Microsoft Build 2026, the premier Enterprise conference for Developers, Data & AI Builders, & Solutions Architects is back… this year in San Francisco, CA!
If you are interested in attending in-person in San Francisco OR if you’d simply like to join the FREE virtual/digital streaming experience, please take the time to register ASAP!
Over two days, you’ll get hands-on with cutting-edge tools, dig into real code, and connect with the engineers shaping the future of AI. Request to attend for a chance to:
Get trusted guidance for secure, reliable deployments.
Explore real-world customer stories.
Take part in deep-dive technical sessions and hands-on labs.
Engage with product and engineering leadership.
Network with your peers and technology leaders.
Plus, hear from:
Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO
Jared Palmer, VP of CoreAI, SVP of GitHub,
Scott Hanselman, VP, Member of Technical Staff, Microsoft/GitHub
Simon Willison, AI Researcher and Creator, Datasette
The Power Platform & Copilot Studio Advocacy team has released 2 comprehensive “Agent Development” training courses for Copilot Studio with both instructional content & videos for free!
Agent Academy: Recruit A foundational learning path designed to help makers and developers get started with building agents in Copilot Studio. https://aka.ms/agent-academy-recruit
Agent Academy: Operative The next level of training for people who already understand the basics of Copilot Studio and want to go deeper. It walks through building a complex multi-agent hiring process agent. https://aka.ms/agent-academy-operative
If you’re ready to get started learning Copilot Studio Agents, proceed to either the “Recruit” section for beginners or the “Operative” section for folks that know the basics.
VIDEOS: Copilot Student Agent Academy: Recruit – YouTube Master the art of building agents using Microsoft Copilot Studio in this comprehensive course by Power Platform Advocacy. This hands-on training is your entry point into the world of agents: from grounded prompts to Adaptive Cards and agent flows, you’ll learn how to build, scale, and deploy intelligent agents using real-world tools and use cases. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi9EhCY4z99XP2cKtQXnq9U-II16ae0k_
Your organization’s Microsoft 365 unified audit log captures, records, and retains thousands of user and admin operations performed in dozens of Microsoft services and solutions.
Security ops, IT admins, insider risk teams, and compliance and legal investigators in your organization can search audit records for these events. This capability provides visibility into the activities performed across your organization.
For Microsoft 365 GCC customers, there are 2 audit logging retention durations available, depending on the license subscribed to:
Microsoft 365 G3 (GCC) licensed customers are entitled to 180 days of audit logging by virtue of their entitlement to Purview Audit Standard.
Microsoft 365 G5 (GCC) licensed customers are entitled to 1 year of audit logging by virtue of their entitlements to Purview Audit Premium.
Reference:
Audit Standard 180-day audit log retention. When a user or admin performs an audited activity, the system generates an audit record and stores it in the audit log for your organization. In Audit (Standard), the system retains records for 180 days, which means you can search for activities that occurred within the past six months.
“Default audit log retention policy in Audit (Premium)”: “The default retention period for Audit (Standard) changed from 90 days to 180 days. Audit (Standard) logs generated before October 17, 2023 are retained for 90 days. Audit (Standard) logs generated on or after October 17, 2023 follow the new default retention of 180 days.”
“Before you create an audit log retention policy“: “To retain an audit log for longer than 180 days (and up to 1 year), the user who generates the audit log (by performing an audited activity) must have an Office 365 E5 or Microsoft 365 E5 license or a Microsoft Purview Suite (formerly known as Microsoft 365 E5 Compliance) or E5 eDiscovery and Audit add-on license.”
Audit Log Retention beyond 1 year For government customers licensed for Microsoft 365 GCC that require audit log retention for longer than 1 year, customers are required to have, for the user that requires auditing for longer than 1 year:
Microsoft 365 G5 license
Advanced Audit 10 Year GCC license
Reference:
“Before you create an audit log retention policy“: “To retain audit logs for 10 years, the user who generates the audit log must also have a 10-year audit log retention add-on license in addition to an E5 license.“
Licensing SKU The licensing SKU for government customers to request from their LAR for the “10 year Purview Audit GCC license” is:
8LF-00001 Advanced Audit 10 Year GCC Sub Add-on (Licensed per user, per month)
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“Classic Outlook for Windows” is being phased out for the “New Outlook for Windows”. The opt-out phase is slated to begin for Commercial & GCC customers March 2027. (This date was postponed from a previous date of April 2026 – see below)
Stages of migration to new Outlook for Windows This article provides a detailed timeline and roadmap for migrating to new Outlook for Windows and outlines the three progressive stages of migration: opt in, opt out, and cutover. The information is designed to help administrators prepare for the migration to new Outlook by understanding expected communications and the necessary preparations for each stage.
