Over the past months, we’ve all watched Microsoft 365 Copilot slowly but steadily make its way into enterprise environments. Some organizations dove in headfirst, others cautiously tiptoed via pilots or phased rollouts. But just as we were getting used to the rhythm — bam! — SharePoint Agents arrived.

And they’re a game-changer.
But like any game-changer, they bring new rules… and new risks.

🌟What Makes SharePoint Agents So Powerful?

Honestly? Their simplicity.
They’re not buried in Power Platform. You don’t need to be a dev or AI expert. These Agents live in document libraries, just like any file. That familiarity? It lowers the barrier to entry and makes them accessible to business users across HR, finance, operations — you name it.

Imagine this:

• 📋 An onboarding assistant that helps new hires on your HR site.
• 📚 A smart content summarizer in your knowledge hub.
• 🤝 A deal room assistant in your sales portal.

Each Agent delivers contextual, tailored value — without writing a single line of code.

🧨But Here’s the Catch: Governance is Missing

If you’ve been around long enough to remember the early chaos of Microsoft Teams and Groups, this will sound eerily familiar.

Anyone with edit rights — yes, just edit rights — can spin up, modify, or delete a SharePoint Agent. No admin controls. No oversight. No easy off-switch. And when you place one in the “Approved” folder? It’s still editable by anyone.

This isn’t just a policy gap. It’s a security risk.

📉Why This is Happening?

Let’s be real. It’s a classic adoption play:
✅ Make it ridiculously easy to create agents.
✅ Don’t slow it down with admin friction.
✅ Watch the AI usage metrics soar.

But while Microsoft celebrates rising adoption numbers, IT teams are left picking up the pieces — and patching governance gaps after the fact.

🛡 What Organizations are urgently Asking For?

Across industries — from public sector to enterprise — I hear the same questions again and again:

🔍 Where are all our SharePoint Agents?
🛑 Who’s allowed to create them, and where?
📆 When was this Agent last used — and is it still relevant?
🔒 Is this surfacing sensitive information without us knowing?
🤝 Can we involve site owners and business users in responsible Agent management?

💡My Advice: Don’t Wait for the Perfect Tooling — Start With Policy

While we wait for Microsoft to tighten the reins, you can take action today:

1. Create awareness in your organization. Most business users don’t realize the risks.
2. Draft a temporary governance policy: who’s allowed to experiment, where, and how?
3. Work with champions to test Agents in controlled environments.
4. Use licensing strategically to limit broader Copilot capabilities where needed.

🌍Final Thought: It’s a Déjà Vu Moment — Let’s Learn From the Past

We’ve seen this movie before. With every leap forward in productivity tech — from SharePoint to Teams to Copilot — we start with freedom and speed. Then we scramble to add structure.

Let’s flip the script this time.
Let’s lead with intention.
Let’s govern AI responsibly, right from the start.

Because SharePoint Agents have the power to democratize AI in ways we’ve never seen before. But with great power comes… well, you know the rest. 😉

🔁 Let’s spark the conversation:
Is your organization ready for SharePoint Agents or any other Agent?
Are you already seeing them pop up? Or just starting to explore?

About the Author

Rene Vlieger

MVP | MCT | MS365NEWS.COM | Consultancy | Compliance | Governance | Security | Copilot | Microsoft 365

Reference:

Vlieger, R (2025). SharePoint Agents: AI’s Next Leap — But Are We Ready? [Accessed: 11th October 2025].