AI Agents Are Moving into Windows and IT Needs a Plan

Petri Dish

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AI agents are moving beyond simple productivity helpers and becoming autonomous workers across Windows, Microsoft 365, and enterprise systems.

In this episode of Petri Dish, Russell Smith talks with Craig Birch, Principal Technologist at Cayosoft, about Microsoft’s AI agent announcements from Build, including Agent 365, Microsoft 365 E7, agent identity, permissions, governance, and the risk of agent sprawl.

If you manage Microsoft 365, Entra ID, security, or IT operations, this conversation explains why AI agents need to be treated like first-class identities and not trusted employees on day one.

Thanks to Cayosoft for sponsoring this episode!

Russell Smith

Russell Smith, the Editorial Director at Petri IT Knowledgebase, has over two decades of hands-on experience in IT, in both small business settings and government IT infrastructure projects. Russell started writing for Windows IT Pro Magazine in the early 2000s. Since then, he has contributed insights to various IT publications, including Petri and CDW. His authoritative voice has resonated across industry blogs, where he dissects complex topics into an ‘easy read’. Russell has authored over a thousand articles, each a testament to his depth of knowledge. His expertise doesn’t stop there: he wrote a book on Privilege Management and co-authored another for Microsoft’s MOAC series. Moreover, Russell’s commitment to education shines through in the courses he crafted for Pluralsight. He is also presenter on his own YouTube channel, This Week in IT, and the current presenter of Petri Dish.