Summary
- Microsoft is introducing public preview admin controls for managing Business Applications in Work IQ, expanding Copilot grounding to include business applications data.
- AI admins can control whether business applications are available in Copilot, while Power Platform and environment admins can govern which environments participate and what data can be used.
- Makers can further scope which apps and data are included inside enabled environments; enabling an environment does not automatically include all apps or data.
- Existing permissions are respected, and this change does not broaden user, agent, application, or data access.
- Review current permissions and environment/app participation to decide what should be enabled when the feature becomes available.
Primary Service: M365 Copilot
Admin Impact: Medium
User Impact: Medium
Release Start: 17 Nov 2026
Release End: 17 Nov 2026
Services: Admin, M365 Copilot, Power Platform
Category: Stay informed
Tags: New Feature
History
10/20/2026 Item Added to Message Center
Microsoft Message
We are announcing the public preview of admin controls for managing Business Applications in Work IQ. This feature enables business applications data to help ground AI experiences alongside Microsoft 365 productivity data, while providing layered controls over which experiences, environments, apps, and data can participate. This feature will reach public preview by November 17, 2026.
How does this affect me?
Your organization will be able to make business applications data available to Work IQ experiences while maintaining control over how the data is accessed and used. Work IQ respects existing permissions for business applications data and AI experiences. Enabling this feature does not replace or expand existing user, agent, application, or data permissions.
Governance is managed across the following administrative layers:
- AI admins: Manage whether business applications are available in Copilot through Copilot > Settings in the Microsoft 365 admin center. They can also manage availability through the Work IQ Model Context Protocol (MCP) under Agents > Tools.
- Platform and environment admins: Use the Power Platform admin center (PPAC) to select which environments receive Work IQ features and which environments Work IQ can reason over and act on. They can also manage access to environment data for users, agents, and applications.
- Makers: Select the individual apps and data that participate within enabled environments. Enabling an environment does not automatically include every app or all its data.
What action do I need to take?
To prepare for this feature, we recommend that your organization:
- Review existing permissions for business applications data.
- Determine which AI experiences should have access to business applications.
- Select the environments that should participate through PPAC.
- Review environment data access for users, agents, and applications.
- Coordinate with makers to determine which apps and data should be included or excluded.
This message is for awareness, and no immediate action is required.