Microsoft Introduces Agent 365, And Things Just Got Very Interesting
A special AI Inside for Tuesday, November 18, 2025
Microsoft just lifted the embargo on a big announcement, and we had the chance to sit down ahead of the launch with the executive behind it, so we’re dropping a bonus episode a day early.
The announcement is called Agent 365, and it’s Microsoft’s new control plane for managing AI agents across the enterprise. As agents begin showing up everywhere inside organizations, often outside the awareness of IT and security teams, Agent 365 steps in to identify them, understand their permissions, secure their behavior, and give companies a way to manage what is a new class of digital workers.
For this special episode, we talked with Charles Lamanna, the Microsoft leader responsible for Business Apps and Agents and one of the primary minds behind Agent 365 itself. He is the person shaping Microsoft’s agent strategy, and he joined me and Jeff Jarvis on the podcast to explain the thinking behind the launch, as well as reveal a few tidbits that look into the future of this technology.
One moment that really caught my attention was when Charles mentioned that Microsoft already has more than 130,000 agents running internally, and that the number is growing by tens of thousands every month. That alone reframes the scale of what’s coming.
He also hinted at future telemetry that will let Microsoft detect agents that misrepresent themselves as apps, which says a lot about where the ecosystem is heading and what challenges they expect on the horizon.
We also discussed the bigger picture. Microsoft isn’t treating agents like apps or scripts. They’re treating them like coworkers or digital teammates. Entities with identities, permissions, and roles. Agents that join your Teams meetings, send email, and show up inside the same workspace where people collaborate. Microsoft has gone to great lengths to ensure they are disclosed properly, labelling them as agents, but they are also integrated enough that it feels like a bit of a glimpse at an entirely new working environment.
It’s a little surreal to imagine a future where your next meeting might include a few human colleagues and a few agents sitting right beside them. It feels a bit like science fiction is edging its way further into the board room.
This bonus episode offers a uniquely candid window into where AI agents are headed and why Microsoft is betting so heavily on this shift. If you want to understand the strategy behind today’s announcement, this conversation is worth your time.