News to Know – Volume 3, Edition 4, April 2026
This month’s newsletter brings you the latest updates, insights, and learnings to help you turn employee listening into action with Viva Glint & Pulse. As organizations continue to navigate AI-driven change, we’re focused on helping you measure what matters, understand impact, and sustain momentum across your employee experience strategy—with practical updates to support you every step of the way. New on your Viva Glint platform This section highlights new capabilities and updates now available to help you strengthen security, reporting, and administrative control in Viva Glint. Copilot reporting: Copilot Highlights. Copilot Highlights, now generally available, generates AI-powered summaries of employee survey results directly within Team Summary and Executive Summary reports, surfacing key insights like strengths, opportunities, score changes, and benchmark comparisons so managers and leaders can move from data to action faster. This release also brings multilingual support, with summaries generated in each user's configured Viva Glint language. Unlike Copilot comment summarization, which requires a higher number of survey respondents, Copilot Highlights works wherever managers already have access to dashboard data, making Copilot in Viva Glint valuable for a broader set of leaders across your organization. The feature is automatically available for anyone with Copilot in Viva Glint turned on. Learn more about the feature here and to get started or expand access to more users, see Manage Viva Glint Copilot access in Microsoft 365 admin center. Copilot reporting: Copilot control migration to Microsoft 365 admin center. On April 30th, the Microsoft 365 Admin Center will become the single point of control for Viva Glint Copilot, consistent with other Microsoft Copilot experiences. As part of this change, the existing admin toggles for Copilot access in Viva Glint will be removed, and Copilot will default to ON at the Viva Glint platform level. Customers can transition to this new control model before April 30th by completing setup in Microsoft 365 admin center using Viva Feature Access Management (VFAM) to configure Copilot access for Viva Glint. For more information, please visit Manage Copilot access in Viva Glint, Manage Viva Glint Copilot access in Microsoft 365 admin center, and Data, privacy, and security for Microsoft 365 Copilot in Viva Glint. Reporting: Direct link to the default report from the dashboard. A new 'Filter in reports' button lets users open the dashboard’s default report view directly, making it faster and easier to navigate and analyze results. Survey: New Copilot measurement items. We’ve added seven new Copilot measurement questions to Viva Glint. Monitor and accelerate your Copilot transformation with the Glint Copilot Impact template now featuring 21 validated survey questions designed to measure and get valuable feedback on how well employees are adapting to and experiencing Copilot value in their work. You have the flexibility to use any number of these Copilot items when, where, and how it makes most sense at important moments in your Copilot journey, whether it’s a standalone Copilot survey, integrated into your Engagement survey, or deployed in Viva Pulse surveys for more targeted insights. Find more information here. Advanced Analytics: Viva Glint R and Python packages. A new R package (vivaglint) and Python package (vivaglint_py), designed to make it easier to work with your Viva Glint raw data export for analysis and visualization, are now available. These packages offer functions for generating full correlation tables, conducting attrition linkage analysis, factor analysis, and more based on your raw survey data exports. Learn more here. Coming soon to Viva Glint The following section offers an early look at capabilities coming to Glint shaping the future of continuous listening, analytics, and AI‑powered insight. Copilot-supported commenting for Viva Glint survey takers | Generally Available in May. Viva Glint survey takers will soon be able to use a streamlined Microsoft Copilot experience directly within surveys to help refine their written feedback. Copilot can help rephrase comments, making it easier for employees to express their thoughts clearly and confidently. By reducing identifiable writing patterns and simplifying the process of providing thoughtful feedback, this feature helps foster a greater sense of privacy and ease. This, in turn, can encourage higher participation, more detailed responses, and more candid insights—ultimately helping organizations gain a richer, more actionable understanding from their surveys. Additional controls for data flow from Insights to Glint | Generally Available in May. Starting in May, when you enable data flow from Insights to Glint, you will have the ability to exclude specific users and groups from having their metrics sent over. The control will be available in the Viva Glint section of Viva Feature Access Management in the M365 Admin Center. This is useful for tenants who operate in regions or parts of the organization where further approvals are needed to use workplace metrics data. You can exclude those users and groups from the feature until you get the approvals needed. Continuous Employee Engagement with Workplace Metrics | Preview. Improve actionability for Work-Life Balance and Collaboration focus areas by integrating Viva Insights workplace metrics into Glint reporting. This feature will help Senior Leaders in your organization access supplementary data points, in conjunction with survey responses, to better understand their team's experience and conduct more data-driven discussions on what can be improved in these areas. Private Preview is targeted in May 2026. Future capabilities will include notifications between survey cycles to keep team health top of mind for leaders, including notable metric differences in the Glint Copilot Results Summary and the ability to map additional Viva Insights and Copilot metrics to survey items including custom questions. To express your interest, please complete the following: Private Preview: Continuous Employee Engagement with Workplace Metrics. If you are already part of the Employee Experience Customer Connection (EECC) program, request to join our Workplace Patterns & Continuous Listening EECC Teams subchannel through the main Glint EECC Teams channel so you can iterate on the future of continuous engagement with the product team in monthly calls. If you aren’t already part of the EECC, see the Connect with us section in this newsletter for more details on how to join. Employee Feedback Agent | Preview. Enhance your Employee Listen program with The Employee Feedback Agent a dynamic, AI-powered conversation, where employees can share what matters most through natural, chat-like interactions, whether prompted or always-on, enabling real-time feedback and deeper insights into the drivers behind their experiences. By combining Copilot intelligence and People Science principles, the agent streamlines feedback collection and reduces administrative overhead for HR and leaders. Unlike traditional Copilot tools that simply summarize information, the Employee Feedback Agent collects experiential data through probing questions and back and forth dialogue with employees. Future capabilities will expand impact with an actionable insights reporting experience, accelerating the “feedback-to-action” cycle. The initial private preview cohort is closed but please stay tuned for more information about when this experience will be generally available. Raw Data Export API Egress | Preview. Unlock seamless, automated access to raw survey data—no more manual downloads. Built on Microsoft Graph, these APIs make integrations easier and help admins move faster with greater efficiency. Express your interest here. See our public roadmap for more feature updates. Events and learning opportunities Stay up to date with upcoming events, recent documentation updates, customer