Lab 7: Govern agents and operate AI services

AI services need the same discipline as any other enterprise workload: accountable identities, scoped availability, monitored activity, and operational reporting. In this final lab, you use the tenant’s seeded Agent ID and Agent 365 state to make and verify governance decisions without inventing activity.

You continue in the same Microsoft 365 E7 tenant from Lab 6. Nestor Wilke handles AI administration, Joni Sherman handles security and compliance review, Patti Fernandez represents Finance users, and Diego Siciliani is the maker for staged Agent 365 requests.

This lab contains five exercises:

• Exercise 1: Establish agent identity and access
• Exercise 2: Curate the Agent Registry and tools
• Exercise 3: Monitor the agent estate
• Exercise 4: Govern agent sharing and availability
• Exercise 5: Operate Microsoft 365 AI services

This lab takes approximately 85 minutes to complete.

Learning objectives

By the end of this lab, you’ll be able to:

• Locate a Copilot Studio agent’s Microsoft Entra Agent ID and record its identity, blueprint, sponsor, owner, and manager relationships.
• Assign agent access through entitlement management and evaluate agent Conditional Access in report-only mode.
• Review Pending Agent 365 requests, publish one request to a limited audience, and keep Pending, Registry approval, Agent ID, and tool approval distinct.
• Build and share an agent as a maker, and find it in the Agent Registry.
• Monitor agent inventory and activity, and assign an owner to an agent that has none.
• Verify agent availability, installation, and sharing scope.
• Read live Copilot usage, agent usage, and Service Health signals, and route deeper analytics questions.

[!IMPORTANT] Keep all Conditional Access changes in Report-only mode in this lab. Do not enforce a new agent-scoped policy, and do not create or connect Azure subscriptions, resource groups, billing accounts, or Azure resources.

Before you start

You complete this lab signed in as a tenant administrator unless a task tells you to use a named sample person. The following conditions are provided by the lab environment, so you don’t set them up:

You keep the work you create in this lab. This is the final lab, so there’s no next lab dependency or end-of-lab cleanup.

Exercise 1: Establish agent identity and access

Estimated time: 30 minutes.

Scenario

A finance-facing agent must have a governed identity before you assign access or evaluate access-time controls. You locate the Copilot Studio agent, match it to its Microsoft Entra Agent ID, assign accountable relationships, run a sponsorship transfer, assign an access package, and scope a report-only Conditional Access policy.

Roles used: AI Administrator or Agent Administrator for discovery, Identity Governance Administrator for access packages, Privileged Role Administrator or Conditional Access Administrator for Conditional Access, and Security Administrator for review.

Task 1: Locate the Agent ID and establish relationships

Microsoft Entra Agent ID separates owners, who manage the identity, from sponsors, who are accountable for it. A sponsor’s manager is the fallback when sponsorship must move. For the model, see Administrative relationships in Microsoft Entra Agent ID.

1. On SEA-DEV1, open the Microsoft Entra admin center at https://entra.microsoft.com.

2. Select Entra ID > Agents > Agent identities, and open AB650 Agent Governance Guide (Microsoft Copilot Studio).

3. On the Overview page, note the Object ID and the Agent blueprint, Microsoft Copilot Studio agent identity blueprint. This identity is the agent’s Microsoft Entra Agent ID, not an Agent 365 request.

4. Select Owners and sponsors. Select Add > Add sponsor, search for and select Patti Fernandez, and then choose Select.

5. Select Add > Add owner, search for and select Nestor Wilke, and then choose Select.

6. Confirm that the list shows Patti Fernandez as Sponsor and Nestor Wilke as Full owner.

7. Select Entra ID > Users, search for and open Patti Fernandez, and then select Properties.

8. Select the edit icon next to Job Information. Under Manager, select Add manager, select Joni Sherman, choose Select, and then select Save.

9. Confirm that Patti’s Manager is Joni Sherman and her Department is Executive Management. You use both values in the next task.

You have successfully located the agent identity and established its accountability relationships.

Task 2: Transfer sponsorship without orphaning the agent

When a sponsor changes jobs, a lifecycle workflow can transfer their agent sponsorships to their manager so the agent is never left without an accountable person. For the task details, see Agent sponsor tasks in Lifecycle Workflows.

1. On SEA-DEV1, in the Microsoft Entra admin center, select ID Governance > Lifecycle workflows > Create workflow.

2. Select the Agents tab, and then select Agent sponsor job profile change.

3. On Basics, enter the name AB650 sponsor transfer. Leave Trigger type as Attribute changes and Trigger attribute as department, and then select Next: Configure scope.

