News

Microsoft Expands AI Agent Capabilities Across Windows and 365 with Copilot Tuning and Context Protocol

• By Chris Paoli
• May 19, 2025

At its annual Build developer conference, Microsoft announced a significant update to its AI agent platform, adding support for low-code customization, multi-agent coordination, and new security standards for inter-agent communication in Windows 11.

The enhancements include Microsoft 365 Copilot Tuning, expanded orchestration features in Copilot Studio, and formal integration of the Model Context Protocol (MCP) within the Windows operating system.

Low-Code Customization for Enterprise AI Agents
Microsoft introduced Copilot Tuning, a low-code tool that enables organizations to adapt Microsoft 365 Copilot agents to their own data, workflows, and domain-specific requirements. The tool allows teams to build tailored models for specialized tasks—such as legal document drafting or industry-specific consulting—while maintaining data boundaries within Microsoft 365.

Multi-Agent Coordination in Copilot Studio
Already deployed in more than 230,000 organizations, Copilot Studio now supports multi-agent orchestration, allowing multiple agents to collaborate based on task specialization. One example provided by Microsoft was automated employee onboarding, where HR, IT, and operations agents coordinate workflows in parallel.

Developers can now link Copilot Studio with Azure AI Foundry, enabling use of over 1,900 AI models, including sector-specific large language models. The platform now supports a bring-your-own-model approach, offering greater flexibility for enterprise AI deployments.

Developer Tooling and Integration with Microsoft Ecosystem
Microsoft is expanding support for professional developers with the general release of the Microsoft 365 Agents Toolkit, which includes debugging tools and deployment support for Teams and 365 apps. A new Teams AI Library provides access to chat, channel, and meeting integrations, while preview Microsoft 365 Copilot APIs enable retrieval and chat-based interactions within custom applications.

Developers can manage agent workflows through a new Agent Feed in Power Apps, and streamline deployment using Solution Workspace, which now includes generative UI features and support for code-first workflows in Visual Studio Code.

Model Context Protocol Gains Security Layer in Windows 11
Microsoft also confirmed that Windows 11 will formally adopt and secure the Model Context Protocol (MCP), a proposed standard for HTTP-based communication between intelligent agents and tools.

To address potential threats—including prompt injection and tool poisoning—Microsoft is implementing a secure MCP architecture that includes:

• Proxy-based mediation, ensuring all traffic is routed through a trusted Windows component.
• Tool-level authorization, requiring user approval before agent access.
• A central MCP registry, listing only vetted servers that meet strict security criteria.
• Runtime isolation and scoped privileges, to reduce the risk of lateral movement in case of compromise.

All MCP servers must use code signing, define privilege boundaries, and expose interfaces that have been security-audited. A developer preview of the secured MCP implementation is expected to roll out after Build, with default enforcement planned in future Windows updates.