engagement opportunities and highlights from EECC customer sessions—designed to help you learn, connect, and get more value from Viva Glint & Pulse. Recent documentation enhancements: Have technical questions about Viva Glint? Microsoft Learn is your best source for clear, current guidance. We continue to expand and refine our documentation to add detail on new capabilities, address frequent questions, and strengthen the topics customers rely on most. These updates improve clarity and consistency, making it easier to use Viva Glint with confidence. Below are a few of the most impactful updates now live on Microsoft Learn: eNPS details and setup steps and translations clarification added to question setup guidelines Improved guidance around user role set up Cascading Focus Area instructions added to Focus Area creation overview Clarification to PPT export details Survey distribution setup clarification for Lifecycle surveys Updates to setting up a unique 360 admin role & a rater group note added to the subject experience Greater detail provided around attribute selection for Alerts report Additional guidance added around setting up role access to survey results Important notes added around attribute naming and date attributes in attribute fundamentals Customer Engagement Opportunities: Call for Input | Help shape the future of the Glint admin experience. We’re looking to partner with Viva Glint admins to better understand where the admin experience can be improved—and where AI can make a meaningful difference. 1) Share your feedback. We’d love your quick input on areas that feel unclear, slow, or harder than they should be across the admin experience. Your feedback will help us identify common friction points and uncover gaps we may be missing. Take the survey here. 2) Collaborate with us. If you’re interested in going deeper, we’re also looking for admins to partner with the Glint Admin Agent team. We’re exploring how AI can help streamline key admin tasks—reducing manual effort and simplifying complex workflows. You’ll have the opportunity to share specific scenarios, co-create solutions, and help shape early concepts. Please sign up here. If you’re open to providing feedback or partnering with us, we’d really value your perspective! Upcoming EECC Customer Engagement Sessions: April 23rd-Notifications and Nudges Admin Experience in Viva Glint If you are a member of the EECC program, register here to take part. Join us for an upcoming EECC session focused on understanding how organizations are leveraging survey notifications and Nudges within Microsoft Glint today, and where there may be opportunities to enhance the experience moving forward. This session is designed to facilitate open discussion with Viva Glint admins to validate early ideas and gather feedback that can help inform future improvements to notification capabilities. During this interactive forum, we will explore current notification workflows used in survey programs, share initial insights gathered through existing customer feedback channels, and introduce early concepts related to enhancements in the notifications and Nudges space. Attendees will have the opportunity to provide direct input on areas where the platform may not fully meet their needs today, particularly from an administrative and program design perspective. By attending, you can expect to: Share feedback on existing notification and Nudge functionality to help influence future platform direction Learn how other organizations are approaching survey communications within their programs Engage in discussion around potential improvements and enhancements to notification experiences Provide input on early-stage concepts aimed at increasing adoption and effectiveness of Nudges If you are not yet a member of the Employee Experience Customer Connection (EECC-formerly VCCP) but would like to participate in upcoming sessions, as well as gain access to numerous other engaging and valuable Glint and Pulse customer activities, please see the sign-up information below. New Thought Leadership Explore the latest research and perspectives from our People Science team on leadership, AI, and the evolving employee experience. Research Drop: Tracking the Rise of Perceived AI Value at Work. AI adoption is rising, but usage alone doesn’t tell us whether work is actually getting better. Our latest research shows that employees’ perceived value of AI has increased over time, with RIVA favorability rising 9 points across three cross‑industry studies, signaling a shift from experimentation to more integrated, value‑generating use. But that value isn’t evenly distributed. Industry, organization size, job level, and function all shape who benefits and how quickly. As employees build fluency and apply AI to more complex work, value tends to compound, but only when organizations create the right conditions. Enabling repeatable, meaningful integration into everyday work is key to continued momentum. Read it here. Connect with us Stay engaged with the Viva Glint & Pulse community through the Employee Experience Customer Connection (EECC) program. The Viva Customer Connection Program (VCCP) is now the Employee Experience Customer Connection (EECC) program — a name that reflects the expanded scope and value of this community as employee experiences continue to evolve with Viva and Microsoft 365 Copilot. What’s changing Viva Customer Connection Program is now the Employee Experience Customer Connection program Our shared mission: “Employee experiences powered by M365 Copilot and Viva.” Invites & communication will be from Employee Experience Customer Connection What’s staying the same Continued expansion of product team engagement for Employee Experiences powered by Viva and M365Copilot Forums for you to influence product direction & unlock value for your organization Early insight into product roadmap Private preview engagement opportunities Connection with other enterprise customers If you’re interested in joining, please fill out this form so we can guide you through the enrollment process and help you get started. We look forward to partnering with you to build better products—together.Azure Database Security Newsletter - April 2026
Welcome to the quarterly edition of Azure Database Platform Security Newsletter. In this newsletter we highlight the importance of strong encryption for data security, and call out recent encryption, key management, and auditing enhancements designed to help you strengthen your security posture while simplifying operational management. Data is one of the most critical assets organizations manage, and protecting it is essential to maintaining trust, resilience, and long‑term success. As cyber threats continue to evolve and regulatory expectations increase, strong encryption has become a foundational requirement rather than an optional safeguard. Encryption protects sensitive data across its entire lifecycle. Data is encrypted at rest using Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) to protect stored information, in transit using Transport Layer Security (TLS) to secure data as it moves across your application and server, and in use through Always Encrypted to help ensure data remains protected even from high-privileged users. Together, these capabilities reduce risk and support compliance obligations. Feature highlights 💡 Customer-Managed Keys in Fabric SQL Database Customer-Managed Keys (CMK) are now generally available for Fabric SQL Database, allowing you to use Azure Key Vault keys to encrypt all workspace data, including all SQL Database data. This feature gives organizations greater control over key management and helps meet data governance and encryption requirements. More information on How to encrypt Fabric SQL Database with Customer Managed Keys (Video). Versionless keys for Transparent Data Encryption in Azure SQL Database Azure SQL Database now lets you use versionless key URIs for Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) with customer-managed