AI agents are rapidly evolving from tools that answer questions to performing human-level work inside an enterprise ecosystem, powering essential business workflows that have traditionally been completed manually. But while governance and policy models are emerging, one critical question remains unresolved for IT: where should agents actually run?
Many applications that enterprises rely on, from legacy line-of-business systems to complex multistep workflows, were not built with APIs. As a result, critical work still happens through user interfaces, where context, data, and intent are conveyed visually. To unlock their full potential, AI agents need to interact with applications the same way people do, using a computer to interact directly through clicks, typing, and navigation. Today, many agents execute on ad hoc infrastructure—local machines, shared virtual machines, or unmanaged cloud environment—creating gaps in identity, policy enforcement, auditability, and control. That makes it difficult for IT teams to confidently scale agentic workloads beyond API- or MCP-based pilots.
Today, we’re bringing Windows 365 for Agents to public preview (US only), providing a secured, purpose-built, IT-managed Cloud PC environment designed specifically for running AI agents at enterprise scale. Windows 365 for Agents provides agents with a dedicated, Microsoft Intune-managed Cloud PC—bringing the same identity, security, and compliance model IT already uses for employees to agent execution.
Windows 365 for Agents works alongside Microsoft Agent 365 (now generally available), which serves as the control plane for AI agents. It's where organizations define agent behavior, set up organizational policies, manage permissions, and maintain visibility into what agents are doing across the enterprise, whether those agents are built by Microsoft or third-party agent makers. Together, these two offerings give IT teams a clear model for governing what agents can do and securely managing where that work runs, enabling organizations to move from early agent experiments to IT-managed, production-ready deployments.
Think of it this way: every employee in an organization has an identity and works on a managed device, such as a Windows 365 Enterprise Cloud PC. Now, each AI agent also has its own identity, governed through Agent 365 and running on a managed Cloud PC provided by Windows 365 for Agents. It’s the same trust model and same IT controls—now extended to AI. By extending this proven model to agent workloads, organizations gain:
- Enterprise-grade identity and access controls for every agent
- Unified device and policy management through the tools IT already use
- Global scalability and geo-level data residency options to meet compliance requirements
How Windows 365 for Agents fits into the Microsoft AI ecosystem
Microsoft 365 Copilot brings AI into the flow of work inside the apps employees already use. Behind it is Microsoft IQ, the intelligence layer that provides shared context across people, work, and the business—helping AI understand what matters in the moment and make informed decisions.
That intelligence enables agents to reason, but completing real work—especially for AI agents that interact with UI-based or legacy applications and browsers through computer-use workflows—requires a secured place to execute. Windows 365 for Agents provides that execution layer, delivering a fully managed Windows environment purpose-built for agentic workloads. Unlike ad-hoc infrastructure, Windows 365 for Agents is a complete, IT-managed Cloud PC service, with identity, security, policy, and lifecycle management handled for you.
Microsoft IQ gives agents the smarts; Windows 365 for Agents gives them the trusted runtime to get work done. All of this runs on Microsoft Azure, the global cloud foundation for secure, scalable AI. Agent 365 complements this model by providing the control plane to govern agent behavior end to end. These capabilities combine to form a single platform that lets organizations scale AI with confidence—without compromising trust.
Windows 365for Agents is the foundational layer for running agents securely across first-party and third-party agent makers.Evaluating Windows 365 for Agents
Windows 365 for Agents is built for enterprise IT teams and the organizations they support, specifically those that:
- Rely on applications that require UI interaction, including legacy tools, browser-based workflows, and systems where APIs alone aren't enough
- Need enterprise-grade security and compliance for AI agents, with identity governance, policy controls, and audit trails
- Want IT-managed environments for agent workloads without building and maintaining custom infrastructure
- Are exploring human-in-the-loop models where agents work alongside people, requesting approval for sensitive actions
This includes IT administrators, security teams, digital workplace leaders, and platform teams responsible for enabling AI safely across the organization.
To bring this to life, this Windows 365 for Agents demo shows how agents move from setup to execution in a secured, managed environment.
Join the Windows 365 for Agents public preview (US only)
Ready to try Windows 365 for Agents? You will need:
- Agent 365 license
- Intune license
- An active Azure subscription to support Window 365 for Agents billing
Setup and onboarding
- Explore Agent 365 to understand how agents are defined, governed, and managed [Microsoft Agent 365 overview | Microsoft Learn]
- Create an agent blueprint for scenarios that require Windows 365 for Agents [Discover, create, and onboard an agent | Microsoft Learn]
- Set up billing for Windows 365 for Agents using your existing Azure subscription [Windows 365 for Agents Billing | Microsoft Learn]
- Create a Cloud PC pool for agent workloads [Cloud PC Agent Pools | Microsoft Learn]
- Explore and validate scenarios by running agents in a secure environment [Use and collaborate with agents in Agent 365 | Microsoft Learn]
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