Effective June 1, Microsoft is introducing a new licensing prerequisite for Microsoft Agent 365 (A365) to help ensure customers can fully realize core Agent 365 functionality and value.

To deliver the full security, compliance, and management capabilities required by Agent 365, customers must now have specific foundational Microsoft security and identity licenses in place. This update simplifies customer conversations and ensures deployments meet technical requirements from day one.

Licensing update

Starting June 1, the following licensing prerequisites apply for new Agent 365 purchases:

Enterprise customers must have Microsoft 365 E5
Frontline Worker (FLW) users must have Microsoft Defender and Microsoft Purview (F5 level)
SMB customers must have Microsoft 365 Business Premium

Customers without these prerequisite licenses will not have key Agent 365 capabilities enabled. This change does not impact ME7 customer engagements since ME7 includes both ME5 and Agent 365 in addition to M365 Copilot and Entra Suite.

Why this matters to partners

Agent 365 relies on advanced security, identity, compliance, and device management capabilities delivered through these prerequisite licenses. Without them, your customers that implement Agent 365 may not receive:

Data protection & compliance
Advanced classification and auto labeling of grounding data (Purview)
Threat protection
Detection, investigation, and protection for local and cloud agents (Defender)
Device & agent controls
Policy enforcement and agent controls on Windows endpoints (Intune)
Identity & access security
Network controls and identity protection for cloud and local agents (Entra)

These prerequisites ensure customers can realize core Agent 365 functionality and value, and deploy Agent 365 securely, compliantly, and at scale.

Partner actions

Partners should proactively engage customers and prospects by:

Reviewing licensing requirements early in Agent 365 opportunities
Identifying users who may not yet have the required prerequisite licenses
Positioning ME5 as the recommended foundation for secure, enterprise-ready Agent 365 deployments
Leading with ME7 where appropriate, which already includes:

ME5
Agent 365
Microsoft 365 Copilot
Entra Suite

Key resources

New licensing prerequisite for Agent 365

AI Business Solutions Partner Marketing Team