Microsoft Work IQ: giving AI agents Microsoft 365 context via MCP and A2A
Microsoft has introduced Work IQ, a workplace intelligence layer that lets AI agents read and act on live Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365 data. Developers can reach it through an MCP server, an A2A endpoint or a REST API instead of wiring up many Graph endpoints. Every request runs under the signed-in user's Entra ID identity.
Key points
- Work IQ gives agents a single access layer over Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365 and Power Platform data.
- The MCP server exposes generic verbs such as fetch, create_entity, do_action, ask, retrieve and get_schema.
- Schemas are discovered at runtime with search_paths and get_schema instead of loading large API definitions.
- The A2A endpoint uses JSON-RPC 2.0, the A2A-Version 1.0 header and a persistent contextId for multi-turn tasks.
- Unattended application-only tokens are rejected; Microsoft Entra ID delegated auth and On-Behalf-Of flows are required.
- Work IQ API usage is billed through Copilot Credits and does not need a Microsoft 365 Copilot seat license.
Microsoft has announced Work IQ, a workplace intelligence layer that lets AI agents reason over and act on live Microsoft 365 data. That covers Outlook mail, Teams chats, meetings, SharePoint and OneDrive files, Planner boards and Dynamics 365 records. It bundles conversational memory, pre-grounded context, executable tools and SharePoint Embedded workspaces for long-running agent tasks.
For developers, the most visible change is the MCP server. Instead of exposing hundreds of Graph operations, it offers a small set of generic verbs such as fetch, do_action and get_schema, and agents look up schemas at runtime. Work IQ also provides a JSON-RPC 2.0 A2A endpoint and a REST API. Access requires Microsoft Entra ID delegated authentication, including On-Behalf-Of flows, and unattended application-only tokens are not accepted. Each tool call is checked by a Rego policy engine. Treat the article as an overview and confirm details in the official docs.
Real-world use
- An internal portal chatbot that answers questions using the signed-in user's mail and meeting context.
- An operations agent that hands off a project-delay investigation across Teams and Outlook to other agents.
- A local coding assistant that reads Microsoft 365 data through the Work IQ MCP server while you work.
Why it matters
If your agents need Microsoft 365 data, you can connect through MCP, A2A or REST instead of managing many Graph endpoints and OAuth scopes yourself. Plan for Entra ID delegated authentication and On-Behalf-Of flows from the start, since application-only access is not supported.