The date for the “opt-out” phase is listed in the Microsoft 365 Message Center message (MC949965) below:
Microsoft has postponed the opt-out phase for new Outlook in Enterprise from April 2026 to March 2027, giving organizations 12 months to prepare. Admins can use policies for staged migration, users can switch back temporarily, and resources are provided for smooth transition and adoption.
Updated February 20, 2026: We have updated the timeline. Thank you for your patience.
Introduction
Microsoft is updating the opt‑out phase start date for new Outlook for Windows in Enterprise environments from April 2026 to March 2027.
When this will happen:
The opt‑out phase for Enterprise environments will now begin in March 2027 (previously April 2026), providing organizations with 12 months of lead time to prepare.
GCC High and DoD timelines will be communicated separately at a later date.
Why is there a change to the timeline?
We’re seeing strong and accelerating adoption of new Outlook as organizations progress on timelines that match their readiness. At the same time, we continue to invest heavily in expanding capabilities and addressing feedback from customers who want to go further with new Outlook. To ensure organizations have the time they need to prepare—and to fully realize the value of ongoing innovation—we’re extending the opt-out timeline and providing 12 months of lead time as we continue delivering key features and improvements.
How this affects your organization:
Who is affected:
Microsoft 365 administrators managing Outlook for Windows.
Users of classic Outlook for Windows.
Organizations that previously disabled the new Outlook toggle or have not yet begun migration planning.
What will happen:
Migrated users will receive in‑app onboarding prompts and can switch back to classic Outlook if needed.
Existing policies that disable or limit access to new Outlook will remain in effect.
Admins can continue using Admin‑controlled migration to move users in a staged, reversible manner ahead of time.
Users will not be migrated if one or more of the following is true:
Prepare your organization for the opt-out phase that will begin March 2027. Evaluate and use the Admin-controlled migration policy to the stage and schedule that is right for your organization.
Take preparatory steps to:
Assess feature and web add-in readiness.
Conduct any needed pilots.
Build a timeline that works for your organization.
Re-enable the toggle if previously disabled and enable the Admin-controlled migration policy to move forward.
Be sure to communicate with your users about what to expect, and leverage Microsoft’s adoption resources to make the experience smooth.
Resources and Support:
Microsoft is committed to helping you manage this transition effectively. Refer to the following resources for detailed guidance and tools:
Policy for Admin-controlled migration: This policy allows you to toggle users into new Outlook in a controlled manner, with in-app prompts that ease users into the new experience over successive Outlook launches. Users who are moved by policy will be presented with a user-friendly onboarding experience and will have the option to switch back to classic Outlook. Microsoft recommends starting with new users in your organizations and those piloting and using Copilot as early target audiences. Policy for Admin-Controlled Migration to new Outlook for Windows | Microsoft Learn; User-facing article.
Did you miss Microsoft Ignite 2025 in San Francisco a couple months ago? The content was very important for organizations invested in the Microsoft ecosystem – even more so for people investing in Artificial Intelligence.
Covering both the current state of the art for our customers as well as the leading edge technologies used to secure & govern endpoints, applications, data, networks, cloud presence & artificial intelligence, security leaders, architects & engineers will learn from over a hundred different breakout sessions about security for their role, on their terms.
Join Microsoft Security at RSAC™ 2026 for a week of expert-led sessions and networking. Explore solutions in threat protection, identity and access management, data security, governance, cloud security, security operations, and securing AI.
Visit the Microsoft Security Hub: Connect with peers, attend thought leadership sessions, and join 1:1 customer meetings.
Attend Sunday Pre-Day Keynote: Hear from Microsoft leaders and industry experts, followed by networking during our hosted evening reception.
Monday night Karaoke Party: Join peers for a night hosted by Vasu Jakkal with singing, networking, and celebration.
Ancillary events: Listen in on thoughtful conversations on a wide range of topics from Data Security and Threat protection, to Securing Access and all thing Agents!