keys, automatically applying the latest enabled key from Azure Key Vault or Managed HSM. This update simplifies encryption management. Auditing in Fabric SQL Database Auditing for Fabric SQL Database is now generally available. Organizations can track and log database activities, addressing questions about data access for compliance, threat detection, and forensic analysis. Audit logs are stored in One Lake, and access is controlled by Fabric workspace roles and SQL permissions. Best Practices Corner Retain all historical TDE keys and key versions Always keep all historical Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) keys and their versions. Databases and backups remain encrypted with the key version that was active at the time of encryption. Restoring an older database requires access to the exact key version used. Deleting older keys or versions can make database restore impossible and result in permanent data loss. See Everything you need to know about TDE key management for database restore. Apply the Principle of Least Privilege Always grant users, applications, and services the minimum level of access required to perform their database tasks. Avoid broad administrative or owner-level permissions unless absolutely necessary. Regularly review, restrict, and remove excessive or unused privileges to reduce the attack surface and limit the impact of compromised credentials or configuration errors. This control aligns with established security standards such as NIST SP 800‑53 (AC‑6: Least Privilege), CIS Critical Security Controls, ISO/IEC 27002, and OWASP database security guidance. Enable Auditing on Azure SQL and SQL Server Always enable auditing on Azure SQL to record database activities for security monitoring, compliance, and forensic investigation. Auditing provides visibility into database access and changes, helping detect unauthorized or suspicious behavior and supporting incident response and regulatory requirements. See Auditing - Azure SQL Database. Blogs and Video Spotlight 🅱️ In the last three months, we've published blog posts on major releases and features. These updates offer practical insights and highlight the latest in data security and database management. Why ledger verification is non-negotiable How to Enable Microsoft Entra ID for Azure Cosmos DB (NoSQL) Why Developers and DBAs love SQL’s Dynamic Data Masking (Series-Part 1) Announcing Preview of bulkadmin role support for SQL Server on Linux Zero Trust for data: Make Microsoft Entra authentication for SQL your policy baseline Community & Events 👥 The data platform security team will be on-site at several upcoming events. Come and say hi! Previous events SQL Konferenz FABCON 26 - Microsoft Fabric Community Conference - FABCON SQLCON - Microsoft SQL Community Conference - SQLCON Upcoming events SQLBits DataGrillen Call to action 📢 Take 15 minutes this week to validate your database encryption posture: confirm TDE is enabled, review your key management plan (including retaining historical key versions), and ensure TLS is enforced for all connections. If you are using Fabric SQL Database, consider enabling Customer-Managed Keys and turning on Auditing to strengthen governance and investigation readiness. Share this newsletter with your security and DBA partners and align on one concrete improvement you can complete.News to Know – Volume 3, Edition 3, March 2026
This month’s newsletter brings you the latest updates, insights and learnings to help you turn employee listening into action with Viva Glint & Pulse. As organizations continue to navigate AI-driven change, we’re focused on helping you measure what matters, understand impact, and sustain momentum across your employee experience strategy. New on your Viva Glint platform This section highlights new capabilities and updates now available to help you strengthen security, reporting, and administrative control in Viva Glint. User access: Roles and permission enhancements. In our March release, we’re introducing updates that improve security and provide more flexible, least-privilege access for enterprise organizations. Learn more here. New role: Survey Designer The Survey Designer role helps organizations assign access specifically for creating and deploying Viva Glint surveys—without granting broader administrative permissions. This targeted role is useful for programs such as AI transformation, hybrid work, and other change-management employee listening initiatives. New permissions: We’re introducing more granular permissions for Advanced Configuration, Question Library, Service Configuration (settings), Nudges, and Viva integrations. Existing Company Admins will be granted Advanced Configuration access by default. Company Admin is now renamed Viva Glint Service Admin. Assignment of new service admins will be restricted to the Microsoft 365 admin center for tighter governance and streamlined administration. Copilot reporting: Copilot control migration to Microsoft 365 admin center. Starting in March 2026, Viva Glint will use the Microsoft 365 admin center as the single control plane for Copilot access—consistent with other Microsoft Copilot experiences. As part of this change, the existing admin toggles for Copilot access in Viva Glint will be removed, and Copilot will default to ON at the Viva Glint platform level. Customers can transition to this new control model between March and April 2026 after completing setup in Microsoft 365 admin center using Viva Feature Access Management (VFAM) to configure Copilot access for Viva Glint. For more information, please visit: Manage Copilot access in Viva Glint, Manage Viva Glint Copilot access in Microsoft 365 admin center, and Data, privacy, and security for Microsoft 365 Copilot in Viva Glint. Reporting: Privacy safeguard for live response rate reporting. For Live surveys, the Add section side pane in reporting is now limited to response-rate visuals only: Response rate history and Response rate by demographic. All score and results visuals have been removed to reinforce privacy safeguards and ensure response rate reporting remains aligned to intended use by restricting users with access to the response rate report during survey live to view response rate information only. Learn more here. Reporting: Dashboard default tag on Reports landing page. On the Reports screen, report tiles that sit behind a dashboard experience now include a Dashboard default tag—making it easy to see, at a glance, which report is connected to a dashboard. Reporting: Benchmark refresh schedule and opt-in reminder. Global benchmarks, including High‑Performing Global benchmarks (Top 25% and Top 10%), have been refreshed and include data collected from January 2025 through December 2025. Industry, Country, and Region benchmarks are currently scheduled to be refreshed and released in July. To access external benchmark comparisons in reporting, customers must opt in to benchmarking. Opting in increases the overall benchmark data pool, improves data coverage, and supports a broader set of benchmark suites. Customers who have not opted in won’t be able to view or include external benchmarks in their reports. Coming soon to Viva Glint The following section offers an early look at capabilities coming to Viva Glint shaping the future of continuous listening, analytics, and AI‑powered insight. Copilot Highlights | General Availability in April. Copilot Highlights, currently in preview, moves to general availability in April 2026. This feature generates AI-powered summaries of employee survey results directly within Team Summary and Executive Summary reports, surfacing key insights like strengths, opportunities, score changes, and benchmark comparisons so managers and leaders can move from data to action faster. General availability also brings multilingual support, with summaries generated in each user's configured Viva Glint language. Unlike Copilot comment summarization, which requires a higher number of survey respondents, Copilot Highlights works wherever managers