4. In the rule, change the value from Marketing to Executive Management, and then select Next: Review tasks.

5. Select Remove all access package assignments for user, and then select Disable. Leave Transfer agent sponsorships to manager enabled.

6. Select Next: Review + create, leave Enable schedule cleared, and then select Create.

7. In the workflow list, select AB650 sponsor transfer, and then select Run on demand.

8. Select Select users, select Patti Fernandez, choose Select, and then select Run workflow.

9. Select Entra ID > Agents > Agent identities > AB650 Agent Governance Guide (Microsoft Copilot Studio) > Owners and sponsors. Select Refresh until Joni Sherman replaces Patti Fernandez as Sponsor.

   [!NOTE] The workflow can take a few minutes to run. You can continue with the next task and check back.

10. Confirm that the agent still has a sponsor and that Nestor Wilke is still Full owner.

You have successfully transferred sponsorship without orphaning the agent.

Task 3: Assign the finance access package to the agent identity

Access packages give agent identities time-bound, auditable access. For the supported pattern, see Access packages for agent identities.

1. On SEA-DEV1, in the Microsoft Entra admin center, select ID Governance > Entitlement management > Access packages.

2. Open Agent 365 - Finance Data Access. Note that its catalog is Agent 365 Governance.

3. Select Assignments > New assignment.

4. In Select policy, select Agent 365 - Finance Data Access - Auto Policy.

5. Select Add identities. Select AB650 Agent Governance Guide (Microsoft Copilot Studio), which has the type Agent identity, and then choose Select.

6. In Business justification, enter Lab 7 finance agent access, and then select Add.

7. Select Refresh until the agent identity appears with the status Delivered and an end date.

You have successfully assigned the finance access package to the agent identity.

Task 4: Scope a report-only Conditional Access policy to the agent

Conditional Access evaluates access-time conditions for agents separately from the entitlement you assigned in Task 3. For the policy model, see Conditional Access for agents.

1. On SEA-DEV1, in the Microsoft Entra admin center, select Entra ID > Conditional Access > Policies.

2. Open CA: Block High-Risk Agent Identities, and review its State and Requirements for access. Close the pane without changing the policy.

3. Select New policy, and then enter the name AB650 report-only agent identity review.

4. Under Users or agents, change What does this policy apply to? to Agents. Select Select agent identities, select Select individual agents, select AB650 Agent Governance Guide, and then choose Select.

5. Under Target resources, select All resources (formerly ‘All cloud apps’).

6. Under Conditions, select Agent risk (Preview), set Configure to Yes, select High, and then select Done.

7. Under Grant, select Block access, and then choose Select.

8. Leave Enable policy set to Report-only, and then select Create.

9. Confirm that AB650 report-only agent identity review appears in the list with the state Report-only.

You have successfully scoped a report-only Conditional Access policy to the agent identity.

Exercise 2: Curate the Agent Registry and tools

Estimated time: 20 minutes.

Scenario

Agent 365 curation controls which agents and tools become available in Microsoft 365. You publish one of Diego’s Pending requests to a limited audience, leave another Pending for comparison, review the tool registry, and have Patti build and share her own agent.

Roles used: AI Administrator for Agent 365 review and Registry actions, and Patti Fernandez as an agent maker.

[!NOTE] Keep four states separate: Pending means a request still needs review, Registry approval means an agent is available to a scoped audience, Agent ID is the Microsoft Entra identity from Exercise 1, and tool approval concerns a tool or action an agent can invoke.

Task 1: Publish one Pending request and leave another Pending

Agent requests require admin review before they become available. For the documented flow, see Manage agent requests in Microsoft 365 admin center.

1. On SEA-DEV1, open the Microsoft 365 admin center at https://admin.microsoft.com.

2. Select Agents > All agents, and then select the Requests tab.

3. Confirm that the six requests from Diego Siciliani show the state Pending review and the request type Publish. The requests include Finance Insights Agent, IT Helpdesk Agent, and Legacy Ops Agent (Ownerless).

4. Select Finance Insights Agent. Review the Details, Data & tools, Security, and Permissions tabs, and then select Publish to store.

5. On Select users, under Select users or groups who can install the agent, select Specific users/groups. Search for and select Finance Users.

