multi customer management for their Managed Service Partners, focusing how MSPs, can scale and simplify operations for their customers. The introduction of multi-customer management capabilities within Cisco Security Cloud Control was a highlight for me.

“The new multi-customer management capabilities in Cisco Security Cloud Control, coupled with our Hybrid Mesh Firewall, are designed to eliminate operational friction, empower our partners to accelerate revenue growth, and ultimately deliver superior security outcomes for their customers”
Jeetu Patel, President and Chief Product Officer, Cisco

This isn’t just about monetising Cisco and their partners either. Every organisation that is re investing what they do, digitising and innovating with AI will fail without the right Infrastructure in place. The focus Cisco have in “selling together” – Customer, Partner, Cisco is a key part of this success driver and they are laser focussed on this approach which is why their partner eco system is to important.

Day 1 Wrap Up

AI is only as good as the platform it runs on and the infrastructure that connects users, endpoints, enterprise data and AI models and agents together. The refresh opportunity is huge for Cisco and their partners as it is (one) of they key things hiding back enterprise AI and digitial transformation at scale.

The opportunity to do this right is about working with organisations that are deploying or enabling AI applications and services to ensure they are also building and managing the infrastructure that makes AI possible. Cisco is betting big on this, and it’s good to see.

It was great to see a renewed focus on MSPs and multi customer management across their unified platform recognising the continuous importance for their customers and partners.

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Copilot Researcher Agent gets “Computer Use”

Yes, the Copilot Researcher Agent, once focused purely on gathering and summarising information, can now take action on your device through a capability called Computer Use.  This provides secure interaction with both public and gated web content through a virtual computer which allows human and Copilot control. It requires a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, supports advanced content creation. It can be disabled by IT admins, but comes enabled by default.

This represents part of the next evolution of how we think about and use AI in the workplace and our personal lives.

What Is Computer Use?

This enhancement to Researcher should help users uncover deeper insights, take action, and generate richer reports grounded in both their work data and the web even with gated content that requires the user to take over the browser or to authenticate to content, accept CAPTAs and more.

Computer Use allows Copilot to go beyond simply telling you what it finds. It can now: 

  • Open docs and web-pages directly and read, navigate web-sites and docs (including PDFs).
  • Navigate menus, click buttons, and move through dialogue boxes. 
  • Execute tasks such as generating a charts, drafting an email, or applying formatting. 

It does this in the context of a Microsoft hosted secure virtual PC and does not take over your personal device.

How This Differs from the Current Researcher Agent

The Researcher Agent as we’ve known it has been a powerful tool for finding and contextualising information. It queries internal and external sources, summarises results, and provides references. But until now, it stopped short of doing anything with that information other than the relatively limited for sting capability that it provides ready for your cut and paste skills.

This is where the new Computer Use tools come in by adding the following differences.

  • Researcher Agent (today): Finds, summarises, and presents knowledge. 
  • Researcher Agent with Computer Use: Acts on that knowledge by operating applications and completing tasks, this mess it will be able to leverage the full power of desktops apps to make the output more polished. It can also access secured/gated resources by opening the website or resource in a virtual secure browser and passing control back to you to sign-in with your credentials to access such content.

This allows (as you can see in my example below), Researcher to actually browse the web, reason over the pages it finds and conduct research more efficiently than just using it’s LLMs and AI search mode. The result “should” be a much more fluid, accurate and representative piece of research.

Where Researcher was your simply your analyst, Reseacher with Computer Use becomes more of a full-assistant – able to take the next step and apply the insights directly into your workflow. 

Why This makes a difference

This (and as it evolves) has the potential to make. A big difference in the way output is produced as it can leverage it’s research inside the core apps you would typically use when brining information together such as Word or Excel.

As such the implications are significant: 

  • Reduced friction: Fewer clicks, fewer context switches, less manual effort. 
  • Consistency: Routine tasks (like formatting reports or applying compliance templates) are executed the same way every time. 
  • Accessibility: Natural language becomes the new interface, lowering barriers for all users. 
  • Extends the range of access Researcher has which means users can now generate rich artifacts such as presentations, spreadsheets, and applications using advanced code generation.

This is really about amplifying the output and cutting out more steps, with Copilot handling more of the set the mechanics once the output is created.

