Two Major Admin Control Updates for Copilot and Agent Management

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At Ignite Microsoft showcased and talked about two new admin controls for Copilot and Agents. These controls drew a significant amount of attention for their potential to simplify management and strengthen governance across Copilot experiences and AI agents. These capabilities are now emerging in preview, offering administrators early access to improved insights, expanded control surfaces, and more secure operational foundations. Copilot Overview Page Refresh in Microsoft 365 Admin Center First off is the redesigned landing page for Copilot in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center (MAC), giving admins an at-a-glance view of the Copilot journey across Chat, Agents, and M365 Copilot. This update  centralizes critical insights and success metrics, helping organizations accelerate adoption and maintain security posture. The refreshed page introduces success metrics such as Chat active users, assisted hours for licensed users, and satisfaction rate. Each Copilot pillar now includes multi‑...

Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat - Pay As You Go

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Here is an update that really caught my eye this week. Microsoft is introducing Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat (BizChat) as a Pay-As-You-Go (PayG) service. This option will be available starting late January 2025, with full availability by mid-February 2025.

Key Highlights:
  • Flexible Access: Organizations can offer Copilot on company data without requiring individual licenses. However, a license is still needed for Copilot within applications like Outlook, Teams, and PowerPoint.
  • Controlled Costs: The PayG service is disabled by default and only activates after billing setup in the Microsoft 365 admin center, preventing unexpected expenses.
  • Easy Setup: To enable PayG billing, navigate to "Settings -> Org Settings" in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. An Azure subscription and a dedicated Resource Group are required.
For more details on Azure subscriptions and Resource groups, refer to these articles:
  • Create your initial Azure subscriptions - Cloud Adoption Framework | Microsoft Learn
  • Manage resource groups - Azure portal - Azure Resource Manager | Microsoft Learn

The PayG model offers a low-cost entry point to Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, ideal for testing or intermittent usage. It provides flexibility to scale usage based on actual needs, avoiding the cost of unused licenses. However, it's crucial to monitor usage to prevent unexpected costs, as PayG can be more expensive than fixed licenses if not managed properly. For consistent, high usage, a fixed license per seat may be more cost-effective.

Fixed licenses offer predictable costs and additional features, making budgeting simpler. While PayG is limited to the Chat application, it’s a great way to introduce Copilot into your organization.

It is going to be interesting to see if organizations embrace this new model, and how it potentially can drive the usage of generative AI even further within companies.