MC1301832 – M365 Change Digest

One-line summary

Copilot Cowork expands with plugins, connectors, and partner integrations for Frontier users, enabling extensibility across Microsoft and third-party services with existing permissions.

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Details

Summary

Microsoft 365 Copilot Cowork is expanding with plugins, connectors, and partner integrations for Frontier participants starting May 2026. It enables secure access to Microsoft and third-party services, respects existing permissions and security, supports custom plugins, and is available on web, desktop, and mobile devices.

Body (from Message Center)

[Introduction]

As recently announced, Microsoft is expanding Microsoft 365 Copilot Cowork with support for plugins, connectors, and selected partner integrations. This change enables Copilot Cowork to securely access additional Microsoft and third‑party services using existing permissions, helping users complete tasks across systems without changing current security or compliance controls. These updates are based on early customer feedback from Microsoft 365 Copilot Frontier participants and are designed to improve extensibility and productivity while maintaining tenant governance.

Copilot Cowork is available through the Microsoft 365 Copilot app on web, desktop, and supported mobile devices (iOS and Android) for Frontier participants.

[When this will happen]

Public Preview: Rollout begins in early May 2026 and is expected to complete in early May 2026.
- These capabilities are rolling out gradually as part of the Microsoft 365 Copilot Frontier program.
- There is no general availability date announced at this time.

[How this affects your organization]

Who is affected

Organizations enrolled in the Microsoft 365 Copilot Frontier program
Users who have access to Microsoft 365 Copilot Cowork

What will happen

Copilot Cowork can be extended through plugins, which may include connectors, skills, or both.
Native Microsoft connectors allow Copilot Cowork to read (and where supported, write) data from services such as Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Fabric, including Power BI.
Partner plugins will roll out over the coming weeks, including integrations with LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group), Miro, monday.com, and S&P Global Energy, with additional partners planned.
Organizations can create custom plugins to connect Copilot Cowork to internal systems or workflows.
Copilot Cowork is available through the Microsoft 365 Copilot app on web, desktop, and supported mobile devices (iOS and Android) for Frontier participants.
Existing Microsoft 365 permissions, policies, and audit controls are respected. Tenant security boundaries do not change.
This feature is available only to Frontier participants and is not enabled for non‑Frontier tenants by default.

[What you can do to prepare]

No action is required if your organization is not enrolled in the Microsoft 365 Copilot Frontier program.

If you are participating in Frontier:

Review whether plugin and connector access aligns with your organization’s governance and data access policies.
Decide whether to allow or restrict custom plugin creation.
Inform helpdesk staff or pilot users that Copilot Cowork may surface data from additional Microsoft and partner services based on existing access.

Learn more:

[Compliance considerations]

Question	Answer
Does the change alter how existing customer data is processed, stored, or accessed?	Yes. Copilot Cowork can access existing customer data from connected Microsoft and third‑party services through plugins and connectors, based on the user’s existing permissions.
Does the change introduce or significantly modify AI, machine learning, or agent capabilities that interact with customer data?	Yes. This change introduces extensibility that allows AI‑driven task execution across Microsoft and third‑party services using existing permissions.
Does the change provide end users with a new way of interacting with generative AI?	Yes. Users can extend Copilot Cowork with plugins and connectors to complete tasks across additional Microsoft and partner services, including from mobile devices.
Does the change add any integration with third‑party software products?	Yes. Partner integrations include LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group), Miro, monday.com, and S&P Global Energy, with additional partners planned.

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