Microsoft Build: SCOUT AI Agents Running 24/7 on Every Windows PC

This Week in IT

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This week, Microsoft launched an always-on personal agent called Scout that acts under its own Entra identity at Build. They announced sandboxed execution containers that turn Windows into a proper agent runtime. And ASUS unveiled a mini PC purpose-built to run AI agents locally on your desk.

Thanks to Cayosoft for sponsoring this episode.

Episode overview

Microsoft’s “Scout” and Autopilots: Always-on AI agents that run continuously in the background, executing multi-step tasks across Microsoft 365 and local apps, raising questions about trust, governance, and identity management.
Windows Agent Execution Containers (MXC): A new containerised runtime that isolates AI agents, adds guardrails, and positions Windows as a secure platform for autonomous AI workloads.
Asus AI Mini PC: A purpose-built ARM-powered desktop designed to run AI agents 24/7, potentially replacing shadow IT setups like Mac Minis and bringing agent workloads under IT control.

Russell Smith

Editorial Director at Petri IT Knowledgebase. Russell has more than 20 years' experience working in IT. From small business to large government IT infrastructure projects. Russell started his writing career for Windows IT Pro magazine in the early 2000s. Since then, Russell has contributed to a variety of publications, including Petri, CDW's list of publications, and various industry blogs including Netwrix, BeyondTrust, and others. In addition to more than 1000 articles Russell has authored, he has also written a book on Windows security and co-authored another for Microsoft's MOAC series. Russell has also authored several courses for Pluralsight.