Microsoft Ignite 2025 summarized

Microsoft is focusing heavily on AI agents that no longer just provide support, but independently take on tasks, prepare decisions, and control workflows. At its core is Agent 365, a new platform that companies can use to develop, manage, secure, and monitor agents. This is complemented by new identities for agents (Entra Agent ID) as well as security solutions and comprehensive governance tools.

Microsoft 365 Copilot gets specialized agents for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint that create high-quality content, analyze data, and take over entire work processes. In Teams, agents communicate with third-party apps such as GitHub or Jira via the Model Context Protocol.

Three new layers—Work IQ, Fabric IQ, and Foundry IQ—form the semantic basis for enterprise AI. They link data from M365, business processes, locations, and internal knowledge sources and make it usable for agents.

In the security area, there are twelve new security agents that analyze threats, verify identities, control permissions, and support compliance – embedded in Defender, Entra, Intune, and Purview.

For developers, there are new tools for running AI locally or in the cloud: Windows offers new on-device AI APIs, and cloud PCs can run agents in controlled environments (Windows 365 for Agents). The entire AI lifecycle – from design to deployment – is being improved.

According to a new study, 68% of companies are already using AI; companies that adopt agents early on achieve significantly higher returns. Microsoft is thus positioning AI agents as the standard for the next generation of enterprises.

Announcements

Here are the points that are particularly relevant for companies – operational, organizational, and regulatory:

Agent 365 & Entra Agent ID → important for regulated industries

Germany has strict requirements for governance, data protection, traceability, and identity systems (especially Bafin & ISO environments).

Agent 365 offers:

•    Complete monitoring of agents

•    Audit logs for every action

•    Policies & roles that can be configured to comply with GDPR

•    Identity verification for agents via Entra Agent ID (important for the financial sector, industry, public administration)

=> This provides a controllable framework for AI, as is often required in Germany.

Security agents

The twelve new security agents can:

•    automatically analyze incidents

•    monitor identity risks

•    check compliance rules

•    clean up permissions

=> This is particularly relevant given that, according to Bitkom, Germany has a lack of thousands of security experts every year.

Work IQ & Fabric IQ → big impact for small and medium-sized businesses

German SMEs often have:

•    fragmented data silos

•    little internal AI expertise

•    heterogeneous IT landscapes

Fabric IQ and Foundry IQ create a uniform, semantic database – without huge data warehouse projects.

=> This makes AI “SME-compatible.”

New M365 agents => Productivity boosters for office-intensive industries

Particularly relevant in Germany for:

•    Mechanical engineering (documentation, quotations)

•    Consulting (analyses, presentations)

•    Public service (forms, letters, evaluations)

•    Insurance (reports, damage analyses)

The agents in Word/Excel/PowerPoint are designed to:

•    create complete documents

•    prepare tables

•    automatically build presentations

=> Significant time savings for highly regulated or documentation-heavy processes.

Local AI in Windows → important for data protection & industry

Many companies do not want to send data to the cloud.

The new on-device APIs offer:

•    AI without the internet

•    Stable image and speech models locally

•    Lower latency

•    Possibility for edge computing in Industry 4.0

Windows 365 for Agents => secure cloud operation

Cloud PCs are attractive for companies because:

•    Data remains in the data center

•    Centralized management is easier

•    Hybrid work has become the norm

Agents can now run on these cloud PCs – securely, in a controlled manner, and scalably.

=> A good solution for using AI, but without the risk of uncontrolled growth.

MCP connections (Teams ↔ Jira, GitHub, SAP)

MCP = Model Context Protocol, a protocol for connecting AI models with external data and tools.

Many companies work extensively with:

•    Jira (IT & project management)

•    SAP (ERP & logistics)

•    GitHub Enterprise

•    Atlassian stacks

Agents can interact directly with these via MCP.

=> This makes AI immediately usable for existing core systems.

==> All announcements can be found in the Book of News: https://news.microsoft.com/ignite-2025-book-of-news/