At Microsoft Ignite, executives outlined the future of human-agent collaboration where AI agents are gaining specialized roles to enhance team collaboration.
AI agents are no longer simply personal assistants to assist with writing emails or researching topics. AI agents can actually function as team members to make collaboration and work more effective. At least, that's how Microsoft is envisioning the future of human-agent collaboration.
At the recent Microsoft Ignite conference in San Francisco, company leaders discussed the Copilot capabilities that support the evolution of collaborative AI. Copilot's integrations with Teams meetings, calls and chats are focused on personal productivity, but the new Teams Mode for Microsoft Copilot enables AI-based team collaboration, said Russell Dicker, corporate VP of Teams product and data.
Microsoft is focused on two categories of collaborative AI: human-agent teams, where AI agents are added to existing teams, and human-led, agent-operated teams, where humans provide directions for AI agents but only intervene when necessary, Dicker said.
With Teams Mode for Copilot, users can add Copilot to existing chats by using an @mention. Copilot can then function as a participant in the group chat. Users can also bring their individual Copilot chats to group chats.
"I think you'll see a future in which the typical knowledge worker has several agents for various aspects of their work," said Irwin Lazar, president and principal analyst at Metrigy. These agents can carry out repeatable tasks and communicate across different tasks, he said.
I think you'll see a future in which the typical knowledge worker has several agents for various aspects of their work.
Irwin LazarPresident and principal analyst, Metrigy
Team members can use several of Copilot's AI agents that have specialized skills to create new ways to collaborate, said Pete Daderko, senior director of product marketing at Microsoft.
For example, the facilitator agent can add action items to meeting chats, add items to the meeting agenda and catch up latecomers on what they missed. The facilitator agent can also create Loop components and Word documents based on the meeting conversation, Daderko said.
Copilot agents also integrate with other services, such as Atlassian, Asana and GitHub. Organizations can build their own Teams-integrated agents using the Teams SDK, Dicker said.
AI collaboration challenges and risks
Organizations face both security and end-user challenges with human-agent collaboration.
Lazar said there are three primary risks to relying on AI agents for critical business workflows:
Data leakage from content made available to agents that shouldn't have access.
However, many organizations do have security measures in place. According to Metrigy's "Workplace Collaboration and Contact Center Security and Compliance: 2026" study, 65% of companies that have deployed agents have security plans that include features like testing agent access to data and agent accuracy.
For end users, the challenge lies in accepting the use of agents in their workflows.
"I think it comes down to training and building a community to share what works and what doesn't," Lazar said. However, he cautioned that even with training and increased adoption of AI agents, a divide will remain between employees who embrace human-agent collaboration and those who don't.
Cisco and Microsoft team up on AI collaboration
Cisco and Microsoft's meeting room partnership extends this vision for AI as a collaboration participant. Cisco is bringing its agentic AI experience to Microsoft Teams Rooms through the Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform (MDEP) framework for Teams-certified devices.
"We want to make sure the device becomes a teammate," said Patrick Eustace, senior global go-to-market lead for Cisco collaboration devices. All Cisco AI meeting capabilities, such as Notetaker and Director, are available in Teams meetings through MDEP.
"We're making sure we're not bringing a dumbed-down experience from the Microsoft cloud, nor a dumbed-down AI in the edge that's going on in the room," said Tom Richards, senior director of product management at Cisco. "We want the best of both worlds."
Katherine Finnell is senior site editor for TechTarget's unified communications site. She writes and edits articles on a variety of business communications technology topics, including unified communications as a service, video conferencing and collaboration.