Guardrails and Trust

Many will have yet more concerns about what AI can do and how much control it has.

Microsoft has built Computer Use with transparency and control in mind and bear in mind it is NOT talking over actual control of your device. As such:

  1. It only acts when explicitly instructed (you need to enable computer use). 
  2. It shows you what it’s doing the whole time with total transparency
  3. It respects organisational policies and permissions and can’t do anything or access anything you cannot already access.
  4. Passes control back to you if its need you to sign-in to access secure or gates resources
  5. You have control over what Researcher can access with regards web data and work data (based on your access rights naturally).

User credentials are never transfered to or from the sandbox environment, and all intermediate files are automatically deleted when sessions end. This ensures that this AI automation does not come at the cost of compliance or user trust.  You are always in control.

The diagram below, depicts how it works.

Researcher Agent with Computer Mode – Secure data orchestration to Sandbox Environment. (c) Microsoft.

The future...

This is part of a broader trend: AI agents are evolving from passive Copilots to active collaborators. Workflows are becoming conversational, not procedural and the tools start to fade into the background, and outcomes come to the foreground. 

For leaders, strategists, and IT professionals, the challenge now is to rethink processes, training, and measurement in a world where AI doesn’t just inform work it does it with and for us.

This latest addition of Computer Use to the Researcher Agent is a signal of what’s to come. The pace of change and evolution of these tools is rapid. The future of AI at work continues to punch boundaries and evolve from just finding and researching towards doing stuff for us….

What do you think? Have you tried it yet?

Read more at Microsoft

Read more on this at Microsoft

Check out my first use video below:

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Windows 11 bringing new “Ask Copilot” to the taskbar

Image Describing Windows 11 updates

Windows Insiders in the Dev and Beta channels can start testing a new Copilot search experience which is available through the Windows Search bar.

To get started go to Settings > Personalisation > Taskbar > Ask Copilot to enable the experience. You can also manage whether the Copilot app launches automatically at sign-in using the “Auto start on log in” toggle in the Copilot app settings.

This is an opt-in experience, but once enabled gives you one-click access to Copilot Vision and Voice, so you can use what ever interaction style works best for –  text, voice, or guided support with Copilot Vision.

As you type, results appear and are updated instantly, making it easier than ever to find what you are looking for.

New Copilot experience in Windows Toolbar/Search
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No Agenda? No Excuse. Copilot can now help with agenda creation.

Let’s talk about one of my biggest pet peeves: the agenda-less meeting invite.

You know the type. A calendar ping lands in your inbox with a vague title like “Catch-up” or “Project Sync,” zero context, and no prep materials. You’re left guessing: Is this strategic? Tactical? A therapy session? Should I bring data, decisions, or just make a coffee, sit back and relax!?

In a world where time is our most precious resource, this kind of ambiguity isn’t just annoying – it’s inefficient. And now, there’s no excuse for it.

Copilot: Your Agenda Architect

Microsoft Copilot has quietly transformed how we prepare for meetings. It doesn’t just help – it proactively builds structure into your invites.

Copilot Agenda Assistant 🫡

Here’s how it works:

🧠 Context-aware agendas: When you create a meeting in Outlook, Copilot can draft an agenda based on the meeting title, attendees, and your input. It pulls from your Microsoft 365 work graph – emails, chats, previous meetings — to suggest relevant topics.

✍️ Editable and iterative: You’re not stuck with the first draft. You can tweak, refine, or ask Copilot to revise it until it reflects exactly what you need.

🔍 Pre-reads and prep prompts: Copilot now surfaces key insights directly in the meeting form. It can help you locate pre-reads, clarify the meeting’s intended outcome, and even suggest follow-up questions.

👥 Supports all meeting types: Whether it’s a 1:1, a team sync, or a cross-functional war room, Copilot’s meeting prep experience adapts accordingly.

Why This Matters.

We have a been sent meetings with nothing but a title. We’ve all sat through these types of meetings that felt like a waste of time. The truth is, most meetings aren’t inherently bad – they’re just underprepared. Even if someone has called you or IM’d you about it and sent a meeting a day later, a clear agenda is still important, sets expectations, aligns participants, and drives outcomes. It’s the difference between a productive sprint and a meandering chat.