already have access to dashboard data, making Copilot in Viva Glint valuable for a broader set of leaders across your organization. The feature is automatically available for anyone with Copilot in Viva Glint turned on. To get started or expand access to more users, see Manage Viva Glint Copilot access in Microsoft 365 admin center. Additional controls for data flow from Viva Insights to Viva Glint | GA in May. When you enable data flow from Viva Insights to Viva Glint, you will now have the ability to exclude specific users and groups from having their metrics sent over. The control will be available in the Viva Glint section of Viva Feature Access Management in the M365 Admin Center. This is useful for tenants who operate in regions or parts of the organization where further approvals are needed to use workplace metrics data. You can exclude those users and groups from the feature until you get the approvals needed. Advanced Analysis: vivaglint R package | Interest form. We’re working on vivaglint, a new R package designed to make it easier to work with your Viva Glint raw data export for analysis and visualization. This package will offer functions for generating full correlation tables, conducting attrition linkage analysis, factor analysis, and more. If you’d like early access and a chance to shape what we add next, please complete this interest form so we can follow up with details. Continuous Employee Engagement with Workplace Metrics | Preview. Improve actionability for Work-Life Balance and Collaboration focus areas by integrating Viva Insights workplace metrics into Viva Glint reporting. This feature will help Senior Leaders in your organization access supplementary data points, in conjunction with survey responses, to better understand their team's experience and conduct more data-driven discussions on what can be improved in these areas. Between survey cycles, leaders can also enable notifications to keep track of changes in their team's workplace patterns, allowing them to keep a better pulse on behavior change commitments. Private Preview is targeted in May 2026. Future capabilities will include the ability to map Viva Insights and Copilot metrics to survey items and bring in additional data sources from M365, such as meeting metadata and content. To express your interest, please complete the following: Private Preview: Continuous Employee Engagement with Workplace Metrics. If you are already part of the Employee Experience Customer Connection (EECC) program, request to join our Workplace Patterns & Continuous Listening EECC Teams subchannel through the main Viva Glint EECC Teams channel so you can iterate on the future of continuous engagement with the product team in monthly calls. If you aren’t already part of the EECC, see the Connect with us section in this newsletter for more detail on how to join. Employee Feedback Agent | Preview. Enhance your employee listening program with The Employee Feedback Agent a dynamic, AI-powered conversation, where employees can share what matters most through natural, chat-like interactions, whether prompted or always-on, enabling real-time feedback and deeper insights into the drivers behind their experiences. By combining Copilot intelligence and People Science principles, the agent streamlines feedback collection and reduces administrative overhead for HR and leaders. Unlike traditional Copilot tools that simply summarize information, the Employee Feedback Agent collects experiential data through probing questions and back and forth dialogue with employees. Future capabilities will expand impact with an actionable insights reporting experience, accelerating the “feedback-to-action” cycle. Our preview cohort is currently full but watch this space as we may look to add participants in future phases of the preview before GA planned for later this year. Integrating with Organization Data | Preview. Viva Glint is bringing integration with Organizational Data in Microsoft 365 to help you connect people data across Viva experiences with enterprise-grade governance. This preview creates a consistent, trusted data foundation—so you can unlock richer insights today and be ready for what’s next with Copilot experiences, backed by Microsoft 365–level controls and management. Join the preview to see what’s possible, share feedback, and help shape the future of organization data integration in Viva Glint. Express your interest here. Raw Data Export API Egress | Preview. Unlock seamless, automated access to raw survey data—no more manual downloads. Built on Microsoft Graph, these APIs make integrations easier and help admins move faster with greater efficiency. Express your interest here. See our public roadmap for more feature updates. Events and learning opportunities Stay up to date with upcoming events, recent documentation updates, and highlights from EECC customer sessions—designed to help you learn, connect, and get more value from Viva Glint & Pulse. Join us at SIOP: Viva Glint & Pulse Customer Happy Hour 🍸 We’re excited to invite Viva Glint & Pulse customers attending SIOP to a relaxed, in‑person happy hour reception on the opening day of the conference. This is a great opportunity to connect with fellow practitioners, swap perspectives, and spend some informal time with the Viva Glint & Pulse team. 📅 Date: April 29 ⏰ Time: 5:00–7:00 PM (approx.) 📍 Location: New Orleans (venue TBD, close to the SIOP conference site) 🍹 Format: Drinks and hors d’oeuvres, happy‑hour style 👥 Capacity: Limited to 30 attendees What to expect 5:00–6:00 – Networking & refreshments 6:00–6:20 – Short featured talk 6:20–7:00 – More networking and conversation Space is limited and expected to fill quickly. Register your interest using the link below to reserve your spot. We’ll share venue details with confirmed attendees closer to the event. 👉 Register to save your spot We hope you’ll join us for an easy, social way to kick off SIOP in New Orleans. Recent documentation enhancements: Have technical questions about Viva Glint? Microsoft Learn is your best source for clear, current guidance. We’ve expanded and refined our documentation to add detail on new capabilities, address frequent questions, and strengthen the topics customers rely on most. These updates improve clarity and consistency, making it easier to use Viva Glint with confidence. Below are a few of the most impactful updates now live on Microsoft Learn: Importing employee data & adding new attributes: new guidance for reviewing employee data and how to introduce new employee attributes without disrupting your existing configuration. Retroactive updates: options & requirements: we've clarified how to make employee data updates to closed surveys, with scenarios that help admins choose the right approach. Bulk Custom Access: now featuring a single source-of-truth for guidance on making updates to users’ custom access in bulk. Survey deactivation timing & time‑zone behavior: new specifics on how scheduled survey deactivation works when enabling notifications in user time zone. Nudge setup & eligibility clarification: expanded detail on how nudges are triggered, eligibility rules, and common setup questions. Focus Areas: now includes common FAQs when creating focus areas and using the Focus Area Overview Report. Previous EECC Customer Engagement Sessions: March 5th – Viva Glint Admin Experience In this session, members from our product team walked customers through upcoming enhancements to the Viva Glint product for survey admins and fielded a variety of questions and considerations from customers tied to those changes. If you or members of your team oversee the Viva Glint survey administration for your organization and are part of EECC, please visit the Teams channel to access the recording. March 12th – How to Drive AI Transformation at Your Org - Becoming a Frontier Firm This session was designed for HR teams to explore how AI, Copilot, and agentic workflows can accelerate AI transformation across their organization and to walk away with