Core Updates – March 2026

Copilot & AI

AI Watermarking Policy

Description: Microsoft is introducing a tenant-wide policy that allows organisations to embed visual or audio watermarks into AI‑generated or AI‑altered video and audio content. This provides transparency when Copilot or other Microsoft 365 AI tools have been used, supporting compliance, auditability and ethical AI use.

Preview Date: February 2026

Rollout Date: Late February 2026

Why it matters: Helps organisations meet transparency expectations for AI‑generated content.

Actions to take:

• Review internal AI governance to decide default watermark settings
• Plan user guidance on how watermarks appear
• Train communications and content‑producing teams on updated policy expectations
• Include watermark behaviour in Responsible AI documentation
  

Microsoft Teams

Defender URL Click Alerts in Teams

Description: Defender for Office 365 now generates alerts when users click potentially malicious or suspicious URLs within Teams chats and channels. Extending the existing email‑based protection, this change gives security teams unified visibility across communication platforms, helping identify phishing and social‑engineering attempts at an earlier stage.

Preview Date: February 2026

Rollout Date: Late February - late March 2026

Why it matters: Improves early threat detection across collaboration channels.

Actions to take:

• Update SOC runbooks to include Teams‑based alerts
• Communicate the change to users as part of security awareness
• Review current Defender alert thresholds for alignment
  

Drafts Quick View

Description: Teams will now surface all unsent drafts in a dedicated view, making it easier for users to spot incomplete messages. This improvement helps prevent accidental non‑delivery of important updates, particularly useful for users who manage long or multi‑part communications across channels and chats. 

Preview Date: March 2026

Rollout Date: March-April 2026

Why it matters: Reduces missed or forgotten communications.

Actions to take:

• Inform users of the new Drafts panel
• Encourage review of drafts prior to meetings or deadlines
  

Microsoft SharePoint

InfoPath Retirement

Description: Microsoft is ending support for InfoPath 2013 and associated SharePoint form services on 14 July 2026. As the legacy technology underpinning many older workflows, InfoPath will no longer function beyond this date, requiring organisations to transition business‑critical forms to modern solutions such as Power Apps and Power Automate.

Preview Date: Legacy Retirement

Rollout Date: 14 July 2026

Why it matters: Critical forms may stop working without remediation.

Actions to take:

• Run discovery tools to identify InfoPath assets
• Begin migration planning with owners, prioritising business‑critical workflows
  

In-Place Records & Legacy Information Management Retirement

Description: Microsoft is retiring the legacy SharePoint in‑place records and Information Management features in April 2026. These older compliance capabilities will be replaced by Microsoft Purview retention, requiring organisations to shift from document‑centric to policy‑centric lifecycle management across SharePoint and Microsoft 365. 

Preview Date: April 2026

Rollout Date: April 2026

Why it matters: Legacy record centres will cease functioning reliably.

Actions to take:

• Identify sites using in‑place records
• Confirm Purview licensing alignment
• Begin mapping old policies to new Purview retention labels
• Communicate changes to records managers

SharePoint Add-ins Retirement

Description: Microsoft is fully retiring SharePoint Add‑ins by 2 April 2026, replacing them with SharePoint Framework (SPFx) solutions. Add‑ins will progressively lose functionality, and their temporary PowerShell “keep alive” mechanism will soon be removed, making migration essential for organisations relying on custom classic‑site components or older integrations.

Preview Date: April 2026

Rollout Date: 2 April 2026

Why it matters: Legacy add-ins will break without action.

Actions to take:

• Audit all SharePoint add-ins
• Plan SPFx redevelopment or retirement
• Communicate timelines to stakeholders
  

Microsoft Entra

Entra Identity & Security - Passkey
Profiles Auto-Enablement

Description: Entra ID is introducing automatic enablement of passkey profiles across tenants, improving passwordless authentication flexibility. While existing settings remain unchanged, the update gives organisations new configuration options for how passkeys are used, supporting stronger authentication while reducing reliance on password‑based sign‑ins. 

Preview Date: March 2026

Rollout Date: End March – late June 2026

Why it matters: Supports more secure, phishing-resistant authentication.

Actions to take:

• Review identity strategy for passwordless adoption
• Update authentication policies accordingly
• Communicate changes to users
  

Microsoft 365 E7

Description: Microsoft 365 E7, The Frontier Suite, is Microsoft’s first new enterprise tier in a decade. It brings together Microsoft 365 E5, Copilot, the full Entra Suite, and the new Agent 365 control plane into a single, AI‑driven platform.

Launching 1^st May, E7 is designed for organisations moving beyond AI pilots toward autonomous AI agents operating safely at enterprise scale. It introduces unified governance for AI agents, deeper security and compliance integration, and an end‑to‑end model that embeds intelligence directly into everyday workflows.

Why it matters: E7 marks a shift from AI “assistance” to AI‑powered operations, enabling automation across onboarding, IT, finance, customer service and more. 

Actions to take:

• Assess whether E7’s bundled security and AI capabilities offer better value than separate E5 + Copilot licensing.
• Evaluate AI readiness: governance, data foundations, security posture and responsible‑AI policies.
• Identify workflows suitable for autonomous agents.
• Begin planning for migration or renewal ahead of the May 2026 availability window.
  

Mhairi Nisbet
Customer Success Manager