Plus…. With AI tools like Facilitator which can help you manage the in meeting experience, agendas also help here too!

So next time you send a meeting invite, let Copilot help you do it properly. Because in 2025, “no agenda” isn’t just a faux pas — it’s a missed opportunity.

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Microsoft “App Builder” & “Workflow” Agents

Microsoft is expanding its Copilot Frontier Programme with two powerful new agents. These are the App Builder and Workflows Agents.

These put “app creation” and automation directly into the hands of everyday users, with zero coding needed just an idea and an ask. These new agents are designed to further democratise innovation across every person in every organisations, making it possible to build “apps” and streamline processes using nothing more than natural language.

They are rolling out in the US now and will come to UK, Canada and the other regions over the next week or so.

I’ll add a demo to this blog soon!

What are the App Builder and Workflows Agents?

Firstly, these are new, in preview for Frontier (early adopters) and may change. They are not designed to replace Power Apps or Copilot Studio but more about adding value to info workers and non developers. Here is the new agents, which you can get by going to the main Copilot page, agents and get more agents.

App Builder: A no-code agent that enables anyone to design and deploy lightweight apps in minutes. It can generate a Microsoft Lists backend if needed and is grounded in Microsoft 365 content like Word, Excel, and Teams.  These are not full blown apps that can hook into enterprise data or anything but create simple to use, functional and simple agents for things like data input, collection and look up.

Image (c) Microsoft

Workflows: An automation agent that turns everyday requests into flows across Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, Planner, and more – without needing Power Automate expertise. Again these are quite simple, but great for simple automation needs when you know what you want to do but don’t have time or want to learn / use Power Automate.

Image (c) Microsoft

Both these new agents are integrated into the Copilot Studio lite experience, ensuring they inherit Microsoft 365’s enterprise-grade security, compliance, and governance. 

How Do They Work?

These agents work like other agents but are specific functional agents. They work by:

  • Using Natural Language Prompts: users can simply describe what they need. For example “Build me a dashboard to track campaign milestones” or “Send a Teams reminder every Friday at 3pm” – and Copilot translates that into a working app or automated flow. 
  • Multi-turn Editing: Once the agent is created it can be modified, updated, refined with additional interactions without having to starting from scratch. 
  • Ensuring Seamless Integration: Outputs are instantly shareable, just like a document link, and respect existing permissions and governance.

These agents lower the barrier to innovation and help spur on what is possible. Instead of relying on IT or developers, any employee can now build tools that fit their needs whether that’s a lightweight app for tracking, or a workflow that eliminates repetitive admin. Since they are built into Microsoft 365, they inherit the same security, compliance, and governance as the rest of the platform. 

App Builder Use examples

  • Create a product launch dashboard to track milestones and assign tasks. 
  • Build a calculator app for quick cost estimates, grounded in Excel data. 
  • Generate interactive lists for project tracking, with Microsoft Lists as the backend.

Workflows agent use examples

  • Automate weekly Teams updates with deadlines pulled from Planner. 
  • Set up email reminders for approval deadlines. 
  • Manage calendar scheduling by automatically blocking time for recurring tasks. 

Current Limitations

  • Frontier Programme Only: Currently limited to participants in the Copilot Frontier Programme and need to be “deployed by IT admin” initially
  • Language Support: Available in English only. 
  • Controls: Access depends on Microsoft 365 app store settings and admin policies. 
  • Governance & Permissions: Agents respect existing role-based access controls. 
  • Scope: Aimed at designing lightweight apps and workflows; complex scenarios will still require Copilot Studio or Power Platform. 
  • Performance Throttling: Heavy usage may trigger throttling.  


Deploying the App Agent and Workflow Agent

These new agents are currently only available for organisations enrolled in the Copilot “Frontier Programme”.To access the agent, you need to go to the M365 Copilot app (or https://m365.cloud.microsoft/chat) and go to Agents. From there you should be able to see the new Agents as shown below.

NOTE: If you can’t see these new agents, you’ll need to chat to your friendly IT team as they may need to enable / deploy these agents whilst they are still in preview state. Again these are only available for organisations enrolled in the Copilot “Frontier Programme”.

Final Thoughts

The App Builder and Workflows agents represents another step forward in Microsoft’s vision of empowering everyone to innovate with AI.