an understanding of where their orgs are currently on their AI transformation journey, ideas on how to further embed AI into key workflows, and a connection to Microsoft experts to support their efforts. During this session, our Copilot Growth colleagues walked through Frontier Firm Playbook, Frontier Playbook Assessment and Functional & Workforce Transformation Scenarios with the aim of empowering our customer contacts to understand how to drive AI transformation. If you are part of EECC, please visit the Teams channel to access the recording and deck. As a compliment to this session, we also published a new blog Spotlight on... AI Transformation & the Frontier Firm Playbook that highlights how Viva Glint and Viva Pulse and other tools can support becoming Frontier‑ready and sustaining value from AI investments. If you are not yet a member of the Employee Experience Customer Connection (EECC-formerly VCCP) but would like to participate in upcoming sessions, as well as gain access to numerous other engaging and valuable Viva Glint and Pulse customer activities, please see the sign-up information below. New Thought Leadership Explore the latest research and perspectives from our People Science team on leadership, AI, and the evolving employee experience. Research Drop: Evolving Transformational Leadership in the Age of AI. AI is changing how work gets done, but it hasn’t changed what employees need most from their leaders. Our latest research shows that employees who feel supported to integrate agentic AI are 1.8x more likely to use it daily, yet a 28‑point gap separates how supported leaders feel versus how supported employees feel. How leadership behaviors show up in practice can make a big impact: When leaders model thoughtful AI use, personalize support beyond what technology can deliver, and share how AI is shaping their own work, employees show higher meta‑cognition, trust, and realized value. Transformational leadership still works, but in the AI era, it has to evolve. Read it here. Customer Success Stories See how organizations are using Viva Glint, Pulse, and Copilot to turn employee insight into measurable impact. Culture + Viva Glint + AI = A Scalable Model for Growth Ipsen, a global biopharmaceutical company with 5,500 employees, is transforming its culture to fuel an ambitious growth strategy—and using Microsoft Viva Glint, Copilot, and Copilot Studio AI agents to make the shift measurable, actionable, and scalable. Driving a Culture Shift with Measurement at the Core Ipsen launched a Culture Manifesto with 18 behavioral attributes aligned to strategy. These are measured annually through Viva Glint, using a transparent traffic‑light system that cascades results to every manager. This has created clear accountability and reinforced the company’s philosophy that culture is shaped through daily leadership choices. Accelerating Insight with Copilot Copilot is now used to speed the analysis of Viva Glint results—reducing time spent interpreting employee feedback and helping leaders focus on targeted, high‑impact actions. AI Agents Boost Consistency and Reduce Support Workload To further scale productivity, Ipsen introduced Copilot Studio–built AI agents in Microsoft Teams for HR, Legal, Business Ethics, and Finance (Ariba). Employees can ask natural‑language questions and get grounded, source‑linked answers, reducing repetitive requests and smoothing peak workloads. Measurable Results 📈 Engagement scores rose three points above benchmark 🟢 Culture attributes rated “green” increased from 10 to 12 🤖 AI agents are reducing routine support demand and improving consistency 🎯 Ipsen now attracts ~90,000 spontaneous applications per year, reinforcing its position as a talent‑magnet in mid‑pharma Why This Matters Ipsen shows how culture, leadership, and AI‑enabled productivity can work together. By combining Viva Glint’s measurement rigor with Copilot and function‑specific AI agents, Ipsen has created a sustainable, data‑driven model for growth—anchored in empowerment, inclusion, and modern ways of working. Connect with us Stay engaged with the Viva Glint & Pulse community through the Employee Experience Customer Connection (EECC) program. We’re excited to share an important evolution of our VCCP community. The Viva Customer Connection Program (VCCP) is now the Employee Experience Customer Connection (EECC) program — a name that reflects the expanded scope and value of this community as employee experiences continue to evolve with Viva and Microsoft 365 Copilot. What’s changing Viva Customer Connection Program is now the Employee Experience Customer Connection program Our shared mission: “Employee experiences powered by M365 Copilot and Viva.” Invites & communication will be from Employee Experience Customer Connection What’s staying the same Continued expansion of product team engagement for Employee Experiences powered by Viva and M365Copilot Forums for you to influence product direction & unlock value for your organization Early insight into product roadmap Private preview engagement opportunities Connection with other enterprise customers If you’re interested in joining, please fill out this form so we can guide you through the enrollment process and help you get started. We look forward to partnering with you to build better products—together.Azure Database Security Newsletter - January 2026
Happy New Year and welcome to our first newsletter of 2026! This year, we’re doubling down on something that matters to every one of us: keeping data safe without slowing innovation. Security isn’t just a checkbox—it’s the backbone of everything we build. That’s why our database security strategy is rooted in the Zero Trust model, a simple but powerful idea: never assume, always verify. Here’s what that means in practice: Identity first: Every user and workload proves who they are, every time. Devices matter: Only trusted endpoints get through the door. Networks stay clean: Segmentation and encryption keep traffic locked down. Apps and workloads: Least privilege isn’t optional—it’s standard. Data protected everywhere: Protected at rest, in transit, and under constant watch. Driving all of this is our Security First Initiative (SFI)—a mindset that makes security part of the design, not an afterthought. It’s how we ensure that trust isn’t just a promise; it’s a practice. 2026 is about scaling this vision and making security seamless for everyone. Feature highlights of 2025 Dynamic Data Masking in Cosmos DB Now in public preview, Dynamic Data Masking is a server-side, policy-based security feature that automatically masks sensitive fields at query time for non-privileged users, while leaving the underlying data unchanged. Masking policies are enforced based on user roles and Entra ID identity, supporting privacy and compliance scenarios (PII/PHI) and reducing the need for custom app logic. This enables granular, real-time protection, secure data sharing, and safe testing with anonymized production data. Auditing in Fabric SQL Database Auditing is now in public preview for Fabric SQL Database. This feature allows organizations to track and log database activities—answering critical questions like who accessed what data, when, and how. It supports compliance requirements (HIPAA, SOX), enables robust threat detection, and provides a foundation for forensic investigations. Audit logs are stored in One Lake for easy access, and configuration is governed by both Fabric workspace roles and SQL-level permissions. Customer-Managed Keys in Fabric SQL Database Now in public preview, Customer-Managed Keys (CMK) let you use your own Azure Key Vault keys to encrypt data in Microsoft Fabric workspaces, including all SQL Database data. This provides greater flexibility and control over key rotation, access, and auditing, helping organizations meet data governance and encryption standards. SQL Server 2025 SQL Server 2025 raises the bar for enterprise data protection with a suite of powerful, built-in security enhancements. From eliminating client