Join us for the Post-Day Forum: Recap product innovations and tour the Microsoft Experience Center in Silicon Valley.
Microsoft Security Pre-day Keynote & Evening Reception – March 22, 2026 at 4:00 PM PDT (Palace Hotel – 2 New Montgomery St, San Francisco, CA 94105 – 4:00PM-8:30PM) Join us to kick off RSAC™ 2026 a little early at Microsoft Pre-Day on Sunday, March 22. Pre-Day is an exclusive opportunity to hear firsthand from Microsoft Security leaders about how AI and agents are reshaping the threat landscape, important ways organizations should be thinking about security, and what our experts predict for the future of security and AI. At Pre-Day, leaders in threat intelligence will discuss emerging trends and threat actor methodology, product leaders will share what they’re focused on and how to strengthen IT and security teams in the era of agentic AI, and Microsoft researchers will highlight some of the newest areas of security research and development. And, Vasu Jakkal will share their own insights and priorities for Microsoft Security. As part of the experience, don’t miss the networking reception open to all Pre-Day attendees. Plus, if you are in a CISO role, you will be invited to our CISO Dinner with Microsoft Security executives and your peers.
Join us for a global digital event that celebrates the 25th birthday of SharePoint and looks ahead to the next chapter of SharePoint, powered by AI. This event is designed to inspire, showcasing how SharePoint’s new content AI capabilities and intelligent experiences are transforming the way people create, manage, and collaborate.
The event will include a live Ask Microsoft Anything (AMA), where you can ask your questions about the new SharePoint features directly to the product team.
Every now and again, I receive requests for information about the security, privacy & governance of Microsoft’s Copilot technologies, including how end user conversations are protected, how customer file, emails & chats are NEVER communicated outside of the customer’s Microsoft 365 cloud instance, how Copilot respects Enterprise data classification protections & access controls, & how customer information is NOT used for AI model training.
Here’s documented references to help you validate Microsoft’s enterprise-class focus on protecting our customer’s information when using Copilot:
How Microsoft Protects the Data of its Customers using Microsoft AI Technologies, including Copilot
Data Privacy for ALL Copilot use by customers Any element of Microsoft customer use of M365 Copilot (license) or Copilot Chat (no additional cost) is never shared with other parties & exclusively stored, securely within the customer’s private Microsoft 365 cloud instance. Prompts, responses, and data accessed through Microsoft Graph aren’t used to train foundation LLMs, including those used by Microsoft 365 Copilot. For more information: Data, Privacy, and Security for Microsoft 365 Copilot
Privacy for Microsoft 365 Copilot (licensed) Microsoft 365 Copilot has the unique & powerful capability to reason over & provide information from content Microsoft 365. This information is never shared For more information:
Privacy for Copilot Chat (no additional cost) Security, privacy, and compliance controls and commitments available for Microsoft 365 Copilot also extend to Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat. Prompts and responses aren’t used to train the underlying foundation models. For more information: Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat Privacy and Protections
Security for Microsoft 365 Copilot This is an outline of Microsoft’s approach to securing Microsoft 365 Copilot and provides guidance you can use to strengthen your AI security posture. For more information: Security for Microsoft 365 Copilot
Responsible Use of ALL Copilot solutions Microsoft Responsible AI FAQs are intended to help you understand how AI technology works, the choices system owners and users can make that influence system performance and behavior, and the importance of thinking about the whole system, including the technology, the people, and the environment. For more information: FAQ about using AI responsibly in Microsoft 365 Copilot
Protecting customers from accusations of Copyright Infringement when using Copilot Microsoft’s Customer Copyright Commitment states that if a third party sues a commercial customer for copyright infringement for using Microsoft’s Copilots or the output they generate, we will defend the customer and pay the amount of any adverse judgments or settlements that result from the lawsuit, as long as the customer used the guardrails and content filters we have built into our products. (This commitment also extends to Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service) For more information: https://aka.ms/CopilotCopyrightCommitment
How Copilot meets Regulatory Compliance requirements Microsoft continues to adapt and respond to fulfill AI regulatory requirements as they evolve, so we earn and keep the trust of customers, partners, and regulators. Microsoft 365 Copilot provides broad compliance offerings and certifications, including GDPR, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and the ISO 42001 standard for AI management systems. These help support our customers on their compliance journeys, complemented by features such as contractual readiness, built-in information and communication technology risk management, and operational resilience tooling.
