From November 17 to 20, 2026, Microsoft Ignite will take place in San Francisco and online. Ignite is Microsoft's largest annual event for IT professionals. Here you'll learn about upcoming changes in Microsoft 365, Azure, Dynamics 365, and security. These are the themes we are keeping an eye on.
1. From building agents to managing agents
Last year, the focus was primarily on building agents. This year, the attention shifts to securely managing them in production. Expect news about Agent 365, Microsoft Entra Agent ID, and lifecycle management of agents in Copilot Studio.
2. The new Copilot app
Microsoft is bringing Chat, Cowork, Code, and Autopilot together in one Copilot app, with Copilot Home as the starting point. At Ignite, we expect more details on availability, especially of Autopilot, which is now in private preview.
3. Keeping AI costs under control
With Copilot Credits, you increasingly pay per use. Cost management, budgets, and insights into AI's yield will become a key theme. This is especially relevant as of December 1, 2026, when usage-based billing becomes standard for new Copilot Business licenses through CSP.
4. Securing AI
Microsoft Security calls securing agents a main theme. Think of finding and resolving risky agents, Zero Trust for AI with Microsoft Defender, and data protection with Microsoft Purview.
5. Azure Copilot agents
For Azure management, Microsoft introduces agents for migration, deployment, optimization, monitoring, resilience, and troubleshooting. These are in limited preview.
6. Business data in Copilot
With Work IQ and Fabric IQ, Copilot gains access to data from Dynamics 365, Power Platform, and Microsoft Fabric. Expect further expansions here.
What does this mean for you?
You don't have to follow everything. We do that for you. After Ignite, we will publish an overview of the announcements that truly matter for organizations in the Netherlands and Belgium. We will also update our articles on licenses and costs.
Curious about what Ignite means for your organization? Contact 365 Angels.
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