secrets through managed identity authentication to adopting stronger encryption standards and enforcing stricter connection protocols, this release is designed to help organizations stay ahead of evolving threats. With these updates, SQL Server 2025 simplifies compliance and strengthens data security—right out of the box. Best Practices Corner Don’t use passwords—use Entra instead Modern identity security for Azure SQL means eliminating SQL authentication wherever possible and adopting Microsoft Entra ID–based passwordless authentication. This strengthens security, simplifies identity governance, and aligns with Zero Trust and Microsoft’s Secure Future Initiative principles. Failover Ready? Don’t Forget Your TDE Keys For successful geo-replication setup and failover, all necessary encryption keys for Transparent Data Encryption must be created and available on both primary and secondary servers. It is possible and, in certain cases, required to configure different TDE protectors on replicas, as long as the key material is available on each server. It’s time for TLS 1.2 Legacy TLS 1.0 and 1.1 are no longer secure and are being retired across Azure services. To avoid connection failures and strengthen your security posture, make sure all applications, drivers, and clients connect using TLS 1.2 or higher. Blogs and Video Spotlight Geo-Replication and Transparent Data Encryption Key Management in Azure SQL Database | Microsoft Community Hub Everything you need to know about TDE key management for database restore | Microsoft Community Hub Secure by default: What’s new in SQL Server 2025 security | Microsoft Community Hub Secure by Design: Upcoming CMK and Auditing Features in Fabric SQL Database | Data Exposed Latest progress update on Microsoft’s Secure Future Initiative | Microsoft Security Blog Community & Events The data platform security team will be on-site at several upcoming events. Come and say hi! SQL Konferenz SQLCON - Microsoft SQL Community Conference Call to Action Last year brought some seriously powerful updates—Dynamic Data Masking in Cosmos DB, Auditing in Fabric SQL Database, and Customer Managed Keys that give you full control over your security strategy. These features are built to help you move faster, stay compliant, and protect data without friction. Try them out and see the impact firsthand. If this got you fired up, share it with your team and drop a comment to keep the momentum going. And don’t wait—download SQL Server 2025 today and experience the newest security capabilities in action. Let’s push data security forward together.
News to Know - Volume 2, Edition 4, April 2025
We are moving at full speed here at Viva Glint! This April 2025 newsletter is full of information about enhancements, slick new resources, exciting upcoming events, and great stuff to learn from our Microsoft People Science research teams. Access the current newsletter and past editions on the Viva Glint blog. Follow along with what features are ahead on the Viva Glint product roadmap. Customer Town Hall Join us for our May town halls! We will share the latest product updates, customer stories, and research that will help you make the most of your Viva Glint experience. Register: Option 1: May 6 at 3pm BST Option 2: May 6 at 1pm EDT Option 3: May 8 at 1pm SGT The April Viva Glint Customer Satisfaction Survey is live We are excited to announce that Viva Glint's Customer Satisfaction Survey is now available. Your input is essential to our ability to provide a world-class experience for our customers. Your feedback helps us improve our product, our services, and our Viva Glint resources. We appreciate you taking a few minutes to share your thoughts. Use this link. The survey closes on May 2, 2025. New Viva Glint resources The Microsoft Viva Glint deployment guide is now available! Use this easy-to-follow guide to complete one-time setup tasks and launch your first Glint survey. Download the Viva Glint deployment guide. Customize our email templates to introduce Viva Glint surveys to your organization. Then follow up with emails focused on training, interpreting survey results, and acting on feedback. Pre-launch survey email templates can be found here. Results and action taking email templates can be found here. New in your Viva Glint platform Available languages are aligning to Microsoft standards and best practices. In April 2025, some supported languages for Viva Glint changed. Some languages are deprecated, and some have potential replacements. To keep your custom translations, export translated content before the end of August 2025. Read more and see the changes. Streamline your app and tenant management. The Viva Glint Tenant Administrator is now a built-in Microsoft Entra role. Layer this role with Viva Glint Administrator users so that admins can manage Microsoft 365 admin center settings and support requests, as well as the Viva Glint app. Viva Glint Tenant Administrators can: Assign Viva Glint Service Administrators; they receive an email notification when assigned to their role. View message center information in the Microsoft 365 admin center File Azure and Microsoft 365 support tickets View service health information and Usage Reports Learn more about key Viva Glint roles. Our customers who are using Copilot in Viva Glint are all in! We're five months in and the feedback is positive and helping us know where to continue to build. Read this update on Copilot in Viva Glint. Use the Microsoft Teams integration to enhance survey notification and Nudge capabilities. Until now, Viva Glint survey notifications and Nudges relied on email as a delivery method. Use the Viva Glint and Teams integration to empower users to take action in the flow of work, enabling real-time action taking and engagement. Read more. Track activity with enhanced audit logging. Microsoft 365 Global Admins can now gain visibility into a variety of Viva Glint activities through a new expansion in the Microsoft Purview Audit log. Learn more about the Viva Glint schema and activities that are now available. Customize dashboard and survey experiences for your organization. Use Viva Glint’s new in-app custom branding feature to customize the reporting and surveys views for your users. Modify logos, color options, and navigation bars to update survey email and platform experiences from General Settings. Learn more. Choose how to see your feedback calculations. Viva Glint reports survey Average scores (transformed to a 100-point scale) and Favorability scores for four metrics for each survey item. Learn more here and then make your choice in General Settings. Enhanced Help menu experience. We have streamlined and updated the Help menu. Through the new menu you can contact support, share feedback, review product guidance, review privacy information, and visit the Viva Community. New thought leadership and research We interviewed a few of our top-performing Microsoft managers to ask them how they are using Copilot in their daily work rhythms. | They have keen insights on simple yet effective ways to leverage Microsoft 365 Copilot and shared how it impacts their ability to succeed at work. Read about what they are doing and see the prompts they are using to do it. Research Drop: Investing in Training Opportunities to Close the AI Skills Gap | 39% of workers’ existing skillsets will become transformed or outdated over the next five years, making it imperative for organizations to keep up with the demands of this revolutionary workforce change. Read the details in this blog. Think Like a People Scientist: Bridging HR & IT for AI Success | Microsoft experts Dr. Julie Morris, People Science Program Manager, Dr. Megan Benzing, Senior People Scientist, and Craig Foster, Director of HR Digital Transformation, spoke at a recent webinar about HR and IT collaboration in driving successful AI transformation. Read the takeaways. Microsoft People Science is buzzing about all they learned at the 2025 Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) annual