6. Under Select users or groups who will have the agent pre-installed (optional), select None, and then select Next.

7. On Policy template, keep Default policy template for agents, and then select Next.

8. On Accept permissions, confirm that the wizard shows No required permissions, and then select Next.

9. On Review and finish, confirm that the agent is published to Finance Users and deployed to None. Select Publish, and then select Done.

10. Confirm that five requests remain and that IT Helpdesk Agent is still Pending review. Don’t publish or reject it.

11. Select the Registry tab, and search for Finance Insights. Confirm that two entries appear: the published copy with Publisher type set to Your org, and Diego’s original copy.

12. Open the published copy, select the Users tab, and then select Available to. Confirm that Specific users or groups is set to Finance Users.

You have successfully published one Pending request to a limited audience and kept another Pending.

Task 2: Review the tool registry

Tools such as MCP servers are approved separately from agents. A tool request starts only when a developer registers a tool, so viewing the registry doesn’t create one. For the review flow, see Manage plugins, skills, and MCP servers.

1. On SEA-DEV1, in the Microsoft 365 admin center, select Agents > Tools. On the Registry tab, record the counts for All tools, MCP servers, and Plugins.

2. Set the Publisher filter to Microsoft Corporation, and then select an MCP server such as Work IQ MCP.

3. Review the Overview, Tools, and Policies tabs. Note the Block action, but don’t select it. Close the pane.

4. Select the Requests (preview) tab, and confirm that there are no pending tool requests.

You have successfully reviewed the tool registry.

Task 3: Build and share an agent as a maker

Users can build their own agents in Agent Builder and share them with specific people. These agents appear in the Registry without an admin publishing them. For sharing options, see Agent Builder in Microsoft 365 Copilot.

1. On SEA-DEV2, open an InPrivate window, go to https://m365.cloud.microsoft, and sign in as PattiF@<yourtenant>.onmicrosoft.com with the user password provided by your lab hoster.

2. In the left pane, select Agents, and then select New agent. Select Skip to open the Configure tab. If What’s new in Agent Builder appears, select Get started.

3. Select the pencil icon next to New Agent, and enter the following values:
   • Name: Finance Review Helper
   • Describe your agent: Answers questions about the finance review process.
   • Instructions: Answer questions about finance review steps. If you don't know, say so. Don't request or store personal data.

4. Don’t add knowledge sources. Select Create (the + button). Confirm that Your agent was created successfully! appears and that the agent is private.

5. Select Share. Confirm that Org-wide sharing for chat access is off.

6. In Add a name, group, or email, search for and select Nestor Wilke. Confirm that Nestor is set to Can chat, and then select Add.

7. Confirm that Your agent was successfully shared appears, select Close, and then close the InPrivate window.

8. On SEA-DEV1, in the Microsoft 365 admin center, select Agents > All agents > Registry, and search for Finance Review Helper.

9. Open the agent. On the Details tab, confirm that Created by shows Patti Fernandez.

10. Select the Users tab, and then select Shared with. Confirm that Nestor Wilke is listed under Users.

You have successfully built an agent as a maker and confirmed its limited sharing.

Exercise 3: Monitor the agent estate

Estimated time: 15 minutes.

Scenario

Inventory helps you find agents that need attention, but it doesn’t grant access and activity can lag. You inventory the agent you published, then find and fix an agent that has no owner in Agent 365 instead of trusting a display name.

Roles used: AI Administrator.

Task 1: Inventory the Registry entry you published

The Agent Registry provides a centralized view of agents available in the organization. For the Registry view, see Manage agent registry in Microsoft 365 admin center.

1. On SEA-DEV1, in the Microsoft 365 admin center, select Agents > All agents > Registry.

2. Search for Finance Insights, and open the copy whose Publisher type is Your org.

3. On the Details tab, record Publisher, Publisher type, Owner, Created by, Last used, and Entra agent ID.

4. Select the Activity tab. Record Active users, Sessions, Exceptions, and Agent run-time for the date range shown. If the cards show No data, record Activity pending. Don’t record zero.

You have successfully inventoried the Registry entry you published.

Task 2: Assign an owner to an agent without one

An agent without an owner has no one to maintain, update, or retire it. Agent 365 ownership is separate from the Microsoft Entra Agent ID owner you set in Exercise 1. For ownership actions, see Governance and lifecycle actions for agents.

1. On SEA-DEV1, in the Microsoft 365 admin center, select Agents > All agents > Map. Record the Total agents, Agents at risk, and Agents without owners cards. If a card shows Failed to load or a dash, record it as unavailable rather than zero.

