Managed Copilot Optimization
Evidence per department before the Copilot renewal, every month.
See the engagementMANAGED AI AND AGENT OPERATIONS
Someone has to run the agents after the pilot.
A pilot proves a workflow. Operations keep it inside its boundary month after month, when the people who built it have moved on. We run the agent estate on Microsoft Agent 365: inventory, access reviews, cost limits, incident handling and a monthly evidence pack your auditor can read.
01 Source02 Boundary03 Human decision04 Evidence
HOW IT WORKS
The control path in practice.
- Take over the inventory and the permission rows from the pilot handover.
- Watch access, cost and drift against the agreed limits.
- Handle an incident under the authority you set in writing.
- Hand you a monthly evidence pack and the decisions that need you.
WAYS TO START
The fixed engagements behind this page.
Agent Consolidation
One decision per agent across every platform: keep, migrate, merge, rebuild or retire.
See the engagementTHE GAP
What happens to an AI workflow after the pilot team moves on?
It drifts: permissions widen, costs creep, an agent nobody owns keeps running, and the first person to notice is the auditor.
Managed AI and Agent Operations is the service that keeps the pilot's handover true: the inventory stays current, the permission rows are reviewed, the caps hold, incidents are handled under written authority, and you get a monthly evidence pack.
THE MICROSOFT INSIGHT
How does the service keep the AI bill inside the budget?
With spending policies and limits for Copilot Credits by user, group, environment or agent in the Microsoft 365 admin center, and threshold alerts that reach a named person.
The Cost management dashboard in the Microsoft 365 admin center lets admins set spending policies and limits for Copilot Credits by user, group, environment or agent, and send threshold alerts. (Microsoft Learn, checked Oct 31, 2026)
Set the caps and review them monthly and the CFO reads a report. Leave them and the CFO reads an invoice.
THE METHOD
What does the service do each month?
Four things, written into the scope: keep the inventory, watch the limits, act under authority, report the evidence.
- Take over the inventory and the permission rows from the pilot handover and keep them current.
- Watch access, cost and drift against the agreed limits, and review the rows on a schedule.
- Handle an incident under the authority you set in writing, and escalate what it does not cover.
- Hand you a monthly evidence pack and the decisions that need you.
THE MEMORY
What does an agent remember after you block it?
Agents with their own account, a Frontier preview, keep a shared memory that users cannot opt out of and admins cannot switch off separately from the account, so retiring an agent is a step the service runs, not a switch.
Copilot Studio agents with their own account, a Frontier preview, keep a shared memory that users cannot opt out of and admins cannot switch off separately from agent accounts; memories are deleted after 28 days without interaction. (Microsoft Learn, checked Oct 31, 2026, preview)
Retire agents on a procedure and the memory is handled. Block them and assume the memory went with them, and it did not.
THE FIRST RUNG
When does a firm need managed operations?
When the first governed workflow is live and the people who built it are no longer the people who run it, which is usually the quarter after the pilot.
The service starts after an assessment and a pilot have produced the inventory and the rows, with the authority matrix signed before the first month. Quoted after a scoping call.
AFTER TWO WEEKS
What will be working after two weeks?
- The inventory and the permission rows from the pilot are in the service's hands and verified.
- The caps and alerts are set and the first threshold report has been read.
- The authority matrix and the escalation policy are signed.
- The first monthly evidence pack format is agreed with your compliance officer.
The work is delivered remotely inside your own Microsoft tenant, wherever your business is, and on site only when the work needs it.
HONEST ABOUT LIMITS
What this does not do yet
It does not replace the owner of each workflow on your side. Microsoft Agent 365 is the control plane that observes, governs and secures agents built on Microsoft platforms or acquired from third parties, through the Microsoft 365 admin center, Microsoft Entra, Microsoft Purview and Microsoft Defender. (Microsoft Learn, checked Oct 31, 2026) The service runs the controls; your named owner still approves consequential actions, which is what keeps the evidence yours.
It does not start before the pilot has produced the inventory and the rows: a service that inherits assumptions keeps them.
It does not widen any agent's permissions on its own: the may-do-alone column changes only on your written decision.
THE ONE THING TO REMEMBER
Someone has to run the agents after the pilot, under an authority you wrote down.
Said another way: the service keeps the handover true.
Said a third way: inventory, limits, authority, evidence, every month.
SHOW YOUR WORK
See the control path on a fictional bank.
A risky AI use alert gets an owner
The sample response names who reviews and who may act.
Coming
See every demonstrationDIRECT ANSWERS
Questions before you decide.
Can the service start without a pilot?
No. It inherits the inventory and the permission rows from a read-only assessment and a pilot, so it never starts on assumptions.
What is in the monthly evidence pack?
The inventory with owners, the permission rows and any changes, access and cost against limits, incidents and the authority they were handled under, and the decisions that need you.
Who acts in an incident?
The service, for the actions the authority matrix grants, and a named person on your side for everything else. Nothing is widened without your written decision.
How are agents retired?
By procedure: the row is closed, access is revoked and verified, and memory held by an agent account is handled as the Microsoft terms allow at that date.
How is it priced?
Quoted after a scoping call, once the assessment and pilot have defined the scope. No price is published.
NEXT STEP
Start with a boundary you can explain.
Choose a focused check, or speak with the team about the workflow you need to improve.