conference | Our People Science team members led sessions and participated in panels about AI agents at work, the future of nudge interventions, and manager action taking. Read their learnings here. Upcoming Events Customer cohorts Connect quarterly with peers to discuss trends and key challenges. Sessions are recorded for customers in these private user groups. To join a group, read this blog. Viva Technology Industry Cohort Session | April 22 | This is a new customer cohort! Join your industry peers! Register here. Psychological safety webinars for managers Psychological safety is a key component of healthy team dynamics. Learn applicable tips and tricks from the research during these live sessions. Building Psychological Safety Amidst Change | April 22 | Employees who feel a low level of psychological safety at work are 4x as likely to indicate a desire to quite their jobs. 31% indicate they're not motivated to do their best work. Psychological safety is a key component of healthy team dynamics. Register. Learning Circles Whether you're a seasoned Viva Glint user or are just starting your journey, Learning Circles provides an opportunity to make connections with fellow customers who share similar interests. Quarterly Learning Circles | April 30 | This session is for all Viva Glint customers. While registering, tell us what topics you'd like to discuss. Our facilitators will bring the topics that are most frequently mentioned to this live discussion. Read more and register here. Product Council Provide feedback and influence the direction of Viva Glint’s products by sharing your experience as a user. Read more. People Analytics Experience Agents | May 7 | We are opening up our Viva Glint product council to more roles! Our teams are eager to hear from those in People Analytics roles, L&D specialists, and HR Generalists. Please invite your colleagues to enroll in VCCP and join our product council Think Like a People Scientist webinar series Join us for deep-dive insights from our Viva People Science research teams. Find all upcoming and previous 'Think Like a People Scientist' events and recaps on this site. Driving AI Change with EmpIoyee Sentiment | May 8 | Learn how HR can use Viva Glint to support leaders during AI transformation, the importance of measuring and using employee sentiment throughout this journey, and about the need for HR and IT collaboration in the era of AI. We'll be joined by Ryan Lebow, Microsoft Principal People Scientist. Register. Ask the Experts Interact with Viva Glint experts and other customers on common issues related to implementing an employee listening strategy. For past recordings and future registration links, visit the Ask the Experts site. Advanced Configuration in Viva Glint | May 13 | Advanced Configuration options allow users to view and modify platform settings and perform complex data updates. Our experts can help you make use of these valuable features. Register Confidentiality Thresholds and Suppression | May 20 | During this session, we will define Viva Glint’s confidentiality thresholds and suppression, as well as review our recommendations for thresholds. Register.News to Know - Volume 2, Edition 3, March 2025
There is lots going on at Viva Glint! This March 2025 newsletter is full of need-to-knows which coincide with platform deployments and enhancements to help you get the most out of the Viva Glint product. Access the current newsletter and past editions on the Viva Glint blog. Follow along with what features are ahead on the Viva Glint product roadmap. New on your Viva Glint platform Use the Microsoft Teams integration to enhance survey notification and Nudge capabilities. Until now, Viva Glint survey notifications and Nudges relied on email as a delivery method. Use the Viva Glint and Teams integration to empower users to take action in the flow of work, enabling real-time action taking and engagement. Read more. The Microsoft Viva Glint deployment guide is now available! Use this easy-to-follow deployment guide to complete one-time setup tasks and launch your first Glint survey. Download the Viva Glint deployment guide from Viva Glint Learn. Coming soon to Viva Glint Viva Pulse & Viva Glint Integration to support engagement survey follow-up | Preview With this integration, managers can follow up on Viva Glint survey results to check in on team progress and address key focus areas to maintain momentum toward improving engagement. With the lightweight Pulse survey tool, managers have access to a template that pulls top opportunities and strengths from their Viva Glint results. Contact us to become part of this preview or provide feedback. Platform languages are aligning to Microsoft standards and best practices. In April 2025, some supported languages for Viva Glint will change. Some languages will be deprecated, and some will have potential replacements. To keep your custom translations, export translated content before the end of August 2025. Read more and see the changes. Upcoming events and learning opportunities Think Like a People Scientist webinar series Join us for deep-dive insights from our Viva People Science research teams. Find all upcoming and previous 'Think Like a People Scientist' events and recaps on this site. Understanding employee reactions to AI | March 19 Discover how past experiences with change relates to AI adoption in the workplace. Then learn to craft an AI transformation strategy. There is still time to register! Bridging HR and IT for AI Success | April 9 Hear about the critical need for HR and IT collaboration to achieve true business transformation in the era of AI. We will be joined by speakers from Microsoft HR. Register. Ask the Experts Interact with Viva Glint experts and other customers on common issues related to implementing an employee listening strategy. For past recordings and future registration links, visit the Ask the Experts site. Using additional languages in Viva Glint | April 8 Learn about common topics and best practices when using additional languages in Viva Glint. Register. Survey communications in Viva Glint | April 15 Join this session to learn about best practices related to survey communications. Register. Customer cohorts Connect quarterly with peers to discuss trends and key challenges. Sessions are recorded for customers in these private user groups.To become part of a group, read this blog. Viva Retail Cohort Session | March 19 Join us for our quarterly retail meeting. Yes! You can still register! Based on your feedback, we are launching our first topic-based cohort, the people-centric AI transformation cohort | April 16 This is open to all customers who are interested in employee experience and AI transformation. You can register here. In addition, based on your feedback, we are excited to announce our fourth industry-based cohort: technology | April 22 We hope to see our technology customers join us for our first tech cohort meeting. Register here. Psychological safety webinars for managers Psychological safety is a key component of healthy team dynamics. Learn applicable tips and tricks from the research during these live sessions. Psychological Safety for Managers | April 10 Learn how to identify psychological safety and what you can do to help move your team in the right direction. Register. Building Psychological Safety Amidst Change | April 22 Whether you are navigating re-orgs, layoffs, new policies or introducing AI, your employees need additional support and different strategies to help them move through the change successfully. Register. Learning Circles Whether you're a seasoned Viva Glint user or are just starting your journey, Learning Circles provides an opportunity to make connections with fellow customers who share similar interests. Quarterly Learning Circles | April 30 This session is for all Viva Glint customers. While registering, you get to tell us what topics you'd most like to discuss. Our facilitators will bring the topics that are most frequently mentioned to the live discussion. Read