According to Digital Trends, Microsoft is building AI agents that don’t just assist but actually function as full-fledged employees with their own email, Teams accounts, and company IDs. These “Agentic Users” will be sold through an “M365 Agent Store” and likely tied to a new license called “A365” or Agent 365 rather than standard Microsoft 365 plans. The rollout could begin as early as November this year, according to internal documents. Unlike current AI assistants like Copilot, these agents will operate autonomously by sending emails, joining meetings, editing files, and completing tasks independently. This represents a fundamental shift from AI tools that help humans to AI that acts as humans in workplace environments.
This changes everything about work
Here’s the thing – we’re not talking about another chatbot or fancy autocomplete. These are digital employees that could fundamentally reshape how offices function. Imagine having a coworker who never sleeps, never takes vacation, and handles all the tedious administrative work that bogs down human productivity. But that’s also what makes this so potentially disruptive.
Who manages an AI employee? What happens when it makes a mistake on an important client email? And let’s be real – how many meetings could actually be handled by AI instead of humans? The productivity gains could be massive, but so could the management headaches. Companies will need entirely new protocols for supervising, auditing, and collaborating with non-human workers.
The messy reality of digital coworkers
Now, the technical implementation is fascinating. These agents getting their own email and Teams accounts means they’ll exist in the same systems as human employees. That creates all sorts of interesting scenarios. Will AI agents need their own performance reviews? What about security clearances? And honestly, how do you prevent them from becoming the office spammer?
The licensing model tells you everything about Microsoft’s strategy here. By creating a separate “A365” license rather than bundling it with existing plans, they’re treating these as additional employees, not additional features. That’s smart business – but it also means companies will need to justify the cost of each AI agent the same way they would a human hire.
Where this is heading
Basically, watch Microsoft Ignite in November. If they unveil this technology there, we’ll get our first real look at how these digital employees will actually work. Early adoption will probably happen in admin roles, customer support, and maybe even coding tasks where the work is more structured and measurable.
But the bigger question is what happens when these agents become sophisticated enough that you can’t tell whether you’re interacting with a human or AI in your daily work. We’re heading toward a future where your most responsive colleague might be the one that’s entirely software. And that’s both exciting and honestly a bit terrifying.
