It’s one of the biggest events on the stacked Microsoft calendar for a reason: Ignite is where some of the industry’s biggest news emerges, and this year’s Ignite didn’t disappoint. On a red-hot agenda, it is the decisive shift to agentic AI as the next platform layer for enterprise work that caught the eye. Microsoft’s message is clear: AI is becoming the operating system for modern business. And agents are moving into the mainstream and will very soon (if not already) be working alongside you. 

As one would expect, there were plenty of announcements. The highlights from a Lancom Technology perspective with relevancy for customers already well into AI journeys include: 

• Agent 365 – Governance for AI Agents 

Agent 265 is a unified control plane for managing AI agents at scale, where agents are registered, managed and controlled like how organisations manage staff accounts. It provides identity via Microsoft Entra, integrates with Defender for security and Purview for governance and control, and offers dashboards for observability and compliance. 

Through our AI Roundtables and customer engagements, it’s become clear that rapid AI engagement isn’t risk free. Shadow AI is among the major challenges, because even as enterprises scale toward 1.3 billion agents by 2028, individuals within your company are adding their own solutions outside of corporate policies. Governance for agents with Agent 365 and other Microsoft solutions means illumination for the darker areas of your business.  

• The IQ Stack – Contextual Intelligence 

Work IQ: Powers Microsoft 365 Copilot with deep organisational context. 

Fabric IQ: Unifies analytical and operational data under one semantic model. 

Foundry IQ: A managed knowledge system for grounding agents in enterprise data.

Together, these layers enable agents to reason, understand business data and context, act safely, and deliver business-aligned outcomes. In simpler terms, that means AI that works for you, rather than ‘generic AI’ accessible to anyone. This is where competitive advantage lives. 

• Agent Factory 

A metered program for building and deploying agents across Microsoft 365 and custom environments, supported by AI Forward Deployed Engineers. 

• Windows 365 for Agents 

A secure cloud PC environment optimised for agentic workloads, signalling Microsoft’s intent to operationalise AI at every layer of the stack.  

• Copilot Enhancements 

Work IQ APIs for custom agent development. 

Dedicated agents for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, enabling true co-creation. This is particularly promising because it helps people to create content, analyse information or shape presentations using natural language. Ask your Excel for that pivot table!  

There’s also a price drop for Microsoft 365 Copilot Business to US $21/user/month from December.  

• Infrastructure & Data 

Azure HorizonDB: A scale-out PostgreSQL database for next-gen workloads. 

Cobalt 200 CPUs: Arm-based chips for energy-efficient cloud performance. 

Cosmos DB MCP Toolkit: Adds agentic capabilities for multi-agent systems.  

Taking your next step with Lancom Technology 

Beyond introducing new products, Ignite is the spark which helps us deliver further value by applying Microsoft solutions in your environment. As a Microsoft Solutions Partner with competencies in Azure, Digital and App Innovation, Security and Modern Workplace, Lancom Technology is equipped to support your innovation from the foundational layers, through to applications powered by or augmented with AI, or delivering automation eliminating repetitive tasks. 

We’ve spent some time going over the Ignite announcements, contextualizing them and evaluating how we can help put them to work for your business. 

Among the solutions we offer are: 

• Secure Cloud Workspaces for Agents 

Provision a Windows 365 for Agents pilot, with isolated agentic workloads in secure cloud PCs. These offer standardised configuration and logging, with performance validation for high frequency agent tasks. The pilot allows team members to work with Agents in a fast, safe environment where corporate data is protected. 

Bundled with Microsoft 365 Copilot Business at the new discounted pricing, getting an AI pilot or project underway with readiness checks, governance, enablement, and KPI tracking has never been easier. 

Agentic Security FastStart 

Kick off a 30-day ‘observe and improve’ project by enabling Security Copilot across Entra, Defender, Intune and Purview workloads, with playbooks for incident response, data loss scenarios, identity hygiene and endpoint baselines. With baselines defined, engage in a continuous improvement program to lift your security posture every day, with clear dashboards and reporting to give Executives and Boards improved governance and confidence. 

Next-Gen Data Platforms 

Modernise and unlock organisational data with a Discovery + Proof of Value Data Engineering Project, using Azure HorizonDB, Cosmos DB MCP Toolkit and (potentially) workload replacement with Cobalt 200 CPU systems. The data can feed into intelligent agents. 

Lancom AI Managed Service Program 

Move Board/ELT teams to the next level with our AI Managed Service Program.  Build AI Policies and conduct workshops turning ideas from your teams into clear and ongoing customer value.   

Endpoint and Intune Modernization for Human and Agent Devices 

Refresh existing Intune Policies and baselines to treat agents as first-class endpoints, with compliance rules, identity patterns and logging pipelines aligned to Agent 365 governance tools.  Create a unified, secure endpoint strategy covering both people and agents, protecting systems and data. 

A future of working together with Agentic AI 

It’s worth closing with a look back at the overarching Ignite theme: We need to prepare for a future where humans and AI agents collaborate continuously, with governance embedded rather than bolted on. 

Microsoft calls these organisations Frontier Firms, those that redesign processes around AI to unlock scale, efficiency, and innovation. 

For leaders, the takeaway is that agentic AI is emerging as an operating model, aligning with Lancom Technology’s vision, included in our June 2025 ‘The Executive’s AI Reckoning' whitepaper. 

It’s increasingly clear: The question is no longer if you adopt it, but how fast you can integrate AI (now agentic AI) safely and effectively.