more and register here.Join Viva Glint People Science at SIOP 2025 Join Viva Glint People Science at SIOP 2025 Our People Science team is hosting a customer reception and strategy discussion on April 2 at 5pm during the Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology (SIOP) annual conference in Denver. Join us for appetizers and drinks while we discuss AI-powered strategies to transform people analytics and employee listening for better people and business outcomes. In addition to our People Science team, Microsoft’s HR Business Insights team will share how the team uses data to navigate Copilot transformation from a people-centric perspective. Spots are limited, RSVP by March 26. We hope to see you in Denver! New thought leadership Research Drop: Investing in HR and IT Collaboration to Drive Successful AI | People Scientist Megan Benzing, PhD shares strategies to ensure that IT brings the tech, HR brings the people, and these key teams work together to bring transformation to your organization. Transforming Healthcare with AI: Healthcare Cohort Recap | Led by People Scientist Ryan Lebow, customers shared how they use AI in HR and across their organization to drive better business and people outcomes.News to Know - Volume 2, Edition 2, February 2025
Viva Glint checking in with exciting updates! This February 2025 newsletter is full of need-to-knows which coincide with platform deployments and enhancements to help you get the most out of the Viva Glint product. Access the current newsletter and past editions on the Viva Glint blog. Follow along with what features are ahead on the Viva Glint product roadmap. New on your Viva Glint platform Zero downtime during monthly platform deployments! We are pleased to inform you that there will be no downtime associated with deployments at Viva Glint. Previously, as we deployed new product features and enhancements, an in-platform banner alerted you that the platform would shut down for several hours and your employees wouldn’t have access to their Glint surveys. There is no longer a need to schedule survey windows around our deployments or mention downtime to survey takers. Preview email notifications for surveys. You let us know that previewing only the survey start email - and having to send a test survey to see it - wasn’t a great experience. We heard you! Now admins can easily preview and edit any email notification from an Approved or Live survey cycle. Enhanced comment writing experience for survey takers. At your suggestion, survey item comment boxes stay onscreen until the survey taker manually moves forward. This enhancement gives survey takers an opportunity to reflect and leave thoughtful comments. Enable the "Auto-expand comments input" functionality. Added benchmark availability for custom questions. Viva Glint admins can now associate custom questions with Viva Glint benchmark suites (where items are similar enough) so that users maintain a point of comparison in reporting. More enhancements for changing items in a live survey. We improved in-platform images and guidance for ease in changing live survey items or their mapping to a benchmark. See these changes. Coming soon to Viva Glint Viva Pulse & Viva Glint Integration to support engagement survey follow-up | Preview With this integration, managers can follow up on Viva Glint survey results to check in on team progress and address key focus areas to maintain momentum toward improving engagement. With the lightweight Pulse survey tool, managers have access to a template that pulls top opportunities and strengths from their Viva Glint results. Contact us to become part of this preview or provide feedback. Language code updates are aligning to Microsoft standards and best practices. Beginning on April 10, 2025, some supported languages and codes will change. A new column in the Language Codes tab of the Employee Attribute Template file shows the changes effective April 10, 2025. Learn more here. Control which users access Microsoft 365 Copilot in Viva Glint Available gradually for all tenants, Microsoft 365 global admins can control Copilot in Viva Glint availability for their organization, groups, or users in the Microsoft 365 admin center. If enabled in the admin center, Viva Glint admins can manage Copilot for Viva Glint at the role level in the Viva Glint app. Learn more about Viva feature access management. Upcoming events and learning opportunities (so many!) Driving Workforce and Business Transformation in the Era of AI | February 26 Join this APAC webinar to learn about the transformative role of AI in HR, emphasizing the importance of HR leadership. Younho Lee, ASEAN HR Director at Microsoft, and Stacie Engler, Head of Glint Growth at Microsoft, will showcase AI's potential to revolutionize HR operations, leadership, and innovation, drawing from Microsoft's HR experiences. Register. Microsoft & Josh Bersin Webinar: The Employee Experience Platform Evolves in the Era of AI | February 27 Join Microsoft - along with HR tech leader Josh Bersin - for an exclusive webinar delving into impactful AI insights from the latest report from the Josh Bersin Company. We’ll uncover key insights and highlight AI's transformative impact on the Employee Experience Platform (EXP) and how AI is revolutionizing employee engagement, productivity, and business impact. Register. Building Psychological Safety Amidst Change | March 3 A majority of organizational change efforts fail, even while much attention is given to best practices, frameworks, and methods for rolling out organizational change. What do people need when facing change? How can managers best facilitate this process? Register for this manager webinar. Ask the Experts | March 11 and March 18 Interact with Viva Glint experts sessions and Viva Glint customers on common challenges and topics related to implementing an employee listening strategy. Register: March 11: 360 feedback programs March 18: Getting started with Viva Glint Cohort Sessions | March 13 and March 19 Join us for online cohort sessions featuring perspectives from Viva People Science and Customer Experience teams to discuss current industry trends and key challenges. March 13: Manufacturing: Manufacturing-specific use cases tied to Viva Insights, Viva Pulse and Microsoft Copilot. March 19: Retail: Learn how other retail leaders are introducing AI into their daily work and hear stories of their challenges and successes. Think like a People Scientist | March 19 Join us for a deep-dive webinar into the findings from our latest research on how employees react to AI in the workplace. Discover how employees’ engagement levels, their past experiences with change, and their enthusiasm about AI is related to its adoption in the workplace. Learn how to craft an AI transformation strategy that meets the unique needs of each of your employees. Register. New thought leadership Research Drop: Understanding and Encouraging Effective Manager Behaviors Read the blog to learn about manager behaviors which support team members, differences in managerial priorities by manager level, and how organizations can support managers to be their best. 5 Insights from the Josh Bersin x Microsoft Report: Employee Experience Platforms in the Era of AI Delve into the evolution and transformative impact of AI on the Employee Experience Platform (EXP). Uncover key insights on how AI is revolutionizing employee engagement, productivity, and business impact. If you have any feedback on this newsletter, please reply to this email. Also, if there are people on your team that should be receiving this newsletter, please have them sign up using this link. *Viva Glint is committed to consistently improving the customer experience. The cloud-based platform maintains an agile production cycle with fixes, enhancements, and new features. Planned program release dates are provided with the best intentions of releasing on these dates, but dates may change due to unforeseen circumstances. Schedule updates will be provided as appropriate.
