Microsoft secures the modern workforce against AI agents

• In the next 2-5 years, most firms will have humans and AI collaborating
• To better secure the new virtual workforce, Microsoft introduced Entra Agent ID
• It is based on the Zero Trust model

Microsoft just introduced Entra Agent ID, a new identity management tool for AI agents. With this capability, users can assign unique, secure digital identities to AI agents, similar to vehicle registration, or having a digital passport for the AI agent.

A blog post published earlier this week by Vasu Jakkal, Corporate Vice President at Microsoft Security, said that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is set to profoundly reshape organizations within the next two to five years.

In this new paradigm, which Microsoft dubbed “Frontier Firm”, humans will collaborate with AI agents, which is why the transformation “must be grounded in security,” Jakkal explained.

Purview and Defender

This starts by adopting the Zero Trust security model and prioritizing identity protection and risk mitigation. Enter Entra Agent ID. It will secure the digital identities for AI agents created in Microsoft Copilot Studio and Azure AI Foundry, ensuring centralized identity management for both humans and AIs.

For starters, Microsoft partnered with ServiceNow and Workday, to integrate Entra Agent ID into their platforms.

Redmond also announced extending Microsoft Purview’s data security and compliance control to any custom-built AI app with the new Purview SDK, enabled natively for AI agents built within Azure AI Foundry and Copilot Studio.

“This means that AI agents can now inherently benefit from Microsoft Purview’s robust data security and compliance capabilities,” Jakkal explained. “Developers can leverage these controls to help reduce the risk of their AI applications oversharing or leaking data, and to support compliance efforts, while security teams gain visibility into AI risks and mitigations. This integration improves AI data security and streamlines compliance management for development and security teams.”

Finally, Microsoft Defender - the company’s native antivirus for Windows, now integrates directly with Azure AI Foundry, offering security posture recommendations, runtime threat alerts, and a bridge between development and security teams.

With these changes, Microsoft wants to help organizations “innovate more securely with AI,” Jakkal concluded.

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