Whilst these agents are far from a replacement for full-scale development or automation platforms, they provide a fast, accessible way to solve everyday problems. For organisations in the Copilot Frontier Programme, these agents are a glimpse into a future where building apps and automations is as easy as describing what you want.

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Cyber Resilience – the new Trust Currency

TL;DR – UK Cyber Threats Surge

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has published its annual threat review, and the numbers are staggering but not surprising as we have seen a platora of high profile attacks this year, impacting manufacturing, retain and public sector! The report unveils:


📊 64% increase in cyber incidents reported to the NCSC over the past 12 months.

🧨 Ransomware up 25%, with critical sectors like healthcare and education hit hardest 

🌍 State-backed actors from Russia, China, and Iran remain the top threat sources 

🧱 Legacy infrastructure and supply chain gaps cited as key vulnerabilities 

🧠 NCSC urges adoption of zero trust, AI-driven detection, and cross-sector collaboration

Inside the 2025 NCSC Report

In a year defined by geopolitical tension, AI acceleration, and hybrid work fragmentation, the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has issued a sobering but not unexpected update: cyber attacks aren’t just increasing  they’re evolving too!

Their latest stats show a 64% increase in reported incidents, with ransomware leading all attacks.

The report also details how attacks are not just random. They’re strategic, targeted, and often state-sponsored. Russia, China, and Iran continue to dominate the threat landscape, with tactics ranging from data theft to infrastructure sabotage.

Why This Matters for UK Organisations

Whether you’re a CIO in local government or a CTO in fintech,or CSO in a retail firm, the message is clear: cyber resilience is no longer a compliance checkbox it must be a strategic differentiator.

The Cyber Attack on Jaguar LandRover has been expected to cost the UK around £1.9Bn, the most economically damaging hack to date in British history. The attack didn’t just affect JlR, with the Cyber Monitoring Centre (CMC) reporting that more than 5,000 organisations were affected as a direct result of the fallout from the attack,which halted production for five weeks.

The NCSC and other experts have said that this incident should be a “turning point for how both business and public bodies handle cyber risk“.

The sectors most affected – healthcare, retail, education, and public services all share a common vulnerability: Legacy infrastructure and fragmented supply chains.

This isn’t just about patching systems. It’s about rethinking and modernising infrastructure data centre and cloud architecture, identity access and above all accountability. This should be board level talk..

NCSC Guidance

The NCSC’s guidance to ever business is clear:

🔐 Adopt zero trust frameworks – treat every access request as hostile until proven otherwise 
🧠 Deploy AI-driven threat detection – adapt faster than adversaries 
🤝 Build cross-sector intelligence sharing – response is a team sport. This includes training. Not just IT but everyone..

This isn’t just about maintainance and patching systems. It’s about rethinking architecture, identity management and protection at every layer (including partners, supply chain and every point of entry). There is also guidance around simplifying the number of vendors whilst increasing end to end protection, and makimg cyber security everybody’s responsibility and holding yourselves accountable.

From Reactive to Proactive Protection

The message is that organisations need to shift the narrative and make it a business thing. Cybersecurity is no longer just about IT and SecOps – it’s a boardroom imperative and needs to be discussed at every board meeting.

Organisations that thrive will be those that:

  • Embed cyber resilience into their value proposition 
  • Use compliance as a competitive advantage, not a burden 
  • Equip teams with diagnostic tools to self-assess risk posture and response readiness
  • Train their people. Everyone. Every role.

In an age of digital interdependence, customers don’t just buy your product – they buy your ability to protect their data, their reputation, and their continuity. If you sell security services this is paramount. If you buy security services then ask yourself “how do they protect you and your reputation?”

Customers don’t just buy your product or services – they buy your reputation, and ability to protect their data, their reputation, and their continuity. They assume you are secure and can protect yourselves and their data!

Cyber resilience isn’t just technical. It’s emotional. It’s about confidence, clarity, and control.

Free NCSC training and assessment

There’s loads of free tools and training available at the NCSC website here.

https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/cyber-governance-for-boards/training

Read the NCSC 2025 report

You can download NCSC Annual Review 2025 using the link below.

🔗 NCSC Annual Review 2025 (PDF)

It’s packed with insights on threat trends, sector vulnerabilities, and strategic recommendations for UK organisations.

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