Q1: Does your procurement dept issue RFPs? Are they looking for Azure AI-based solutions to help them intelligently automate the assessment, scoring & filtering of the long, RFP responses they receive?
“The following is a turnkey, multi-agent solution accelerator for automating the evaluation of RFPs/RFTs and Vendor/Supplier Proposals. This accelerator helps procurement teams reduce manual effort, ensure compliance, analyze vendor capabilities, and generate strategic negotiation recommendations—delivered as a structured, final evaluation report; all deployed in your Azure tenant in under an hour.”
Q2: Does your legal dept have to review many legal documents? “Whether it’s a vendor agreement that must include an arbitration clause, or a loan document requiring specific disclosures, ensuring the presence of these critical clauses is vital. Traditionally, this kind of document review is slow, manual, and subject to human error.
With artificial intelligence, we can automate much of this analysis. From classical algorithms like cosine similarity to advanced reasoning using large language models (LLMs), AI offers powerful tools to compare documents and validate their contents. In this post, I’ll show how to use both techniques to verify whether required clauses are present in a document.”
We have 4 webinars scheduled that are specific to different professions that you may want to share to help your users understand the impact of Artificial Intelligence on Human Resources, Finance, Marketing, Sales & Legal.
Using AI, human resources (HR) teams can streamline routine tasks, get deep data-driven insights, design more user-friendly interfaces, and improve employee service. One HR team applied AI to achieve 42% greater accuracy in answering questions through employee self-service, increasing employee satisfaction and reducing the team’s administrative load.
Hear from Microsoft leaders about our own HR journey with AI & Microsoft 365 Copilot and learn how you can adopt AI to attain significant return on investment (ROI), empower efficiency, cut costs, and innovate freely. Explore use cases specific to your role to see how Microsoft Copilot can be the flexible, scalable, and secure solution you need to stay competitive in the market.
Finance teams using AI have seen a 60% reduction in case resolution time in cash collections.1 AI solutions empower finance workers to streamline audits, make strategic decisions with more speed and precision, and remain agile in competitive markets.
Hear from Microsoft leaders about our own Sales journey with AI & Microsoft 365 Copilot, and learn how you can adopt AI to attain significant return on investment (ROI), empower efficiency, cut costs, and innovate freely. Explore use cases specific to your role to see how Microsoft Copilot can be the flexible, scalable, and secure solution you need to stay competitive in the market.
Using AI tools, marketers have seen a 21.5% higher conversion rate.1 AI solutions can automate labor-intensive and time-consuming tasks by helping swiftly summarize research, draft targeted messages, and create better content—helping employees prioritize time spent on creative innovation.
Hear from Microsoft leaders about our own Marketing journey with AI & Microsoft 365 Copilot and learn how you can adopt AI to attain significant return on investment (ROI), empower efficiency, cut costs, and innovate freely. Explore use cases specific to your role to see how Microsoft Copilot can be the flexible, scalable, and secure solution you need to stay competitive in the market.
AI isn’t just about productivity—it’s about transformation. Business AI-driven insights are empowering sales teams to boost productivity, customer engagement, and decision-making. One business group realized a 9.4% higher revenue per seller after using AI tools to automate or improve emails, meetings, proposals, and promotions.1 With higher-quality interactions, sellers are pursuing and closing more opportunities than ever.
Hear from Microsoft leaders about our own Sales journey with AI & Microsoft 365 Copilot, and learn how you can adopt AI to attain significant return on investment (ROI), empower efficiency, cut costs, and innovate freely. Explore use cases specific to your role to see how Microsoft Copilot can be the flexible, scalable, and secure solution you need to stay competitive in the market.
Legal teams are using AI to enhance productivity by automating and streamlining routine tasks like document review, legal research, analysis, and case management. By implementing AI solutions, legal teams can expect to reduce external spend for regulatory work by 5%.
Hear from Microsoft leaders about our own Legal journey with AI & Microsoft 365 Copilot, and learn how you can adopt AI to attain significant return on investment (ROI), empower efficiency, cut costs, and innovate freely. Explore use cases specific to your role to see how Microsoft Copilot can be the flexible, scalable, and secure solution you need to stay competitive in the market.
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