Windows 11 Is Getting AI Agents on the Taskbar

AI-powered attacks are accelerating, AI agents are gaining access to enterprise systems, and Microsoft wants Windows to become a platform for hybrid AI. This month, Russell Smith and Craig Birch unpack the ConnectWise compromise and its identity-security implications, Microsoft’s Hybrid Intelligence strategy for Windows, and the latest chapter in Windows 11 Administrator Protection with 26H2. We also tackle perhaps the biggest question of all: what happens when the insider you need to secure isn’t human? Microsoft calls this the “agentic insider” problem, raising difficult questions about identity, permissions, Zero Trust and accountability as autonomous agents gain greater access to enterprise resources.👏 Sponsored by Cayosoft!

This month, Microsoft has started throttling email from outdated Exchange servers, Entra is taking control away from Active Directory, Microsoft and AWS are embracing multi-cloud, and Windows Search is finally becoming less opinionated. Are these isolated updates, or signs that Microsoft is fundamentally changing how enterprise IT is managed?👏 Sponsored by Cayosoft 

Microsoft is merging the consumer and commercial versions of Copilot into a single app but is your corporate data governance ready? At the same time, they've launched an AI security platform where autonomous agents hunt for your vulnerabilities around the clock, and published an AI containment framework that says, in black and white, if you let the AI decide when to ask a human, you've already lost control. Plus, for the first time, Entra admins can discover and govern every tenant connected to their organisation.👏 Thanks to Cayosoft for sponsoring this episode!

Copilot Cowork is here but so are Copilot Credits, cost controls and awkward ROI questions.This month, Russell Smith and Craig Birch also dig into Windows Ready Print, NTLM’s future, and Microsoft’s passkey push.🔗 Episode resources: https://petri.com/podcast/copilot-cowork-is-here-but-can-you-control-the-costs/#microsoft365 #windows11 #microsoftcopilot #artificialintelligence Thanks to  Cayosoft  for sponsoring this episode!

This week, the Mac Mini quietly became the default home for always-on AI agents — and your users are probably already running them outside your security boundary. Meanwhile, VMware just dropped an ARM hypervisor. And if you needed a reason to treat AI agents like real identities, a coding agent just wiped an entire production database and every backup in nine seconds flat.👏 Thanks to Cayosoft for sponsoring this episode!

This Week in IT, Google Chrome is silently downloading a 4 gigabyte AI model onto devices right now and unless you've deployed one specific policy, there's nothing stopping it. Meanwhile, Microsoft's fix for a sluggish Windows 11 is to spike your CPU to the max when clicking, and they just started the deprecation clock on Entra Connect Sync whether Entra Cloud Sync is ready or not.👏 Thanks to Cayosoft for sponsoring this episode!

This Week in IT, Microsoft Edge is exposing passwords by design, shadow AI agents are lurking on your endpoints, and Azure is quietly pulling the plug on VMs you're probably still running.Thanks to Cayosoft for sponsoring this episode!🔗 Links and resources

Microsoft is previewing a full system rollback for Windows 11 — OS, apps, files, everything — snapped back to where it was 72 hours ago. It's basically a time machine for your PC. But here's the thing: it can also roll back your security patches. Meanwhile, a single configuration change knocked Outlook off every iPhone for over 24 hours. And Microsoft flipped the switch: Copilot is now doing its thing by default, whether your governance is ready or not.Thanks to Cayosoft for sponsoring this episode.

Microsoft just confirmed that AI agents — including third-party ones — are coming to the Windows 11 taskbar. The controls to manage them exist the default hands control to the user. Plus, there's a new way to do a Hybrid Entra Join without waiting for Entra Connect to sync, but it needs Windows Server 2025 domain controllers in every domain. And Windows Recall is back in the security headlines — a researcher has proven he can silently drain your entire Recall history after a single Windows Hello tap. Microsoft says that's fine.Thanks to Cayosoft for sponsoring this episode!

This Week in IT, hackers have a new trick that uses an Oauth 2.0 login process to slip into accounts, no password needed. Meanwhile, Microsoft is locking down its Copilot AI with fresh controls to keep your company’s data under wraps. And just when you’re getting comfortable with Copilot, Microsoft’s already onto the next frontier: autonomous AI agents that won’t wait for your commands but handle your tasks for you, from start to finish.👏 Thanks to Cayosoft sponsoring this episode!🔗 Links and resources: https://petri.com/podcast/eviltokens-...