2. Select the Registry tab, search for Legacy Ops, and open Legacy Ops Agent (Ownerless). Confirm that Owner is populated. Despite its name, this agent has an owner. Close the pane.

3. Search for AB650 Agent Governance, and open AB650 Agent Governance Guide. Confirm that Owner and Created by show a dash, while Entra agent ID is populated.

   [!NOTE] In Exercise 1, you made Nestor the owner of this agent’s Microsoft Entra identity. Agent 365 tracks a separate owner for the agent itself, and that owner is still empty.

4. Select Assign new owner. In Assign Owner, search for and select Nestor Wilke, and then select Assign.

5. Confirm that Owner assigned appears and that Owner and Created by now show Nestor Wilke.

6. Select Agents > Settings > Agent Management Rules. Review the Reassign ownerless agents created with Agent Builder to manager rule and its Affected agents count. Don’t change the rule.

You have successfully assigned an owner to an agent without one.

Exercise 4: Govern agent sharing and availability

Estimated time: 10 minutes.

Scenario

Admin-published agents and user-shared agents reach people in different ways. You verify the published agent’s availability and installation scope, compare it with Patti’s shared agent, and review the tenant sharing setting.

Roles used: AI Administrator.

Task 1: Verify agent availability and sharing scope

Agent availability and installation are separate settings. Review both before you reason about access.

1. On SEA-DEV1, in the Microsoft 365 admin center, select Agents > All agents > Registry.

2. Search for Finance Insights, and open the copy whose Publisher type is Your org.

3. Select the Users tab, and then select Installed for. Confirm that the agent isn’t pre-installed for a broader audience.

4. Select Available to. If Specific users or groups isn’t set to Finance Users, select it, add Finance Users, and then select Save. Close the pane.

5. Search for Finance Review Helper, open it, and select the Users tab. Confirm the message Shared agents can’t be automatically installed and that only the agent’s owner can share it. Close the pane.

6. Select Agents > Settings > Sharing. Record the value of Choose who can share agents with anyone in the organization. This setting controls whether makers like Patti can turn on Org-wide sharing for chat access. Close the pane without changing it.

7. Confirm that changing Registry availability doesn’t change underlying file or application permissions.

You have successfully verified agent availability and sharing scope.

Exercise 5: Operate Microsoft 365 AI services

Estimated time: 10 minutes.

Scenario

AI operations combines live usage and health evidence. You read live Copilot and agent usage where reports are populated, record pending where they aren’t, route deeper analytics questions, and read Service Health without inventing incidents.

Roles used: Reports Reader and Service Support Administrator, or equivalent administrator access.

Task 1: Read Copilot and agent usage

Microsoft 365 admin center usage reports show Copilot adoption and agent usage. Reports can take up to 48 hours to populate. For the report path, see Microsoft 365 Copilot usage report.

1. On SEA-DEV1, in the Microsoft 365 admin center, select Reports > Usage. If Reports isn’t visible, select Show all first.

2. Under Reports, expand Microsoft 365 Copilot, and then select Copilot.

3. On the Usage tab, record the Last updated date, the period, Enabled users, Active users, and Total prompts submitted. If Active users is zero, record Usage pending with the last updated date.

4. Under Microsoft 365 Copilot, select Agents. Record Total active users and Total active agents. If Usage details shows No data available, record Agent usage pending.

5. Record where you would route deeper adoption or value questions: Copilot Dashboard in Viva Insights for organization-level adoption and impact, and these admin center reports for usage read-back.

You have successfully read Copilot and agent usage or recorded it as pending.

Task 2: Read Service Health for AI services

Service Health shows Microsoft service incidents and advisories, not adoption or value.

1. On SEA-DEV1, in the Microsoft 365 admin center, select Health > Service health.

2. On the Overview tab, review Active issues Microsoft is working on. Record any issue whose Affected service is Microsoft Copilot (Microsoft 365), and any advisory about usage report delays.

3. If none are listed, record No live incident observed.

You have successfully read Service Health for AI services.

If something doesn’t work

Summary

In this final lab, you located a Copilot Studio agent’s Microsoft Entra Agent ID, established sponsor, owner, and manager relationships, assigned an access package to the agent identity, and scoped Conditional Access in report-only mode. You published one Agent 365 request to Finance Users, kept a second request Pending, reviewed the tool registry, and built and shared an agent as a maker. You assigned an owner to an agent that had none in Agent 365, verified agent availability and sharing scope, and operated AI services by reading live usage reports and Service Health.

This is the last lab in the course. Keep your final evidence notes for the course debrief and subject-matter review.